Main Challenges Of Custom Legal Solution Development (And Strategies For Overcoming Them)

77% of corporate legal departments anticipate their use of workflow and process automation to increase; only 2% believe this will decrease in their organization, says the survey conducted by ALM. 

This scenario and the fact that automation creates a direct threat for the legal industry by replacing lawyers in favor of machines when it comes to routine and monotonous tasks (roughly 10% of all LLCs and 5% of all corporations formed in the United States in 2020 were handled by LegalZoom) leaves legal businesses with little choice. They either adapt to the challenge and overcome it… or they don’t. 

Custom application development that allows lawyers to leverage the advantages of technology that were specifically designed to meet their use cases seems like a rational solution. 

Moreover, this step is quite common among businesses from various industries. Application development is one of the most frequently outsourced IT functions in 2021. More than 60% of tech companies are outsourcing at least a part of their application development. 

And yet most law firms are still reluctant to consider either outsourcing or outstaffing as, theoretically, the process proves to be too much of a risk. 

Several risks, actually. 

Fortunately, most of these risks and challenges can be overcome with the right vendor to guide your path. Here’s an example of how our team at Catware deals with some of the most common risks of legal application development outsourcing/ 

Challenge 1: Development is challenging and expensive

It is true that programming can take a long time and requires an upfront investment. Most projects are conducted by a team of at least four people in charge of project management, design, development, and quality assurance. These people develop the solution in stages. All of these are necessary to the success of the project: gathering the requirements, designing the architecture, working on UI/UX, and actual coding. 

You will be billed at every stage of the development cycle, which may take weeks or even months while the final product will be in your hands when all is done. These risks are quite clear. 

Solution: Developer with a plan

Look for an experienced vendor. They will have a ready and stacked team of experts with hands-on experience in the field. The logic is quite simple: people who know what they are doing will do the job faster. 

It’s more than a steady hand though. Given our prior experience, our team already has a wide array of ready-to-use technologies that can be integrated into a project at a moment’s notice. This covers some of the most common use cases and ensures that some work can be done 90% faster.  

Moreover, custom development will result in a solution you can truly call your own. Both in terms of functionality, and in terms of licensing. You will not be forced to pay any additional fees or lasting software licenses which will save you a lot of money in the long run. 

Challenge 2: Determining expertise

We are all experts at what we do. That being said, the legal industry rarely requires seasoned veterans of the engineering craft to fill in the shoes of practicing lawyers. Online interviews are complicated, especially for lawyers who lack the necessary skills to evaluate a technical specialist. 

What this means is that the process of looking for a vendor is quite challenging. The process of interviewing technical experts is even more daunting given legal experts and decision-makers rarely possess the necessary skills to evaluate a software developer’s expertise. 

Solution 2: Demo

Here, at Catware, we choose to solve this challenge in the simplest way possible. We gather the requirements of our clients in order to show them a technical demo before moving on to seal the deal. This is an excellent method of showing what our team is capable of through action rather than conversation. We take the extra effort to adjust the demo to your needs, so you are essentially evaluating a product, rather than the people behind it. 

Challenge 3: integration

Successful integration is also a major concern among legal companies. Most have established business processes that have been polished for years or – in some cases – decades. This brings a series of challenges when introducing new technology into the mix as the risk of disrupting existing workflows oftentimes outweighs the benefits of additional functionality. Automation, after all, needs to make work faster, not harder. 

Solution 3: Working closely with your business infrastructure

Again, this risk can be overcome with the right choice of a vendor. Our team, for example, is proud of our background of successfully updating and invigorating legacy projects. Most of our developers have been in the industry for a minimum of 15 years. As such, they have hands-on experience with outdated technologies you may still rely on. 

That said, experience with legacy projects is not the most important element of successful integration. The key lies in understanding the system (or systems) you have in place at the moment. As such, it is crucial to discuss your technological environment with the company you’ve chosen to develop a custom solution for you. 

Challenge 4: Security concerns

Cybersecurity remains a challenge for law firms regardless of whether they choose to outsource custom software development or not. They are prime targets for hackers and cybercriminals as is. In fact, 71% of Top 100 firms state that they are “somewhat concerned” or “extremely concerned” about the cybersecurity threat. For Top 11-25 firms, cybersecurity was ranked the greatest threat.

In turn, custom development adds additional layers of threats to one’s security concerns as new products open new potential vulnerabilities. The use of third-party frameworks and tools (that may not be as thoroughly protected as the ones you are using) is a major risk. 

Solution 4: Working within a set perimeter

This solution actually comes from the previous one. When working with a vendor, make sure that they understand your existing technological environment – including existing security protocols – and work within it. 

For instance, we choose to rely on open-source technologies as they have already proven themselves to be much safer because they are surrounded by passionate communities. These technologies are being continuously updated, monitored, and patched. 

In addition to that, we do not require access to your data for software development and our solutions are integrated within your established security perimeter be it on-premises or in the cloud. 

A checklist of what to look for in a custom application development partner

So, how does one find a reliable partner capable of helping businesses overcome most of the challenges associated with custom development? 

• Communication skills: You can get a nice picture of a company’s experience by judging the
• Price: The quote for the development should be within both your budget and reasonable pricing for similar projects. We suggest contacting several vendors and comparing their pricing. 
• Recommendations: Check the vendor’s previous track record, case studies, and recommendations. 
• Tech infrastructure: Make sure that your vendor has access to the necessary software and hardware that’s required to build the project. 
• Accessibility: Businesses often outsource to companies from overseas. While this approach can be a bit more cost-effective, the challenges brought upon by working with a team in a different time zone can negate the potential benefits.