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Much has been stated about how technology will influence the legal industry as a whole, but less has been addressed on how technology will affect women practising law. The impact that legal tech (legal technology) will have on the delivery of legal services, as well as how these innovations may impact the hurdles to progress that women confront in the field. The use of legal tech may enhance women's work/life alignment and job satisfaction and organisational commitment by introducing about more flexible work schedules, and fairer recruitment and retention mechanisms, an unrestricted inclusion of legal tech may contribute to higher working hours for less pay, greater competition for case records among associates, and the continued existence of existing gender biases when using algorithms in the legal field.

According to a recent analysis by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion [CCDI], private practice law firm culture has a particular 'hegemonic masculinity,' that creates challenges for women and ethnic minorities who do not reflect the dominant masculine identity of their setting. As a result, work-life balance tends to be deprioritized. Numerous studies have shown that these problems pose a particular concern for women lawyers. 

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They say, As computational technology and artificial intelligence matures, more people will be able to have better access to justice. 

Legal Tech may provide (for example, the potential for e-discovery, legal prediction and analytics, and so on). There is already a substantial body of work that examines the possible concerns that these new technologies may cause, notably with regard to biases and the requirement for accountability in algorithm-based legal decision-making. Of particular relevance to women lawyers is their use in the hiring, promotion or even case file allocation process. Such technologies have not yet been popularised in legal practice but have been used in other professions. When considering the way forward, the first question to ask is one of leadership. Current trends indicate that big commercial law firms and in-house corporate counsel have been driving the move towards automation, AI and legal tech to reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge over other market players.

Since their entry into the legal profession, women have been plagued with barriers along their career path. After doing away with formal entrance barriers, women have had to survive in a profession rigged towards men, and have faced discrimination and gender stereotypes; sexual harassment in the workplace; long and rigid working hours; the unfortunate choice between work and family as they get older; and so on. The changes that AI might bring to the profession might very well be a further burden on women. The predictions on the use of AI in law-related matters such as using algorithms in the hiring, promotion and case assignment process, and in the delivery of legal services (i.e. use of predictive technology in e-discovery, legal search, brief and memo generation and legal prediction & analytics), and the ensuing changes to the traditional legal services structure (i.e. the unbundling of legal work, the changes to the pricing system and the introduction of alternative business structures) indicates so. 

Indeed, these changes could lead: to increased competition for work at lesser wages for junior lawyers and the possibility of even longer working hours as technology enables work to encroach on private life, which impacts negatively on the lawyer’s work/life balance; and secondly, to the increased risk of perpetuation of gender biases in hiring, promotion and assignment of cases. This worry is further exacerbated by the lack of research on the issue, which suggests that the profession currently views AI and the Future of Law and its commitments towards Equality & Diversity as two separate issues, when the two are in fact interconnected. 

This Women’s Day Lawyered stretches out all the support to celebrate and encourage a move towards alternative business structures, which are more flexible and convenient for women lawyers.