Legal technology adoption in Australia has reached a crucial inflection point. As the focus increasingly shifts toward integrated platforms, workflow efficiency, and measurable outcomes, the conversation is evolving from “Which tool is better?” to “Which solution fits best within our ecosystem?”
During the recent ILTA Global Local Meeting and ILTA Australia Recap events in Sydney and Melbourne, Harsh Jobanputra (Director- Australia), shared his thoughts on how the Australian market is charting its own course when it comes to legal technology. With more than a decade of international experience across Asia, the EU, and the United States, Harsh talks to the opportunities and emerging patterns that define the next phase of legal innovation in the region.
From Comparison to Compatibility
Similar to their global peers, Australian legal teams are centred around security, performance, and differentiation when considering technology. As Harsh explained, “The two questions I hear most often are: how is your tool different, and how secure is it?” These questions are still paramount; however, scratch beneath the surface, and what might be uncovered is a mixed IT environment-a mix of on-premise and SaaS systems across various departments or matters, or in simpler terms BYC (Bring Your Own Cloud or Data Centre) as we call it at Knovos.
What’s often missing, he noted, is a more strategic conversation centred around workflow alignment, flexibility, and change management. Firms today should be asking:
Can the solution fit our existing process and data ecosystem?
Can we bring our own AI and cloud infrastructure?
Does the vendor or its partners provide meaningful support in configuration, training, and change management?
“The technology itself is seldom the biggest obstacle,” Harsh said. “It’s in implementation, adoption, and change management that defines success or failure.”
This perspective underlines a growing realization in the Australian legal market-that feature-based comparisons give way to ecosystem compatibility and architectural agility.
The Australian Legal Tech Identity
Professionally and culturally, Australia’s legal community is known for its pragmatic approach. During his first few months here, Harsh had a ringside view of that: “The legal community here is very tight-knit, and it works because people help others. The meetings take place as much over coffee as they do in formal boardrooms.”
The market’s pragmatism also reflects in its approach to eDiscovery and legal operations. As one industry professional mentioned during the event, “Australia has adopted one of the most practical and regulator-aligned approaches to eDiscovery.” Another observer shared that while firms currently use multiple tools across the EDRM-for processing, production, PII, and data breach workflows-this is beginning to change as firms consolidate platforms and vendors to address data duplication and multiple vendor management challenges.
Also, one more participant contributed to this by pointing out another gap that still remained in the ecosystem: “We have no dedicated tool for eDiscovery case management practice.”
These remarks point toward an ecosystem in transition-that on one hand values practicality but on the other is actively seeking end-to-end integration and simplified vendor complexity.
What Will Define the Next 12 Months
Looking ahead, Harsh expects three defining trends in the legal technology trajectory of Australia:
Consolidation and Integrated Value:
We can expect a continued wave of mergers and acquisitions both among law firms and among legal tech providers. Clients will move away from niche point solutions to demand a greater spectrum of integrated capabilities-a cohesive platform experience.
Flexibility and Choice:
What businesses want is control: over deployment models, integration options, and AI strategies. Nobody expects a vendor to oust existing infrastructure; rather, to seamlessly merge into the infrastructure. Only providers offering modular and interoperable solutions will lead this market conversation.
Efficiency in AI Costs and Measurable Impact:
As AI models and infrastructure get cheaper, the attention will shift from capability to value realization. Firms will increasingly look at AI through the prism of actual business outcomes-efficiency gain, risk reduction, and cost control.
Knovos’ Approach to Challenges Experienced Locally
With an understanding that this is continuously evolving, Knovos continues to enhance its solutions with regional needs and compliance norms in mind. Two functionalities with particular relevance to Australian eDiscovery workflows include:
Australian Numbering Feature: Ensure compliance with structured and transparent document identification practices, widely deployed through most industries in Australia. The standardised number provides support for the efficient tracking of documents and ensures production consistency in line with regulatory norms.
Message ID-Based Identification Hashing (MIH): A feature developed to improve accuracy in deduplication for multi-sourced aggregated data. MIH leverages message ID-based identification to reduce duplication and ensure more precision in managing data collected across diverse systems.
These innovations are part of Knovos’ broader commitment to helping firms reduce tool fragmentation and enable true end-to-end workflow continuity-from identification and preservation to review, production, and case management. Guidance for Companies Exploring AI Before diving deeper into AI-driven initiatives, Harsh’s advice is clear for the firms: “Don’t start with the technology; start with your priorities.” Identify what specific problem you are solving, define what “value” means to your team, and assess how AI can deliver measurable improvement rather than theoretical capability. “Technology is only impactful to the degree of clarity of intention behind it,” he said. “Focus on real value-clear priorities, measurable outcomes, and practical implementation.”
A Future of Collaboration as Australia further carves out its own unique identity within the global legal technology ecosystem, collaboration and community will remain at the forefront. The ILTA Australia events highlighted how open communication and collaboration between firms, vendors, and regulators can facilitate faster maturity across the market. The journey of Knovos has just started in this region. It continues to stand by the pragmatic yet forward-looking legal tech transformation that Australia is undergoing-one focused on usability, integration, and sustained value-through ongoing collaboration with law firms, corporates, and government agencies.
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