The last few years have been exponentially welcoming to a variety of legal tech startups in India. Numerous legal tech companies have mushroomed countrywide, simplifying how legal professionals deliver services, and how customers access them.
In this blog post, we have consolidated the different segments of the legal tech market in India that are helping the legal industry streamline its functions and speed up legal service and justice delivery in our country.
Contents
Segments of Legal Tech Market in India
The future of legal tech market in India
Segments of Legal Tech Market in India
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Online Dispute Resolution – ODR in India
ODR or Online dispute resolution is the latest branch of alternative dispute resolution mechanism. It allows individuals and enterprises to resolve their disputes outside the court with the use of ADR methods such as negotiation, arbitration and mediation.
ODR in India is also reducing the burden of already exhausted Courts in India and providing a more cost-efficient method to the common man. Further, it allows users to resolve their dispute in a more collaborative, amicable and effective manner. Numerous legal tech startups in India offer ODR platforms for a variety of civil, commercial and personal legal disputes. Some leading ODR startups in India are:
2. e-Signature and e-Verification
A relatively new segment in the legal Tech market in India, e-signature and e-verification allows users to sign their legal documents online. e-signature allows clients to file their paperwork, attest scanned and digital copies of legal documents, and verify documents in seconds. e-signature platforms also enable document signing through digital signatures or by handwritten signature traced via finger or stylus.
Legal professionals do not need to rely on physical paperwork or personally get a client’s signature. They can create and share contracts quickly and ask the client to sign them with the click of a button. Some leading e-signature and e-verification legal tech startups are:
3. Compliance and risk management
Risk and compliance management software allows enterprises and law firms to manage their compliance needs more promptly and accurately. GCs can also process their regulatory and legal compliance on a single platform. The software also allows compliance managers to monitor regulatory changes, manage compliance documents, and analyse past compliance records.
They can also perform a risk assessment to identify weaknesses in the company’s risk management strategies. Some of the leading compliance and risk management legal tech startups are:
4. Legal research and analytics
Research for a matter is not limited to bulky law books and court judgments anymore. Further, the traditional process of legal research is time-consuming, prone to inaccuracies and redundant. Lawyers need to find creative resources to support their arguments and findings and opt for more tech-driven solutions to execute their legal research.
With the advent of artificial intelligence in the legal sector, legal research has become a more simplified, prompt and automatic process. AI-based legal research tools and platforms are also making it easier for lawyers to sift through huge mountains of data in minutes and deduce accurate search results.
The most popular AI legal research solutions are:
5. Contract management
Lawyers can also manage, create, sign, negotiate and renew contracts digitally from a consolidated contract management tool. Such a tool allows law firms, GCs and legal teams to create and manage bulk contracts, share them online with their clients, and also make changes in real-time.
Lawyers can end up spending hours manually drafting and managing agreements. A contract management software eliminates this and makes document creation, amendment, and signing a matter of a few clicks. It also creates a repository of contracts for the lawyers to define standard contract types and automates templates. The focus here is on reducing manual labour while also minimising risks. Here are some top contract management solutions for Indian lawyers and law firms:
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Anvi Legal
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Surukam Analytics
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Pensieve
6. Legal matter management
Another vital segment in the legal tech market in India is legal matter management that allows lawyers and law firms to manage their case lifecycle more efficiently. A legal matter management software allows lawyers to define all their legal matters, condense documents, manage contracts, send invoices and track case updates with a unified system.
Often considered a part of lawyer practice management software, matter management streamlines how lawyers manage their cases from beginning till the end. Here’s a list of some of the most popular matter management solutions:
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Legistify
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Volody
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MyAdvo
7. Lawyer practice management
Law practice management systems also enable law firms and lawyers to manage all their legal functions. It is an end-to-end solution that makes it easier for legal professionals to undertake functions like case management, timekeeping, billing, document management, client relationship management, etc. Some good lawyer practice management tools also come with integration for accounting and finance, legal marketing, payment management and reporting.
The best way to harness all these benefits is to choose a cloud-based LPMS that comes with the option of customisation and 24*7 access. Top lawyer practice management tools on our list are:
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matters.Cloud
8. e-discovery
Discovery involves exchanges of information and evidence between team members, counsels and courts. The process of discovery also plays a key role in other legal processes such as investigation, dispute settlement and even ADR.
When it comes to e-discovery, the process focuses on electronically stored information (ESI) and how lawyers can treat it more easily. Relativity is one such e-discovery platform that allows lawyers to collect and store critical ESI, perform targeted data collection, build case strategy and much more.
9. IP management
Intellectual property management can be a tedious, time-consuming and complicated process. It also requires constant devotion and prompt decision making to protect the owner’s IP rights and take necessary legal action. Further, the task involves tons of paperwork that requires carefully tracking and updating. Even single mismanagement can lead to infringement, non-compliance and loss.
An IP management platform allows law firms and enterprises to securely manage their IP data, documents, and responsibilities on a unified system. Additionally, users can easily manage their Trademark, Copyright, Patent or Design, file compliance returns, oppositions, track infringement and IP renewal requirements. It also allows users to manage deadlines, case hearing, track IP registration status and set renewal reminders. Some of the IP management tools in India are:
10. Litigation finance
It is a relatively newer segment in the legal tech market in India while the concept has existed for centuries in some countries. Litigation funding allows a third party to extend full or partial financial support to a litigant to continue their legal matter. In this arrangement, the third party can fund the legal expenses for a person without having any interest in the matter whatsoever!
If the litigant wins, the funder can claim an agreed percentage in the claim proceeds. However, if the litigant loses, the funder gets nothing in return. The concept may sound unbelievable, but companies like LegalPay offer flexible litigation funding for their legal expenses, expert witnesses and working capital.
11. Retail law
Consumers in India are self-educating them when it comes to making critical decisions for their health, finances, education and even legal matters. Additionally, they want an array of options online to evaluate and directly receive legal assistance online for their one-time legal requirement.
This has birthed the concept of retail law in the legal tech market in India. Legal platforms offer direct business-to-consumer legal solutions to individuals and enterprises. Whether it is a quick legal notice drafting requirement or a business registration requirement or a trademark filing need. Consumers are using retail law platforms for a quick, “use and check-out service”. Platforms like Vakilsearch, Legalraasta, IndiaFilings and Legaldesk offer a variety of retail law solutions to both individual customers as well as businesses.
12. Legal marketplaces
Also called a lawyer directory or database, a legal marketplace is equivalent to platforms like Practo and Amazon. The online difference here is that you choose your lawyer instead of booking a doctor’s consultation or buying the latest gadgets.
A legal marketplace serves as a unified platform that helps users find and connect with a lawyer online. Users can simply choose the kind of legal matter and find a specialised lawyer within their budget and city. It also allows users to seek legal advice, consult lawyers over a call and even hire them for their legal matters. India has seen a boom in the legal marketplace since 2015, with platforms like Lawrato, Legistify, MyAdvo, Lawfarm and Lawyered helping users to connect with lawyers across the country.
The future of legal tech market in India
The role of technology is undeniable and unavoidable in the Indian legal industry. The assortment of tech solutions in the legal tech market in India has brought more efficiency and standardisation in the sector. It has also streamlined tasks that were thought to be repetitive and tedious.
Keeping this in mind, it will not be wrong to ascertain that the legal tech market in India is only going to grow moving forward, and come up with more innovative solutions that can finally make the legal sector more reliable and approachable for the common man.
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