2023 has been a transformative year in the legal technology space with the rapid growth and emergence of multiple technologies, not to mention the accelerated interest in AI across the industry.
In many ways we have witnessed a changing of the guard, with legacy providers all but disappearing as new cloud native solutions establish dominance in the market.
For Hindsight Legal Consulting, it's been a busy and eye-opening year. While researching our recommended supplier list in the form of the Legal Tech Buyers Guide, we have evaluated many legal technology providers and unearthed some real gems as well as bypassing some turkeys...
We are not finished yet, there are a huge number of vendors in this market with excellent solutions and services, and to acknowledge that, we have recognised just a few of these in our first annual Legal Tech Buyers Guide awards:
WINNER Supplier of the Year: FormEvo https://www.formevo.co.uk/
This award goes to a business that has revolutionised the legal forms market and made it their own. Archie Courage and his team have made enormous strides during 2023 and look set to continue that momentum over the next 12 months and beyond.
WINNER Best Small Law PMS Supplier: Smokeball https://www.smokeball.co.uk/
Quite possibly the most nicely packaged PMS that we've seen. This great business, that focuses on servicing the needs of firms of up to 30 users, is now finally available in the UK after years of strong growth in Australia and North America.
We simply love the usability of the solution and the focus of a business that does not try to be "all things to everyone".
WINNER Best Mid Law PMS Supplier: Actionstep https://www.actionstep.com/
In an area of the market beset with ageing or disappearing suppliers, Actionstep have stepped up and offer an excellent modern solution that meets the needs of arguably the most technologically demanding customers in the legal sector. A phenomenal year of growth both in terms of their customer base and reputation.
WINNER Best Large Law PMS Supplier: Elite 3e https://www.elite.com/products/3e
Having moved away from long term owners Thomson Reuters, Elite now operate as an independent company and have reinvented 3e as a native-cloud financial and practice management solution. As a result, they look set to continue their dominance of the large law sector for the foreseeable future.
WINNER Plays Well with Others Award: Xperate https://www.xperate.com/
The somewhat jokey title of this award, belies a very serious criteria that we look for when evaluating suppliers - namely the ability to integrate well with other vendors. While Xperate are not a software vendor in themselves, they play a huge role in developing and delivering integrations for suppliers and law firms across the market. All this in addition to providing an extensive range of other invaluable development, data and consulting services.
WINNER Business Process Automation provider: Agilico https://www.agilico.co.uk/
While for this award, it was tempting to look at case management solutions or onboarding technologies (special mentions for new entrant Lowcodeminds and Legl in those areas), Agilico bring a host of highly professional solutions to the legal market, not least in the form of streamlining the ever present problem of paper and printing in law firms.
WINNER AI Solution of the Year: Lexi https://asklexi.lext.com.au/
With AI appearing to be simply everywhere, and many suppliers and customers fishing around for an AI strategy and product, this small Australian business have constructed a thoroughly practical and beautifully simple solution that leverages AI in exactly the way law firms need. Regrettably, only available to Australian firms at the present time, we can but hope that other jurisdictions will benefit from this technology in the future.
WINNER Innovation of the Year: Legalito https://www.legalito.co.uk/
Simple, transformative software that makes conveyancers lives easier, and the very definition of software as an enabler. This great new solution streamlines the conveyancing process and helps to guard against professional indemnity claims in the high risk area of pre-contract enquiries.
This truly egalitarian solution is instantly accessible to all lawyers regardless of their technical expertise or existing software solutions.
