Faced with the development of new online legal services, the world of training is getting organized to prepare “augmented lawyers”.

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IStock / City Presse

The rise of new technologies has for years disrupted many sectors of activity.

And after a first movement of rejection, the field of law has also embraced this market, the "legaltech".

Faced with the needs of experts and the potential for future development, the world of training is getting organized to prepare the lawyers of tomorrow.

A booming market

The first online legal services were launched in France in 2014 by various start-ups.

First of all controversial, these initiatives have gradually demonstrated their legitimacy by putting in place a strict and secure framework.

A common ethical charter with the regulated professions even saw the light of day in 2016.

Today, there are many companies that use digital technologies at the service of the law.

Each one intervenes in a particular field: the automation of legal documents, the bringing together of lawyers, the financing of legal actions, mediation, services of referral to jurisdictions, editing and legal documentation or even prediction. court decisions (analysis of case law).

According to the legaltechs barometer published by Wolters Kluwer and Maddyness, law start-ups raised nearly 100 million euros between 2016 and 2019, including more than 52 million euros for that year alone.

What to show a strong growth of the sector.

The regulated professions have also taken the bandwagon in order to offer “augmented lawyers”.

More and more firms and studies are developing their own dematerialized solutions (bailiff's acts, divorce by mutual consent, contestation of fines, drafting of company contracts, etc.).

Specialized modules

Faced with this revolution in practice, training is a crucial issue in preparing the lawyers of tomorrow to use these technologies.

Moreover, new hybrid professions are being created in the field, such as coding lawyers, data lawyers or even privacy lawyers.

As soon as you intend to practice a legal profession, a course in a law school remains essential,

a fortiori

if you aim for competitive examinations for regulated professions (lawyer, bailiff, notary, etc.).

That said, if working in legal technology appeals to you, it would be advantageous to supplement your training with adapted modules.

And if everything remains to be done in this area, more and more specialized programs are being set up.

Some faculties offer university degrees (DU) dedicated to interactions between digital and legal, the digital transformation of law, predictive justice or even entrepreneurship in legaltech.

Other universities have set up professional licenses dedicated to para-legaltech to train legal secretaries and assistants in the use of digital tools.

Several law schools still offer programs dedicated to digital innovation.

Finally, some legaltechs have also launched their training courses to meet their recruitment needs, such as the Legaltech Lawyer Academy.

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The good addresses

The legaltech sector does not yet have a well-supervised training universe.

To learn more about the subject and find your way around, here are some addresses:

  • The National Digital Law Federation: it has only just been created but should soon list the various specialized diplomas in the sector on its site https://fdnum.org.

  • The Legaltech Village: this forum brings together professionals from the sector each year in Paris.

    More information on: https://transformations-droit.com.

  • Village-justice.com: this information site created by the community of legal professions closely follows the evolutions of the practice and the development of legaltech.

    In particular, it gives a list of training courses in this area.

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