By Charlie McCarthy
No-code legal software stands uniquely positioned to provide the legal industry with cost-effective and highly versatile solutions for delivering legal services in the new workforce environment. The legal industry faces retention challenges and a call to modernize from both employees and clients.[1] The 2022 CLIO report found that firms were more likely to invest future spending in software solutions than any other investment.[2] Firm leadership held this viewpoint because they viewed software as strategic investments that create lower-cost tools to boost revenue to allow long-term and higher-cost staff investments.[3] No-code legal software stands apart to adapt to the legal industry’s dynamic fiscal and operational needs.[4]
No-code application platforms provide lawyers with building elements to create their own applications tailored to their specific automation and digital workflow needs.[5] Low-code software, a predecessor to no-code, is “visual-focused software… targeted towards developers… for those skilled in programming to program faster.”[6] Low-code is often discussed alongside no-code as an answer for simplifying software delivery for legal services.[7] However, low code is solely focused on the software developer, which requires the legal provider to outsource costly IT integration and adhere to rigid perimeters once the software is implemented.[8] Conversely, no-code software is centered on lawyers as builders and eliminates the need for the lawyers to have any programming knowledge to build their applications.[9] Operationally, no-code features “visual building such as drag and drop tools, (allowing) lawyers to manipulate pre-built blocks of code to handcraft technological solutions while the platform auto-generates the code in the background.”[10] Typical no-code applications involve automating intake procedures, auditing compliance, automating document and contract creation review and management, providing automatic business flow updates, tracking financial metrics, and automated performance review processes.[11] Additionally, no-code eliminates the expensive, complex, and time-intensive process of having software developers build specific code for particular business needs.[12] A significant benefit to no-code software is that it allows lawyers to prototype their applications, update as needed, and scale to meet their clients’ needs.[13]
BRYTER, a leading no-code service automation platform, provides “the backend capability of a powerful corporate solution with a more user-friendly, intuitive design, so all users have access… allow(ing) users in the organization to start creating digital tools themselves and have them published and enterprise-ready”.[14] Their approach lets lawyers build their own digital applications in only a matter of weeks to manage their specific business needs while providing the capacity to build software on top as complexity requires.[15] Legal OS, another no-code platform, creates digital knowledge graphs “to be used to build legal service products, generate documents, embed compliance, or automate processes through the open-source Legal OS automation platform.”[16] No-code companies appeal to enterprises to allow their employees to become “citizen coders” and build their apps to increase workplace efficiency.[17]
The pandemic has broadened the acceptance of the role of technology in the effective delivery of legal services.[18] Despite expense cuts, law firms increased their technology spending by 7.1% during the 12-month period through November 2021.[19] As the delivery of legal services evolves with client and employee demands, no-code software stands apart as readily available technology to provide adaptable and cost-effective solutions in the delivery of legal services.
[1] Thomas Reuters Institute, 2022 Report on State of the Legal Market 1, 23-24 (2021).
[2] CLIO, LEGAL TRENDS REPORT, 44 (2021).
[3] Id.
[4] Olga Mack, Preparing for the No-Code and Low-Code Age of Law, Bloomberg Law (May 24, 2021), https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/preparing-for-the-no-code-and-low-code-age-of-law.
[5] Id.
[6] What is no-code, BRYTER, https://bryter.com/trends/what-is-no-code/.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Mack, supra note 4.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Steven Lerner, Push For Attys To Code Loses Steam In No-Code World, Law 360 pulse (Aug 13, 2021), https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/1412598/push-for-attys-to-code-loses-steam-in-no-code-world.
[13] BRYTER, No-code for Law Firms 28 (2021).
[14] Id. at 14.
[15] Id.
[16] Legal OS (2021), https://www.legalos.io/.
[17] No-code for law firms, supra note 13, at 14.
[18] See generally Legal Trends Report, supra note 2.
[19] State of the Legal Market supra note 1, at 23.
Image Source: https://zvolv.com/blog/blog/2020/02/03/the-rise-of-no-code-development-platforms/