New law is a catchall industry term that is often linked to terms such as “legal tech,” “legal ops,” and alternative legal service providers (ALSPs). All of these are important elements of a larger process of change that is taking place in the legal industry. But it is difficult to define what exactly the concept of “new law” encompasses, especially because this change process is different for every firm.
Law new is a process of looking at the way that a legal practice operates and finding ways to deliver services more efficiently and effectively. It involves embracing technology and focusing on process, which is a completely different approach than has been taken by most legal firms in the past. It also encompasses working with non-traditional clients and using different fee structures. The idea of law new is that by changing how a legal practice operates, firms can save money and offer more affordable services to their clients.
During the past five to ten years, many legal firms have made changes in their business processes, and have invested in various forms of technology to improve efficiency. This is generally referred to as “legal tech.” While this is good delivery hygiene, it is not what I would call “new law.” New law goes beyond mere internal efficiency. It is about providing legal products and services that are accessible, affordable, on-demand, scalable, and data-sharing, meeting the needs of business customers at the speed of society.
The new way of working is being pushed on the industry by the demands of business customers, and is a necessity for all legal practitioners to adopt if they are to retain their value proposition in the future. This change process is requiring the legal industry to become more like the businesses it serves, in terms of being cognitively diverse, demographically and culturally, and experientially. It is also requiring the industry to become more collaborative, with an integrated and diverse team of people who work together on customer-centric projects.
For example, the automotive industry and other industries frequently collaborate to develop new technologies, a trend that is now being seen in the legal profession. The new way of working will likely see legal teams and other enterprise business units working with each other on a number of projects, leveraging their strengths in areas such as technology, subject matter expertise, and sourcing.
This bill would require City agencies that experience a data breach to disclose the affected persons’ private information to the Chief Privacy Officer and other appropriate departments; currently, this disclosure requirement applies only to breaches of the personal information of the NYPD.