As the widely predicted recession of 2023 failed to materialize, many in the legal industry are slowing emerging from their proactive belt-tightening measures and readjusting to current economic realities. In particular, there’s still much focus on technology spending, and while the cost of generative AI is predicted to start coming down by the end of 2024, many in legal are still looking to justify tech spending by pointing to concrete benefits of investing in AI and other technologies.

In the current economy, many are expecting to see further consolidation in the legal tech market, continuing a trend that picked up in 2023. At the same time, others expect to see more innovative startups hit the scene, many not just riding the generative AI wave, but also capitalizing on emerging technologies like decentralized currencies, the metaverse, web3, blockchain and more. While these technologies had taken a backseat in the past year, some now expect them to see a resurgence in popularity.