Law Technology Today From the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
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The Legal Technology Resource Center’s Women of Legal Tech initiative is intended to encourage diversity and celebrate women in legal technology. This initiative launched in 2015 with a list of innovators and leaders in legal technology and with this year’s additions, that list now includes 141 talented and influential women leaders.
Every Monday and Wednesday, we have featured a woman from our class of 2022. Today we have Carol Schlein!
Carol Schlein is Founder/President at Law Office Systems, Inc.
Three points to summarize you and your work in legal tech.
- Creative Problem solver.
- Legal tech pioneer as woman lawyer turned legal tech consultant.
- Trusted tech advisor to hundreds of law firms!
How did you become involved in legal tech?
Found that I loved to train people on tech and was able to see ways to streamline and improve their work experience and delivery of services to clients.
What projects have you been focused on recently?
Continuing to advise law firms about selecting, implementing and using billing and practice management solutions. Active volunteer in Smart Seniors/ Smart Phones initiative in my town as a peer coach training seniors to use their mobile phones better.
What do you see as the biggest challenge in legal tech today?
Younger lawyers think they know how to use technology because they grew up with it but the reality is they don’t always know the best way to do basic tasks. Older lawyers don’t want to spend the money to invest in tech. The combination means that firms are underutilizing the tools they have and losing out on ways to do things better and faster.
Has the pandemic changed anything about the way you, your firm, or your organization does business? Has the changes that have resulted from the pandemic improved or altered your work or how you do it?
Not too much. I was already supporting clients remotely. Pre-covid, I went to clients’ offices more often. Hoping to do more of that again soon!
What legal tech resource helped you the most in your legal tech career?
The amazing community of legal tech consultants.
What do you see as the most important emerging tech, legal or not, right now?
Investor money coming into small legal is putting pressure on companies to generate profits rather than focusing on improving the functionality and work experience for their clients. Impact of venture capital is changing the focus of legal tech companies from innovation to services like merchant accounts that maximize revenue.
What do you see for the future of legal tech?
People are attracted to new shiny objects instead of mastering basic tasks and streamlining procedures using the technology they have better. Vendors focus on making profit for investors means the legal tech providers are all focusing on revenue instead of innovation.
What advice would you give to other women who want to get involved in legal tech?
Go for it! You can do it! Look for opportunities. Follow trends and try to get ahead of them or be in position to leverage them.
Give a shout-out to another woman in legal tech who you admire or have learned something from!
Too many to name! Early ABA LPM mentors and friends: Donna Killoughey Bird, Fran Shellenberger and Storm Evans.