Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A P R I L 2 0 1 8 19 The following question, asked in the past, takes on even greater relevance in light of the ongoing developments in legal applications: "A fair question that private law firms need to answer honestly [is] is it reason- able to expect to be paid more money every year for the delivery of the same legal services in the same manner?" The only important answer, your clients', cannot be clearer — no! Law firms interested in at least begin- ning to explore what legal applications might be currently under development should visit a true legal technology incubator such as the Legal Innovation Zone at Ryerson University. According to LIZ, it is "a co-working space and the first legal tech incubator with a focus on building better legal solutions for the consumers of legal services. The LIZ helps support, foster and develop solutions and techniques to improve legal services and the justice system." I had the opportunity to visit its location this past fall and meet not only with Hersh Perlis and members of his team but also with some of the developers participating in the pro- gram. Currently, there are 19 pro- jects focused on the legal industry being undertaken at LIZ, including at least six involving the use of artificial intelligence in the applications under development. The developers I spoke with are always looking for law firms to collabor- ate with on their applications. There are a number of obvious benefits to such col- laboration including guiding solutions that work in a real firm environment, focus on practising law without incur- ring the cost of adding an application development team and likely preferential pricing when it goes live. LIZ is active in promoting the efforts of its participants through various monthly events. Hersch and his team are very approachable, and I would encourage firms that have members travelling to Toronto to add a side trip to their office to get a hands-on tour of LIZ. It is your right to do an "ostrich" should you choose, but, from my perspective, you either innovate or abdicate! Stephen Mabey is a CPA, CA and the managing director of Applied Strategies, Inc. SIZE DOESN'T MATTER, BUT RATHER A WILLINGNESS TO COLLABORATE AND PARTNER WITH THE LEGAL TECHNOLOGY COMMUNITY IS THE DETERMINING FACTOR. REACH ONE OF THE LARGEST LEGAL AND BUSINESS MARKETS IN CANADA! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT With more than 300,500 page views and 100,000 unique visitors monthly canadianlawlist.com captures your market. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Colleen Austin: T: 416.649.9327 E: colleen.austin@thomsonreuters.com www.canadianlawlist.com Untitled-1 1 2018-03-15 1:46 PM

• Cover