Digital innovation in law firms: The dominant logic under threat

Abstract

This paper focuses on the impact of digitalization in the legal industry. The legal industry is highly institutionalized and has for long been unaffected by external changes. This has enabled the development of a strong institutional logic that has dictated homogeneous practices in law firms and limited their room for innovation. However, this seems about to change. Through a qualitative case study of the Swedish legal industry, this paper shows that new practices, enabled by digitalization, challenges common practices and puts the dominant logic under threat. By applying an institutional logics perspective to recent changes, this paper contrasts the enactment of the dominant logic with innovative practices and shows that digitalization has created institutional complexity, where digital pioneers respond to digital opportunities differently than incumbents. This paper also explains why and highlights the emergence of hybrid firms that successfully combine elements of the dominant logic with innovation. Consequently, this paper contributes to our understanding of digital innovation and digital transformation within highly institutional industries.

Camouflaging as identity work

“…Still, research within both professions also indicates that commercialization, globalization and digitalization influence both accountants' and lawyers' work (see e.g. Cooper & Robson, 2006;Francis, 2020;Hanlon, 1998;Kronblad, 2020;Lander et al, 2012;Skjølsvik et al, 2017). During data collection, we were therefore intrigued to explore to which extent patterns of differences or similarities would emerge.…”

Institutional Perspectives on Digital Transformation

“…This second perspective addresses the conversation on how digital transformation challenges professional boundaries and jurisdictions and also generates new institutional actors and actor constellations Kronblad, 2020). These processes relate to a long-standing theme within institutional research, namely how professions shape institutions (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983;Ruef & Scott, 1998).…”

“…Established, traditional professions (e.g., doctors, lawyers) have considerable control over their jurisdictions (i.e., defining what and how work is done, including defining appropriate values and norms as well as criteria for entering the profession and making a career) yet are facing increasing pressure and challenges from digital technologies that consequently change the institutional context of their work Oborn et al, 2021;Smets, Morris, von Nordenflycht, & Brock, 2017). For example, Kronblad (2020) found in the context of the Swedish legal industry that legal tech start-ups utilizing digital technologies are questioning the dominant professional logic through value-based or subscription-based pricing; however, many traditional law firms remain reluctant to change. Björkdahl and Kronblad (2021) find in a study of the digitalization of court processes in response to the COVID-19 crisis that judges may be more willing to participate in digitalization processes if court managers not only emphasize efficiency gains but also how digitalization fits judges' professional ethos (i.e., arriving at fair verdicts).…”

“…In contrast, Loscher and Bader (this volume) analyze the emergence of data analytics as a new cross-functional profession rooted in new digital technologies that is challenging human resource management (HRM) as an established organizational profession. Yet, rather than displacing professionals, the professionals co-opted the digital technologies into their field and expanded their practices and organizational power and authority (see also Kronblad, 2020;Pachidi, Berends, Faraj, & Huysman, 2020). New data science technologies augmented human resource (HR) practices and new actors (data scientists) were integrated into HRM, protecting and expanding professional boundaries and expertise (i.e., by making HRM measurable) and thus elevating the professions' status in the organizational hierarchy.…”

Getting on track for digital work: Digital transformation in an administrative court before and during COVID-19

“…Previous research has shown that some professions are more inclined to embrace digital technologies, while others are more reluctant ( Susskind and Susskind 2015 ). Resistance to changing work practices is particularly evident in contexts that are simultaneously highly institutionalized and highly professionalized ( Kronblad 2020 ). In the highly institutionalized and professionalized medical field, prior research has, for example, reported on difficulties in transforming work practices by using electronic medical record (EMR) systems (instead of paper-based records).…”