At a time where budgets are squeezed, the public sector is under increased pressure to deliver more for less – and while investing in new technology might seem counter-productive to cutting costs, it may be the saving grace over-stretched legal departments in the public sector are so desperate for.

With complex legal frameworks in place, numerous regulatory compliance and statutory duties to consider, and large workloads to manage, public sector legal departments have relied heavily on two solutions in the past; working crazy hours to ensure everything gets done on time and relying on outside counsel.

But in recent times a third option has emerged – and that is legal automation technology. Here’s why public sector legal teams are coming to rely on technology such as machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technology to help increase productivity, reduce costs and streamline processes.

Despite the years of experience, training and academia required to be an effective lawyer, a significant proportion of the work is routine and requires little to no human judgement.