Technology has penetrated every industry, making tech-related skills crucial for successful employment. The field of law is no exception. As businesses increasingly rely on digital tools, being tech-savvy can help students access better job opportunities and gain a competitive edge in the market. So, how can aspiring legal professionals develop their legal tech skills?

Online Publications and blogs

There are a few ways students can improve their legal tech skills. As a student myself, I have always learnt a lot from just reading around. There is so much great information available online for free, such as through Wired, Business Insider, Financial Times technology section, TechCrunch, The Verge, Engadget, Legal IT Insider, all of which can enable students to get informed on the extent to which technology becomes increasingly important across different industries, including the legal industry. There are also several Legal Tech blogs that post views and news about tech in law, such as Legal Tech Blog, or the Lawformer Blog. 

Social Media

Next, social media also enables students to find more information on topics of their interest. For example, following legal tech accounts or hashtags on LinkedIn or Reddit can be a great way to stay up to date. You can also post interesting legal tech-related media yourself and make connections, and grow your professional network at the same time. If you learn best by experimenting, many platforms can help build knowledge and develop skills. For example, Lawformer helps students and lawyers develop practical skills in contract drafting. It uses legal tech to enhance contract drafting skills and offers a library of legal term definitions and clauses enabling the user to draft a contract independently, while understanding the contract drafting process. 

Free  and Affordable Training Courses

Education programmes, such as Lawtech UK, provide free programmes, including “Lawtech Fundamentals”, a self-paced online course for anyone interested in lawtech startups or in the ideation process, and “Lawtech Bridge” which aims to bring together startups and established legal market players together to share and build the tools, insights and mindsets that drive innovation within the legal sector. There are several platforms which provide free or low-cost online courses to expand your knowledge on legal tech. For example, Coursera provides a course entitled ‘Legal Tech and the Digital Transformation of Law’ offered by Universidad Austral, which offers an overview of the legal tech market and its key actors, teaches about the key market trends to guide your career towards the future of the legal industry, and explains the impact of new digital technologies on law firms, in-house lawyers, and justice systems. 

Next, Udemy offers a course titled ‘Technology and Innovation for Legal Professionals’ which takes you through the foundations of technology and its application to the legal profession, explores why and how technology is essential to legal service providers, the legal implications of using technology, how to become a legal tech professional, to name a few. The University of Law also offers a course such as ‘Introduction to Innovation and Technology in Legal Services’ which aims to develop your understanding of how technological innovation is transforming the way lawyers work, and the tools and ideas that are driving these big changes.

Legal Tech Events

Finally, there are several Legal Tech events where people can find out more about legal tech and emerging solution. For example, LexisNexis collaborated with the International Law Book Facility (ILBF) for an online session on legal tech. Linklaters also put together a list of the legal tech events, conferences, and awards for the year 2023-24 occurring around the world. Lawformer also provides a free online community on Slack titled ‘LegalTech Connect’, where we share various resources such as news articles, legal events, career tips, jobs, podcasts, which enables you to learn more about legal tech.

I hope you found these resources useful. We also recommend reading our previous article on why legal tech matters to law students, which is available here. Additionally, you can join our Slack Legal Tech Community through this link.

Author: Dalia Saffideen