Though a relatively late adopter of technology, the traditionally cautious legal sector is now changing gradually. As they move towards automation, technology is transforming law professionals to be more proficient. The advent of technologies has impacted every aspect of the legal field, starting from the corporate practices, courtroom operations to document management. Digital forensics, eDiscovery, electronic billing, e-filling are some of the areas wherein technology has improved the efficiency of professionals. Digitalizing the legal process also helps law practitioners to deliver a cost-effective service, that too in real-time.
However, to leverage the pervasive power of technology, one needs an expert, who is proficient in both technology and legal proceedings. It is the duty of such law technology firms or service providers to streamline processes that helps legal professionals achieve their goals.
Recognizing the surge in such legal consultancies, we had an opportunity to interact with Rob Crowley, Managing Director of Anexsys. This firm leads the industry with eDisclosure, digital forensics, among many other legal practices. The following conversation with Mr. Crowley provides insights into how technology is being used in practice of law and how his company differentiates from others.
IS Team: Give a brief overview of the company, its solutions and services?
Mr. Crowley: Anexsys is an independent legal technology consultancy that provides eDiscovery, digital forensics and litigation support services to law firms, corporations and government bodies in the UK and Europe. We specialise in custom software development and our in-house team design eDiscovery and legal technology solutions.
IS Team: How do you diversify your products/solutions in ways that would benefit your clientele?
Mr. Crowley: Our software development team enable us to diversify the eDiscovery solutions that we provide to clients. We can combine eDiscovery technology with solutions from major cloud service providers (such as AWS and Microsoft Azure) as soon as they are released, giving clients immediate access to the latest technologies.
We have recently integrated software which enables the identification of personal information within documents and we have previously integrated numerous technologies into eDiscovery platforms, widening the scope of services we provide to our clients.
IS Team: Describe the experiences, achievements or lessons learnt that have shaped the journey of the company.
Mr. Crowley: Since rebranding as Anexsys in 2013, our team has grown from 6 staff to over 50. During this period of consistent growth, our consultants have gained invaluable experience through the management of eDiscovery projects worldwide.
We have received multiple nominations for innovation awards within the eDiscovery industry for the bespoke applications we have built for Relativity. Receiving this recognition has inspired the ethos of the company and we to continue to push boundaries and expand the capabilities of eDiscovery technology. This has led to the development of our own eDiscovery platform Entity which was built over the last two years. Entity is a cloud-based legal technology platform for lawyers. It simplifies eDiscovery and incorporates a variety of cloud technologies.
IS Team: How does the company contribute towards assisting developments in the landscape of the discipline of Law?
Mr. Crowley: We aim to bridge the gap between law and technology for our clients and we have legally trained staff who ensure that our clients benefit from the technical services we offer.
We provide legal updates to law firms and professional bodies. We have recently provided an update on the Disclosure Pilot Scheme (new disclosure rules applicable in the Business & Property Courts from 2019-2021) to the PNLA (Professional Negligence Lawyers Association) and to the Birmingham Law Society.
We are members of ILTA (International Legal Technology Association) SCL (Society for Computers & Law) and UKLTA (UK Legal Technology Association). We aim to contribute to initiatives which bring the legal and technology sectors together and our consultants participate in panels and discussions focussed on the application of eDiscovery technology.
IS Team: Where does the company see itself in the long run and/or what are its future goals?
Mr. Crowley: Long-term our goal is to continue the journey we have been on since 2013 and to grow our team of highly-specialised technical consultants, who can overcome any challenge experienced by users of eDiscovery technology. We want to play an integral role in the development of eDiscovery technology and to create more solutions which are adopted industry wide.
IS Team: Considering the rising number of e-discovery solution providers, how does your company sustain its competency in the global market?
Mr. Crowley: We foster an environment of professional growth to ensure the continuous development of our staff. We welcome the increase in competition in the eDiscovery sector, knowing that it can only result in an improvement in the services we offer. Our track record of growth and delivery indicates our understanding of the market and how to address our clients’ needs.
We understand the importance of not standing still and ensuring that our clients have access to market leading technologies. We have recently partnered with Brainspace so that we can offer their cutting-edge analytics to clients, alongside cloud-based eDiscovery platforms RelativityOne and Entity.
