Future Contracts

Ep 5: Rethinking Legal Tech

Jul 8, 2025
Richard Tromans, founder of Artificial Lawyer and legal innovation analyst, shares his insights on the evolving landscape of legal tech. He distinguishes between hype cycles and real innovation, urging the industry to focus on meaningful transformation. The discussion covers the three phases of legal tech, why many lawyers aren’t utilizing current tools, and the increasing influence of clients demanding change. Tromans also addresses the role of AI in the future of legal work and critiques the designs of existing tech products.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Three Eras of Legal Tech

  • Legal tech has evolved through three key eras from primitive databases to digitized law libraries and early practice management to the current AI-driven surge.
  • The current generative AI boom represents a transformative phase that eclipses past incremental advancements.
ANECDOTE

ChatGPT’s Unexpected Engagement

  • Richard shared a personal experience using ChatGPT to research European housing costs.
  • The AI’s conversational and unsolicited follow-up responses showed how quickly generative AI has become normalized.
INSIGHT

AI's Impact vs Past Tech

  • Despite the legal tech boom, lawyers haven't fundamentally changed their work practices.
  • AI promises to be a transformational force reshaping legal work, value, and workflows unlike prior tech upgrades.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app