What Does the Future Look Like for Personal Injury Lawyers?
Personal injury attorneys, it's time to take a good look at yourselves in the mirror.
If you think a future with driverless cars and fewer accidents will kill your practice, you need to slap yourself in the face. That's not how technology works.
It's supposed to make life better, and that includes your practice. Here's how it's going to work, for better or worse.
Client Referrals
Without clients, there is no law practice and there is no future. That's why technologies that power social media sites are so important, especially to personal injury attorneys.
Unlike defense practices that operate on continuing client relationships, plaintiffs' lawyers survive on fresh meat. After all, how many times can the same client get injured?
Unfortunately, relatively few lawyers have learned to use social media effectively. In the future, personal injury attorneys will have to learn the technology or learn the meaning of "natural selection."
Research and Review
Everybody does legal research online; that's yesterday's news. But did you know that clients and opposing counsel are also researching you?
We're not talking about Google at a minimum or Westlaw at a maximum. We're talking about research that tells people your winning percentage.
Reviews sites like Yelp are not just for restaurant reviews, either. One dissatisfied client can practically put a law firm out of business. That's right, nothing will be private in the future.
Practical Applications
So technologies are modernizing law practices with office management software and even robots. Who needs a real office when you have a digital assistant and all your files in the cloud?
Personal injury attorneys, however, will still need to be in the courtroom. And that's where technologies, like portable devices, digital file management and hi-tech presentations, can help the most.
Judges love tech in the courtroom. It's about making their jobs easier, which will make your job easier. And isn't that what technology in the future is supposed to be about?
Want information on effective advertising? Let the experts at FindLaw's Lawyer Marketing give you a hand.
Related Resources:
- Are Wearable Technology and Personal Injury Law on a Collision Course? (Inc.)
- The Dawn of Digital Litigation: Media Tools in the Courtroom (FindLaw's Law Technology)
- Overview of Courtroom Technology (FindLaw's Law Technology)
- Top 4 Challenges Facing Small Law Firms (FindLaw's Strategist)