In many industries it is the most natural thing in the world, well-converting websites. An app and other technological developments. We are also going further and now we can do much more with ChatGPT. Technological development is accelerating. But what about the legal profession, more specifically in the field of personal injury? Does a personal injury lawyer (Dutch: letselschade advocaat) also keep up with the times or are they losing ground due to technological developments?
What does a personal injury lawyer actually do?
A personal injury lawyer deals with personal injury claims after an accident. For example after a traffic accident, dog bite (Dutch: hondenbeet) or industrial accident. Personal injury lawyers hold the other party liable on behalf of a personal injury victim and negotiate the amount of the damage.
Nowadays, personal injury lawyers face more and more competition from other advocates, in particular from personal injury specialists of a legal assistance insurer or personal injury bureaus. Especially in the Netherlands where the costs of legal assistance must be reimbursed by the other party.
How technological developments bother the legal profession
In the Netherlands personal injury lawyers are increasingly in a tight spot. This is because they do not keep up with technological developments in the field of internet and software. Take, for example, the websites of a personal injury lawyer, which are often simply put together and offer no options for the client to gather information or contact them via an app.
But personal injury lawyers in the Netherlands are also lagging in other areas. The result is that they have lost a large market share to personal injury agencies and personal injury lawyers of legal assistance insurers. These companies know how to approach more clients through technological developments. Think of apps where people can report an accident and have online insight into the status of the file. Or new ways to get in touch with a personal injury specialist.
Will the legal profession lose this?
The question, of course, is whether the tide can still be turned. This looks like it. There are now several law firms in the field of personal injury that do know how they can do more with technological developments, for example in the field of seo and sea. But they are now also increasingly able to reach the personal injury victim by means of other tools.
Where personal injury lawyers used to wait for the phone to ring, they are now more active using a good website, seo and sea and other tools such as apps to regain some market share.
Whether it will be enough, time will tell. Personal injury lawyers in the Netherlands have cut themselves quite a bit and the rapid rise of personal injury agencies has led to a lot of damage, with the result that many personal injury lawyers will not make it. The law firms that have kept up with the technological developments will probably survive. However, the personal injury agencies and legal assistance insurer are not sitting still either. It's going to be exciting. But the legal profession is on the right track.