Navigating the Finnish Legal Tech Map: Bridging Innovation and User Experience
Text: Hannele Korhonen, Founder of Lawyers Design School
Finnish Legal Tech Map revised
We are delighted to publish the latest Finnish Legal Tech Map. This fourth edition showcases the legal tech and legal design innovators from Finland who are shaping the future of law in 2023.
The Finnish Legal Tech Map is a collaborative effort of the VP of M-Files Ment Kaisa Kromhof, and the CEO of Ilves Solutions Heikki Ilvessalo. The map aims to simplify how customers can buy Finnish legal tech solutions while providing visibility to Finnish legal tech and legal design companies.
The legal technology landscape is evolving rapidly. Finnish legal tech companies have emerged as key players, offering innovative solutions that meet customer needs worldwide.
The entire Finnish legal tech ecosystem is advancing, bringing growth opportunities for customers and legal tech companies, says Heikki Ilvessalo.
Kaisa Kromhof stresses legal tech is no longer just the future. Digitalization in the legal sector is already a reality, with scalable solutions, global use cases, and tangible impact. Finnish legal tech is well-positioned to lead the development. Many Finnish legal tech companies are in the season of growth and scale, while new innovators are constantly emerging to keep the ecosystem vibrant and dynamic.
What’s new on the map?
This fourth edition introduces new legal tech companies as well as some new categories of legal tech products that have emerged in the Finnish legal tech scene. The new category additions include legal entity management, virtual data rooms, access to justice, time tracking, and generative AI.
This edition is more user-friendly because vendors had the opportunity to be featured in up to three categories, making it easier for potential buyers to discover the right solutions for their specific needs.
Legal tech is transforming legal workflows, according to Inge Delputte
Inge Delputte is the Legal Director of Fujirebio, a biotechnology company specializing in diagnostic products. Delputte’s team has needs associated with efficiency, and the team is constantly assessing emerging legal tech.
The challenges of recurring administrative tasks
Delputte highlights the main pain point for their legal team is the workload associated with recurring administrative tasks rather than strictly legal matters. The goal is to drastically reduce the time spent on administration so the lawyers can focus on adding value.
Following up on contract requests, writing recurring contracts, monitoring the signing process, and keeping track of signed contracts, this whole process needs to be as streamlined as possible, says Delputte. We are gradually improving our operations by implementing legal tech solutions.
Law firm support enhancing legal tech implementation
Delputte sees the opportunity for law firms to support in-house teams in legal tech implementation. For instance, law firms could help in-house teams create or update a clause database, where various clauses in multiple adaptable versions are made available to the in-house counsel. Law firms better understand the sensitivity of wording across jurisdictions. This collaboration would empower the legal in-house teams to build a valuable clause database they can consult daily to enrich the contract templates.
Positive experiences with Finnish legal tech
Delputte’s team has had positive experiences with Finnish legal tech, specifically with Ment (formerly known as Contract Mill). They value its ease of use, transparency in fee structures, and continuous improvements based on customer feedback. Additionally, Delputte highlights the importance of active customer satisfaction monitoring.
Seamless integration is the key to uncomplicated legal tech
Legal tech solutions must be comprehensive integrations to cover the full scope of activities without overcomplicating day-to-day use. Integrations are always the challenging point, as various software on the market tends to focus on specific workflow sections, such as legal intake, contract drafting, e-signing, and filing, without effectively communicating with each other.
An uncomplex legal tech solution that encompasses the entire breadth of day-to-day activities is what lawyers need, stresses Delputte.
Harnessing contract data to fuel generative AI
Regarding generative AI, Delputte sees its potential in proposing appropriate clauses and solutions based on vast contract data available at their company. For instance, generative AI could help us suggest clauses for the various contracts we are drafting using different scenarios. Since Fujirebio has a database of over 8000 contracts dating to the 1980s, we have a lot of data to mine for that particular purpose.
Smart education of legal tech through legal design
Inge Delputte sees legal design and legal tech complementing each other through smart education. Legal tech can optimize processes and elevate legal design by proposing alternative contract wording, suggesting suitable dispute resolutions depending on the context, and even generating initial litigation reports.
Finnish legal tech is customer-centric, says Janne Ala-Sippola
Janne Ala-Sippola is a Project Manager in the law firm Fondia, managing the development work, including collaboration with legal tech companies. Fondia is actively seeking and curating legal tech solutions available in the market. They use the tools internally and assist their clients in navigating the growing range of legal tech vendors.
Ala-Sippola has first-hand experience with the challenges and questions in-house teams face regarding digitalization and legal tech. Navigating the myriad of products and solutions can be daunting, especially if the in-house team is not tech-oriented. Keeping up to date on what’s available and relevant adds to the complexity, and many Fondia clients turn to Fondia asking for help.
The Finnish Legal Tech Map is a valuable tool to stay in the know on what’s available in the Finnish market, says Ala-Sippola.
Legal tech solves in-house team pain points
Ala-Sippola has identified three key themes for pain points experienced by inhouse-teams in their everyday work.
- Managing knowledge: How to find relevant information as quickly as possible.
- Efficient processes: How to improve the efficiency of the team with streamlined processes
- Implementation and communication: How to get people involved, follow the process and use the tech
Legal tech can address all of these challenges. However, amid all the developments, Ala-Sippola stresses the importance of human-centricity. We need to acknowledge that people still have the same brains and take care of people and their well-being.
Customer-centric approach
Based on his experiences in buying and using Finnish legal tech, Ala-Sippola commends the customer-centric approach adopted by the companies listed on the map. These companies prioritize accessibility and personal customer service, placing the customer at the core of their operations.
Finnish legal tech firms build strong relationships with their clients, providing easily accessible customer support and offering assistance whenever needed. Ala-Sippola says these companies develop a reputation of reliability and confidence among customers through their dedication to quality and trust.
Integration for efficiency and ease
One of the major bottlenecks for implementing legal tech has been the ability to integrate legal tech with other systems. According to Janne Ala-Sippola, this capability has significantly evolved in Finnish legal tech solutions.
Many companies are now actively communicating about the integrability and the available APIs, enabling smooth implementation without the hassle of complex integration projects. Smooth integration is a breakthrough, ensuring a cohesive and seamless customer experience.
The promise of generative AI
Since the publication of ChatGPT last year, the potential of generative AI in the legal tech field has become increasingly intriguing. Ala-Sippola acknowledges that the development and utilization of generative AI models have the power to revolutionize legal processes.
From summarizing vast amounts of data to automating routine tasks, AI-powered solutions can assist legal professionals in ways we cannot see or imagine. The concept of “create once, publish everywhere” can become a powerful approach for lawyers.
However, he acknowledges the need for human oversight and quality control to ensure accuracy and contextual understanding in the use of generative AI.
The synergy of legal design and legal tech
The intersection of legal design and legal tech offers a compelling opportunity for collaboration and innovation. Ala-Sippola highlights the importance of integrating design principles into legal tech solutions to enhance user experience.
User-centric design thinking empowers legal tech platforms to be more intuitive, user-friendly, and efficient. Additionally, open communication and collaboration between legal design and legal tech is critical, estimates Ala-Sippola. By leveraging the strengths of both fields, legal professionals can drive collaborative innovation, reimagining traditional processes and delivering comprehensive and impactful legal solutions.
Finnish Legal Tech Map – the resource for you
It’s exciting to see the commitment of Finnish legal tech companies to develop cutting-edge solutions that benefit legal professionals and customers.
We hope the Finnish Legal Tech Map is a powerful resource, guiding customers and professionals to navigate the ecosystem of Finnish legal tech and legal design companies.
