If there is any country after United States which can boast about the strength of the legal profession, it is India. With over 8 lakh practicing lawyers in India, it’s a visual treat if you are in the court of law to witness lawyers popping out of every possible room. While the process of delivering justice has at times been questioned, it is in the Indian legal system that we believe. Maybe the reason why we have so many pending cases. But while we may be in line to becoming the strongest legal profession in the world, are we really there yet? Is our legal system open to adapting technological advancements?

As a profession and an educational qualification, law has from its inception, followed a conventional approach which while has worked with a few misses, its at times such as the current crisis that the real use of technology comes into place. Not taking away the fact that some officers of law have been able to adapt and function in the situation we are in whether its hearing cases or representing matters, we, as a legal system, are yet to go full throttle with digital advancements. And it is not that we are not capable of doing so. Today, we have accepted platforms which provide us legal judgments straight on our phones so it is only a matter of time that we use the same technology, to help in delivering justice and reduce the cases pending in our courts.

As a profession and an educational qualification, law has from its inception, followed a conventional approach which while has worked with a few misses, its at times such as the current crisis that the real use of technology comes into place.

But as they say that any problem can only be solved if we go and understand its core, our legal system too is not an exception. We have been following the conventional approach because our journey to becoming officers of law, has been such. I am talking about the foundation, our journey as students of law. It all comes down to conditioning. As students, we are made to follow the pattern that has been accepted and presumed to be the only way to achieve excellence. But is that what is required in today’s day and age? The only saying which would always hold true is ‘change is the only constant’ and it is this crisis which has made not just our system but the foundation, which is our institutes, to understand the need to walk with technology, to not see it as a threat to manual labour but as a value add brought to life only to make life and justice easier.

As the founder of one such digital learning platform in the field of law, I believe this is the way forward for India. It has taken us time to truly evolve and understand the need to adapt but this crisis, while has shaken the foundation on which we stand, in a way, has brought with itself a silver lining in the field of law. Students, lawyers and judges have woken up to realising the need to embrace digital advancements if they want to move forward, to truly succeed. Do I see a day when there would be no physical presence required both in terms at the learning level and practicing level? I would hope so but then again, even if we adopt a small percentage of technology in the field of law, not only would it help us in shaping better, well informed lawyers with equal opportunity for all but also speed up the justice delivery system, which in a country like India, is the need of the hour.