Technology questions in request for proposals (RFPs) might be obligatory in legal, but the answers are still usually devoid of any real substance. Despite clients’ demands for innovation and efficiency, such blanket questions and answers stem from legal departments and outside clients struggling to understand legal tech.

“There’s a knowledge curve there,” noted Christine Kennedy, managing director of Major, Lindsey & Africa’s transform advisory services team. “In-house may not know the right question to ask and law firm counsel, depending on where they’re in the market and how up-to-date they are with technology, they don’t necessarily know what to present.”