Computers and computer programs have been an integral part of business for decades. Governments are usually quite behind when it comes to digitization. This is the case with central government and decentralized government.
Not only is the government lagging behind in terms of digitization, it also took a very long time for digitization to get underway in the legal profession. In courts (in the Netherlands) this is even still the case. Lawyers even communicate with the court by fax to this day! Especially judicial documents such as a summon, a statement of defense, and deeds are regularly submitted to the court by fax!
Digitization due to corona
Fortunately, things have changed in the legal profession in recent years. Even though the older generation of lawyers still work a lot with paper and paper law books are still used and the legal reference books are still available in book form and are also still being sold!
Corona has of course caused a lot of misery all over the world. However, the consequence of the coronavirus was also that appointments with clients, with counterparties, and with the court could no longer take place face-to-face. The business community and especially the legal profession were forced to make more use of the digital possibilities offered by Google and Windows, among others.
For example, personal injury lawyers were used to having appointments with clients at the office or at the client until the corona measures came into effect. This also applied to court hearings. It was unthinkable that these discussions would take place digitally.
As a result of the corona measures, digital discussions have now been introduced in the legal profession and in the courts. Even judicial hearings were held by video calling.
Corona measures have become less severe in recent times. Yet we see that lawyers and the judiciary now continue to make more use of video calling with the programs of Windows and Google. Progress that was unimaginable before the corona measures!
Digitization of legal reference works
Until a few years ago, it was customary in the legal profession for every law firm to have a physical library. This had to be replaced periodically. Logical because the law is also regularly changed and new case law is constantly being made. Large amounts of paper were therefore lost every year.
Part of the legal profession still has a paper library at its disposal. The digital library has now entered the legal profession. The courts and courts of appeal are now also making increasing use of this.
With the digital library it is possible to work quickly. After all, you can simply enter a search term in the search bar and the correct information will automatically appear. You can also search specifically for legal terms.
Digitization in personal injury claims
Personal injury law is one of the areas where digital search programs are widely used. This is because personal injury is a very wide area. It spans multiple jurisdictions and can be found in many different laws. Various types of legal regulations apply to a rear-end collision (in Dutch: kop staart botsing). Firstly, the liability law applies to a rear-end collision. After all, a car accident results in a wrongful act of the person who drives on the back of another car. But traffic law also applies to a car accident. This is a completely different regulation and can be found in another code. Finally, the types of damaged items are again part of case law and other regulations. Digitization makes it possible to quickly find and apply all regulations.
Working with client files
The business community is also increasingly aware of the fact that the legal profession is digitizing. Not only are many types of digital knowledge bases offered, there are now also many providers of digital systems for processing client data.
Many of the digital system’s lawyers use to operate in the cloud. Not only is this safer, it also brings a lot of conveniences. With the systems that work in the cloud, you can work anywhere. So not only at the office but also at home and even on vacation.
Working with client systems is also a lot safer now that data is less likely to end up on the street. Certainly, if physical client files will be a thing of the past in the legal profession. In the past, these files were often lost with all the consequences that entail.
Conclusion: lawyers have made changes
Until recently, the legal profession still worked with paper. Even the fax is not yet a thing of the past in the lawyer. In recent years there has been a major change and lawyers are increasingly working digitally. Partly as a result of the corona measures, lawyers and lawyers are changing, and much more is being done with digital work in the legal profession and in the judiciary.
