Abdul Hakim Manattil is the CEO and Founder of one of the well-reputed legaltech firms in the UAE, Casengine. He has established a great network of professionals in the legal industry due to his kind and helpful character and today, he will be sharing his insight on the development of legaltech. 

Casengine helps law firms and legal departments automate workflow and help save employees’ time, energy, and creativity that has proven to help in a maximized productivity, and increased profitability as well as more revenue as an outcome. Automation not only saves you time that can be used for winning new business but also maintain a more efficient streamlined workflow. 

1. What motivated you to join the legal industry? How did that lead you to find your passion in LegalTech? 

I started my career in the legal industry in 2002. The route I took differs from the traditional one. I joined one of the most prestigious law firms in the Middle East, Al Tamimi & Co. as a Court Clerk. I worked closely with lawyers and was very much exposed to all aspects that involve litigations. 

Working in a multidisciplinary Law firm, Al Tamimi & Co, provided me with a well-rounded experience in almost all legal departments in its legal practice. 

At that time Technology was starting to slowly push through in different aspects of life. Communication was the first platform that started to show visible signs of change. I lived through the shift from the use of internal mail going around by circuit to emails becoming the main platform for professional communications. I experienced the hesitation of using new technology and the joy of mastering it and reaping the rewards of work efficiency and time management. That is when I realized that revolutionary changes were about to happen in this field.

Working and being involved for two decades with different departments such as IP, Corporate, Litigation, Administration, Human Resources, just to name a few, gave me a clear understanding of how Technology can really give this industry a great leap and maximize outcomes in all aspects of practicing law and managing law firms. 

2. Can you tell us more about Casengine? What was your motivation in starting one of the first legaltech firms in the region?

I noticed the gap between the two industries; the legal industry and the technology industry. I wanted to build a product to fill this gap to benefit the lawyers and the legal field in general. Casengine has an impact on how lawyers manage their daily tasks. It is more modern and efficient now. Law firms that were founded 40+ years ago who have been using the same methods of work are now shifting to legal technology in managing their workflow and enhancing their clients’ experience. 

The unification of management of workflow is one of the biggest bonuses that law firms will experience when adopting Casengine software, different managing styles will no longer affect workflow in law firms.  

Hence why I decided to build a product that can do all the routine tasks of the lawyer. This does not touch the core legal work that lawyers do, on the contrary, it saves their time so that lawyers can focus on the legal aspects of their work. 

3. Do you think in the future, a student could have a subscription to see how your platform, Casengine works? In order to motivate students to pursue legaltech because they see how much their lives are easier with it, and it doesn’t necessarily replace their jobs, but it helps them.

According to Mckinsey Global Institute, 23% of lawyers’ work can be automated; the future of law is going to be very different than the usual law profession that we all know. Lawyers of tomorrow have to stay ahead of the curve and adapt to the ever-changing technology. 

Casengine, in its effort to give the legal profession a cutting-edge tool and to take law students steps ahead, has a plan to organize workshops in law schools and legal institutes around the UAE.

The focus of Casengine is to spread the understanding that using legal technology, such as Casengine’s software, is similar to using a tool that will make work easier, manageable, and time-saving. It is not by any means a replacement of a lawyer or a legal practitioner. 

4. Regarding the article you wrote in 2019, you’ve mentioned a boom in investment in the legal tech industry. Do you think that this is going to grow as a consequence of the pandemic?

Actually, even prior to the pandemic, legaltech was trending and there were lots of lawyers and legal professionals trying to build different products to show the interest of investors. 

Regarding what happened during Covid-19, some businesses were actually planning to digitalize their works in 10 years but shortly after the pandemic had begun, they managed to digitalize the whole operation in a very short amount of time because they saw the importance of using technology. 

Consequently, I think there is an increase in the use of legal technology, but not all products will survive this technology trend; only tools that law firms and legal departments can utilize in order to add value and quality to their work. Tools that can improve lawyers’ life in terms of allowing them to focus on what matters the most, their clients. 

I think there will be more products and investments, especially after Covid-19. 

5. How does legaltech affect litigations in the UAE?

Litigation in our part of the world is slightly different. There are two Channels when it comes to handling litigations. There is the registered lawyer who appears in court and presents documents who we refer to as a litigator and there is the lawyer who works with the client, prepares documents, and updates management and clients; who we refer to as a legal consultant. 

Meaning that each law firm with about 20-30 legal consultants has around 3-4 litigators who will be attending the court hearings on behalf of the legal consultants. This leads to one litigator having around 10 cases to present at court in a day…  this is where Casengine comes strong! it makes this process of communication between the two channels of litigation, extremely efficient and ensures that all parties are on the same page. 

Another problem we face in litigation is the language barriers. Court trials and cases are usually written in Arabic, the official language of the UAE. However, clients who only speak English contact English-Speaking legal advisors making it harder to communicate the entire case procedure to the litigator. With legaltech, languages and translation could be automated, automatically removing this language barrier that could affect the case. 

6. Will you be offering any internships to train law students based in the UAE, and what are you seeking in interns and how can we meet your requirements to apply for the internship?

We are located in Dubai and we welcome interns. The most important factor we look for is a Genuine interest in legaltech. This internship experience helps our prospective lawyers to learn more and take a step ahead in their coming legal careers. 

A special thank you to Mr. Abdul Hakim Manattil for accepting to do this interview to give an insight into how the legaltech process works in the UAE.

For more information about Casengine visit www.casengine.app