With some economists forecasting a global recession is imminent, corporate legal departments and law firms may be having flashbacks to the Great Recession, when thousands of in-house and outside counsel jobs were slashed.

However, unlike a decade ago, many in legal are now leveraging more advanced legal technology for their day-to-day practice. How will such modern tools change the situation this time around?

While firms and corporate legal departments say they aren't actively preparing for a recession, they agree legal technology will be an asset, but not a leading factor, in surviving an economic downturn. Although a recession may create budget pressures that would make adopting more legal technology unlikely for some, most law firms and legal departments say they wouldn't drop proven tools and services that help them work more cost-effectively and reach their business goals.

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Preparing for the Future

Despite growing talks of a recession, few in legal say they are bracing for an economic downturn. Rather than a recession influencing their planning, law firms are assessing their client and business needs to inform their legal tech purchases so they can succeed in any economic climate.

Peter Hitson, Carlton Fields' director of legal project and practice management, believes his firm will continue to use the same type of technology no matter the economic situation.

"In the current climate we have been proactive in our investment and activity, and I don't think you would encounter a recession and jump to technology as your immediate solution," Hitson says.

He notes the firm's license with Neota Logic, an artificial intelligence platform that allows users to make automation solutions without coding, is an investment that's useful for developing client solutions during economic booms and busts.

Meanwhile, some corporate legal departments say their departments aren't actively preparing for a downswing in the economy, though they are always looking for any process that can be streamlined. At TE Connectivity, James Michalowicz, senior manager of legal operations business performance, notes his ­legal department has deployed an artificial intelligence platform to automate some tasks.

"Primarily it's to increase our speed so we can work at the speed of the business and free up capacity, but I also believe as we use this tool more and more, we may find some revenue leakage," he says.

Additionally, he says, the AI platform opens up other opportunities for applying automation to more routine legal tasks, resulting in faster and cheaper delivery of legal services. As an example, he cites the drafting, review and negotiation of large-volume, low-risk contracts.

"There are many ways we need to be nimble as a law department. We need to be lean, and the technologies we've invested in allow us to be that way and allow for better positioning when a recession does occur," Michalowicz says.

No matter the economy's outlook, outside counsel are concentrated on providing legal services their clients want, with more clients expecting technology to play a part in the delivery process. In turn, some law firms have created departments and subsidiaries specifically tasked with developing legal technology to help solve clients' challenges.

Allen & Overy's Fuse, for example, is an incubator that connects tech companies, the firm's lawyers and clients to develop legal tech solutions.

"Having been involved in legal tech innovation for some time, we've certainly experienced our clients becoming more and more interested in finding more efficiencies and, recession or not, that will continue to be a trend with clients," says Allen & Overy partner David Lucking.

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Legal Tech, the Ally

Though not actively preparing for a recession, law firms and legal departments note their adoption of legal tech is a significant asset in the face of any potential economic downturn.

McNees Wallace & Nurick chief information officer Stephen Sobotta, for instance, sees more law firms leveraging legal technology as cost-saving tools to give them flexibility to restructure client fees when demand shifts.

During the last recession, "many law firms were just using Microsoft Office products," he says. "Now, many law firms are using document management, time management and client portals. Those technologies, if leveraged and licensed properly, may allow a law firm to assess, if necessary, its fee structure during an ­economic downturn in order to maintain as much of its client base as possible."

Firms that formally promote technology development efforts, such as Allen & Overy, also see legal technology as a way to create more budget-conscious legal services.

"I can see [Fuse] being a benefit in the context of a recession or a scenario when clients are requesting more value efficiency," Lucking says.

Carlton Fields' Hitson adds that legal technology that streamlines work can also be an asset during difficult ­economic times because it enhances a lawyer's ability to meet clients' varying needs.

"The real key is that technology, whenever you are using it, has to be aimed at being efficient, consistent and delivering high quality," Hitson says. "If it's long term and grounded in those concepts, hopefully you won't have to make drastic changes and will be able to take advantage of client needs that may arise or change during a down economy."

To be sure, some might be uneasy about clients turning to legal technology as an alternative legal service provider. But no law firm or legal department interviewed for this article believes technology will replace lawyers. Lucking believes technology will only improve lawyers' work, not overtake it.

"While I do not foresee the stereotype in the news of technology replacing lawyers, I certainly expect for the technology to improve," he says.

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Finding Legal Tech's Voice

While legal technology may be an asset, it is still unlikely that many law firms and legal departments will deploy new legal technology during a recession, when scrutiny and financial uncertainty would be high.

"When you are going through a recession, you may not have the resources to invest in technology at that point," says Charandeep Kaur, Juniper Networks' senior director and head of legal operations.

Speaking generally on the industry, Kaur notes that when a company is in the throes of a recession, it's harder to take on new transformations.

"There is more scrutiny on your spend, and often when going through a recession there are budget cuts and head count cuts that could happen," she explains.

Instead, Kaur advises legal departments to adopt legal technology and streamline workflows before economic downturns.

"If you don't have technology to automate your workflow or e-discovery or contract processes, doing it manually isn't ideal, and that doesn't serve you during a recession," she says.

Likewise, some law firms don't see the recession as the opportune moment to invest and deploy new legal technology, even for those that regularly leverage legal tech.

"Your technology approach has to be strategic," Hitson says. "It may be more difficult in an economic downturn to make an additional investment or respond quickly enough to your clients' needs that may emerge or change."

Although law firms and corporate legal departments are unlikely to add new legal technology to their workflow during a recession, they also don't expect to slash legal technology from their budgets.

TE Connectivity's Michalowicz notes he's unlikely to cut legal technology from his budget during a recession because the platforms have already proved their efficiencies previously.

"Some of the investments in technology are to free up resources and capacity," he says. "They are not fun toys; they are actually being used."

To be sure, Michalowicz has a legal operations title, a burgeoning role in the legal industry tasked with trimming inefficiencies. However, the role hasn't found its way into all law firms or corporate legal departments yet, leaving legal tech without a strong voice in some boardrooms.

"Technology doesn't have a voice because it's generally the least understood item in a law firm," McNees Wallace's Sobotta says. Still, in his role as chief information officer, Sobotta says he can advocate to management the importance of legal technology to serving clients. But as budgets tighten, Sobotta concedes that law firms may halt their adoption of new technology, and stick to proven legal tech tools.

"What we will do during an economic downturn is to continue to leverage the systems we have," he says. "I think the real issue would be it could impact our ability to innovate and find new technology."