INTRODUCTION
Do you know what is helping you to read this article? In the modern dynamic world where things are changing at a constant speed. Working for this human race, the crucial role of technology is inalienable. Technology is pivotal for providing easy, better reach and connectivity among us. In this scenario where tech startups are booming and raising billions of bucks and becoming Unicorn. Legal startups are also coming to the forefront heading the race to provide easy access to justice to the people while using technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Automation etc. These technologies are yet to wholly pervade our legal system providing better resolution to disputes, interpretation of laws, providing justice to the victims, punishing offenders etc. The system is not fully integrated and synchronized and has yet to penetrate the other areas. However, these Legal startups have started the ball rolling and further these legal startups have gained momentum and are working progressively towards achieving goals.
TECHNOLOGY
Technology which can effortlessly break the shackles of injustice to reach the victims is on its way to fully working to establish just and equity in the system, albeit an uphill battle. The battle continues as those conservatives who are adamant not change. The only visible change is the adoption from 2000 to 2022 is MS office 2000 to MS office 2021. They are reluctant to change as we can see the change is a threat to their profession and their survival in their very own industry. From the commencement, the outsiders were restricted to enter the legal profession, which lead to less creative characters in the profession, which further restricted value addition and inventions into this white collar métier.
As we say “Necessity is the mother of Invention”, With the dawn of the tech era in the legal field we need the wheel, we certainly need legal cum tech startups to raise the bar and outreach to provide justice and stability in the system. When we talk about technology like Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Blockchain, big data, Cloud Computing, Machine Learning, IOT etc. With these technologies on board, they can penetrate deep into the legal system reaching out to the masses and providing effective solutions to the problems of the people. We need such legal entrepreneurs who are ready to take on challenges that are rolled on their way. Find the loopholes and the gaps in the system and be ready to take opportunities to make it a profitable and social arrangement for society at large.
The 16th SDG i.e. Peace & Justice for all, Currently there is a justice gap in our society, in layman terms justice gap is the no. of people from lower strata of society demanding justice versus the unmet justice need. As we say inequality in access to justice is no less than Injustice. The need for justice in society is to make it accessible which is the need of the hour. Right to Information Act, 2005 is one such thing, the online application has even made the scope of RTI even wider where anyone sitting at their home and office can straightaway file their appeal and fight for their cause and get justice.
Artificial Intelligence as the name suggests a human-made intelligence which functions according to the task given to it. Ranging from inferring statements, collecting information, and analyzing the pattern of past judgements of a judge to forecast the current scenario also stated by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, “technology is relevant insofar as it fosters efficiency, transparency, and objectivity in public government. AI is present to provide a facilitative tool to judges to recheck or evaluate the work, the process, and the judgments.”
Automation or automatic operation can help in the electronic signature, contract automation and review, and even arguments to be advanced in the courtrooms, making things easier for lawyers to work. The e-courts project which is in phase II is aimed at making the legal process easier and more user-friendly and providing transparency of Information access to its stakeholders. Further, the administration burden of courts and backlog trials can be reduced with such technology. With the help of authentic and genuine research sites like SCC Online, Manupatra and Live Law etc young and budding Lawyers can research and hone their skills to get an edge over others. Blockchain is another such breakthrough that can help the system with chain of custody, convicts, Machine Machine Payments and Blockchain-Based Arbitration Systems. Blockchain technology can streamline, re-engineer, automate, disintermediate, and secure many processes in the legal industry without losing any of the judicial authority. The pandemic seemed like a catalyst which not only brought digital transformation from courts adopting online versions and now functioning with hybrid models but also lawyers from filing petitions to presenting appeals to showcasing evidence all can now be streamed online with the due permission of the judge. With such mechanization, the recordings of the court proceeding are now available on platforms where lawyers and interns who are not able to attend the live proceedings of Say Supreme Court of India can now attend the live proceedings online which is now immensely benefitting them.
LEGAL STARTUPS
Provakil offers solutions for legal operations management including litigation management, contract management, and compliance tracking also offers solutions for intellectual property tracking and automatic status updates. While one SpotDraft is a legal tech startup in India company It is an end-to-end contract lifecycle management platform powered by AI. SpotDraft operates in the contract lifecycle management space that provides technology solutions to enterprises and law firms for their contract management needs. Its platform allows businesses to automate their contract analysis, management, and creation processes.
CONCLUSION
There are a few lawyers cum entrepreneurs in this legal field who have sidelined mainstream litigation and corporate jobs and entered the game while detecting the loophole and want to fill the hole with tech solutions and modernize arcane processes that have been creating unnecessary barriers to justice for far too long. The Future belongs to the law profession and I am pretty sure that this noble profession will outshine like never before as the world is increasingly moving to the decade of India’s prosperity and development.
Author(s) Name: Pranav Jain (Government Law College, Mumbai)
