Arthur Sauzé is a former lawyer, a consultant in digital strategy and influence and a professional YouTuber. His videos aim to make innovation in law accessible to everyone, especially in the world of legaltech.
In addition, Arthur gave a TEDx conference (which we highly recommend) on the subject: " Why technology can rehumanize justice ".
We met him to discuss his vision of the legaltech market.
Your goal is to make the law, innovation in the law, and the world of legaltech accessible to everyone. Why did you choose YouTube specifically?
The choice of media was self-evident fairly quickly. I started in 2019, and by that time I had already created my digital strategy consulting firm for legal professionals. And necessarily, I wanted to be known (and recognized) for my work.
I asked around to find out what makes people trust a consultant. And I was told: "The consultant is not just the one who sends a brochure, it is someone who understands the market issues".
At that point, I realized that I had to show my knowledge, that I had to deploy an expertise marketing strategy. At the time, there were no lawyers on YouTube, this approach had an original side to it, and I liked trying something new.
When you make a podcast or an article, you have to explain that, for example, such a legaltech is useful because it offers a contract versioning feature. With a video, you just have to show it!
You have started to invest in YouTube by proposing videos where you test and analyze, in the manner of a video game, different legaltechs that offer a service of contract robotization. What are the lessons you learn from these tests?
First of all, the production process of these test videos is super satisfying! I really enjoy building relationships with the Legaltech teams.
It also allowed me to acquire a 360 vision of the Legaltech market: I have a practical understanding of the solutions but it also allows me to understand the strategy of the teams that build them.
What are the most exciting legal innovation projects that have caught your attention recently?
There are a few! First, solutions that use blockchain to manage intellectual property rights. The concept is great: it's "tech at the service of the litigant". But also, I appreciate anything that allows them to have access to legal services at a lower cost.
Some solutions are innovative, because the proposed product saves time for lawyers, like Doctrine for example. For me, it is the biggest player on the market! The team makes an exceptional product: it manages to create must-haves that really meet the needs of lawyers. Doctrine has this ability to take lawyers by surprise by anticipating their needs.
There are also some solutions that I find innovative because they meet market needs that I hadn't identified. For example, I am currently working with mesacquisitions.com, whose objective is to give a second life to assets. It's a great project!
What is the news in the legaltech market that has caught your attention recently?
EY has just published a report on the challenges facing legal departments. The study was conducted in France and internationally with several hundred legal departments interviewed. I had the pleasure of welcoming Virginie, partner at EY and head of legal transformation, to talk about this subject.
What has changed in the legaltech market since you started studying the topic?
The market has evolved a lot! Of course, covid has accelerated the development of legaltech. However, there are not many more solutions than before. Today there are more than 200 legaltechs in France, which has been the case for almost three years. There have been a few more new players since then, but it remains very marginal.
For the last three years or so, I have noticed a very strong desire on the part of contract management solutions and knowledge management or electronic signature solutions to form partnerships together. It's a kind of virtuous circle that is gradually being put in place.
What is also new is the change in public perception of legaltech. Before, these actors had an image of "hackers" or even "pirates", that's what I felt anyway. Now, it's over, we are at a point where legaltechs are respected and credible, the teams are bigger. In short, the time of innocence is over!
What are the biggest challenges to the digitalization of legal departments today?
The natural obstacles to change are the training of lawyers, whether through studies or afterwards: they are not trained in agile work methodologies, in technology, and in digital projects.
The budget is also an obstacle. The objective of solutions such as Hyperlex, for example, is to save time and to make work more pleasant. But then you have to be able to show how much you save afterwards? Generally, the average cost of producing a contract is not available to legal departments. Afterwards, there are some great success stories and things are moving forward!
📘 White paper: defending your legaltech project internally
How do you think the legaltech market will evolve in the next few years?
I think that it will be structured and strengthened even more with more and more important fund raising. I think that legal secretarial and contract management solutions will continue to develop well and have a bright future ahead of them.
On the other hand, large players such as Dalloz, Lexis, Wolter and Septeo have adopted a policy of external growth.
Do you have a YouTube channel to recommend?
Shubham Sharma, who tests useful digital tools for businesses.
Find all Arthur Sauzé's videos here
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