Why ‘Almost Digital’ Is Costing Your Firm

This is the second article in the series: Bridging the Gap: From Legal Ambition to Operational Reality.

Australia and New Zealand’s legal sectors are not short on ambition. Across firms of all sizes, there is a clear appetite for innovation: investment in cloud platforms, interest in AI, and a growing focus on improving the client experience. On the surface, many firms would describe themselves as “digital.”

But beneath that surface lies a different reality.

For a significant proportion of Australian and New Zealand firms, digital transformation is incomplete. Systems don’t quite connect. Processes still rely on manual intervention. Data is duplicated, re-keyed, and moved between platforms. The result is what we might call an “almost digital” firm. This firm has adopted technology but has not fully realised its value.

And that gap comes at a cost.

The Illusion of Digital Progress

It’s easy to equate technology investment with transformation. A new practice management system, a cloud migration, or a handful of automation tools can create the impression of progress. 

But transformation isn’t defined by the tools a firm owns; it’s defined by how effectively those tools work together.

Across the market, many firms are operating with:

• Disconnected systems that don’t share data seamlessly
• Legacy workflows sitting alongside modern platforms
• Manual workarounds bridging gaps between tools

This creates a “digital disconnect,” where technology exists but doesn’t fully support how lawyers and teams actually work.

Donna Broadley, General Manager, APAC at Xperate, says: “A lot of firms we speak to feel like they’ve already ‘done’ digital transformation. But when you look closer, what they’ve really done is digitise parts of their process, not connect them.”

The Hidden Inefficiencies in Law Firms

These gaps rarely appear as headline issues. Instead, they show up in small, everyday inefficiencies that compound over time:

• Re-keying data between systems
• Duplicated effort across teams
• Delays caused by switching between platforms
• Inconsistent data impacting reporting and decision-making

Individually, these issues may seem minor. Collectively, they erode productivity, reduce profitability, and create friction for both staff and clients.

“The biggest inefficiencies in law firms aren’t usually big, visible problems; they’re the small, repeated tasks that happen hundreds of times a day. That’s where time and margin quietly disappear,” says Donna.

More significantly, these inefficiencies limit a firm’s ability to scale. Growth becomes harder when processes are fragmented and reliant on manual input.

When Technology Moves On. And Firms Are Left Behind

One of the less visible challenges facing firms today is the evolving nature of legal tech platforms.

Vendors are rapidly evolving their products, introducing new architectures, shifting to cloud-first models, and in some cases, retiring or restricting existing integrations. For firms, this can create unexpected disruption.

Processes that once worked seamlessly can suddenly break. Integrations are withdrawn. Teams are forced to revert to manual processes or left searching for alternative solutions.

“We’re seeing more firms caught out by changes they didn’t anticipate: integrations disappearing and platforms shifting direction. It’s not that vendors are doing anything wrong, but it does highlight how little control many firms actually have over their own tech stack,” says Donna.

This highlights a critical issue: control.

Firms that rely entirely on out-of-the-box functionality often find themselves constrained by vendor decisions. Those with more flexibility, through integrations, extensions, or bespoke development, are better positioned to adapt.

Why More Tools Isn’t the Answer

Faced with these challenges, the instinct is often to add more technology:

• Another platform
• Another tool
• Another workaround

But adding tools to an already fragmented environment rarely solves the problem. In fact, it usually makes it worse.

“Adding more tools into a disconnected environment is like adding more lanes to a motorway that’s already blocked at the junctions — it doesn’t fix the flow,” says Donna.

Efficiency doesn’t come from having more systems. It comes from having connected systems.

True digital maturity is less about replacing everything and more about:

• Integrating what already exists
• Streamlining workflows across platforms
• Ensuring data flows seamlessly from one process to the next

The Real Opportunity

The opportunity for firms in Australia and New Zealand is significant.

The sector is already forward-thinking. There is a clear awareness of the need for innovation, and a strong interest in areas such as automation, AI, and client experience.

The next step is moving from adoption to optimisation.

That means shifting the focus from: “What technology do we need?” to “How do we make our existing technology work better together?”

“The firms that are getting ahead aren’t necessarily the ones investing the most — they’re the ones getting more out of what they already have, and doing so with a clear strategy,” says Donna.

Firms that take this approach can unlock:

• Greater efficiency without wholesale system replacement
• Improved client experience through smoother processes
• Better data for decision-making
• A stronger foundation for future innovation

Bridging the Gap

For many Australian and New Zealand firms, the challenge is not a lack of ambition; it’s the gap between ambition and operational reality.

Bridging that gap requires a more pragmatic approach to transformation:

• Understanding where inefficiencies truly exist
• Prioritising integration over expansion
• Focusing on outcomes, not just functionality

Donna says, Technology should feel invisible when it’s working properly. If your team is constantly working around your systems, something isn’t right.”

The firms that succeed in the next phase of legal technology won’t be those with the most tools; they’ll be the ones that make their technology work together.

By Donna Broadley

Donna is an experienced SaaS and legal technology leader with over 20 years of experience across Australia and New Zealand. As General Manager, APAC at Xperate, she leads the company’s expansion across the region, working closely with ambitious law firms to bridge the gap between technology potential and operational reality.

Read the first article in the series:  AML Compliance: A Competitive Edge for Law Firms.

In the next article in this series, we explore one of the most talked-about areas of legal tech – AI – and what it really takes to move from experimentation to meaningful impact.