LAWSITES — As awful as was the year 2020 for so many reasons, my year-end report last year found reasons to be optimistic. “The silver lining of 2020,” I wrote, “is that we have been forced to consider changes that were long overdue and then given the opportunity to implement those changes.” This year, my report is tainted by a degree of pessimism. As I survey the legal profession broadly, and the world of legal tech and innovation specifically, I see uncertainty and inertia. It is as if we are serving time in a legal tech limbo. Whereas 2020 ended with a newfound sense of the possible, 2021 ends with us still not knowing what is ahead, and therefore which way to turn. Whereas 2020 ended with great promise for regulatory reform, 2021 ends with little further progress on that front – and even retreats to some extent. Whereas 2020 ended with hope for a return to some sense of normalcy – even if it was to be the much-vaunted “new normal” – 2021 ends with us still wondering about what the future holds and how to plan for it.