THE legal services industry should take advantage of the rapid digitisation it has been going through, says the chief executive of HyperionDev, Riaz Moola.
According to Moola, HyperionDev has partnered with the University of Cape Town’s Law@Work programme to explore coding for lawyers.
Moola said the coding for lawyers bootcamp will give students insight, confidence and motivation to embrace new technologies and incorporate them into their careers.
The tech expert said because the industry is document-intensive, it is poised to benefit greatly from what technology can offer. He said automation offers many benefits, including boosting a legal firm’s productivity.
According to Moola, coding is important for lawyers because it is also based on logic and deductive reasoning; it is about finding solutions to practical problems.
“While the debate on whether lawyers should learn to code in law schools continues, it is becoming increasingly apparent that having at least some knowledge of coding will give lawyers a competitive edge.”
Moola said THAT learning to code as a lawyer does not necessarily mean dropping out of one’s practice.
He said students will start with the basics of programming and logical thinking, then enhance their career skills set with practical training in Python, covering the full spectrum of programming fundamentals.
“This new breed of lawyer-coder will be amply prepared for the digital world of the future, especially in this data-driven industry. Tomorrow’s lawyers will be those who develop systems to help solve clients’ problems with the support of technology.”
