Lawyers returning to work this week might have spotted newspapers reporting that this Monday was officially the most depressing day of the year. Dubbing it ‘Blue Monday’, gleefully gloomy reports cited post-Christmas blues, New Year debts and even a surge in filings for divorce as factors in a miserable return to the office.
This article was first published in January 2014. For more up-to-date advice, please contact us
Despite the Guardian’s annual plea for scientific rigour in the face of quackery, citing lack of evidence and the dubiousness of a drinks company designating a depressing day (gin, anyone?) a return to the daily grind can be a glum experience. The tinsel’s tarnished, the port is gone, and meanwhile the inbox is bursting at the seams.
Here at Legastat, we have little truck with talk of January gloom. Instead, we’re looking forward to another year of exciting developments in the legal field. The New Year is a fresh chance for lawyers to build on 2013’s achievements – and remedy lost opportunities. The startling speed of developments in legal tech shows no sign of abating in the coming year: instead, we are likely to see more and more innovations at our disposal.
The excellent MakeMoreRain blog has begun the year by canvassing some top law bloggers on their predictions for 2014 – and the crystal ball has plenty to show:
- Firms are likely to make more use of ‘cloud’ data storage –
- And, alongside, will need to make steps to improve their data security measures.
- The use of specialised apps will become more popular, as lawyers seek out quirky and innovative solutions to day-to-day problems.
- The need to cut costs will drive firms to make better use of innovations such as eDisclosure, eDiscovery and digital bundles.
- Firms will rely more and more on social media platforms and mobile search as part of their marketing strategies.
It’s time, then, to ring out the old, and ring in the new. Out with tiresome, old-fashioned, inefficient practices that benefit no-one, and in with everything that innovation has to offer. Out with cumbersome bundles of paperwork that let you down at the last minute, and in with responsive tools that will work hard to make your work easier. If you keep one resolution in this legal year, let it be to work more closely and effectively with your litigation support partners –and help make those Mondays happier.
