InsideLegal’s Jobst Elster published a catchy post today, asking “Legal Influencers [to] Weigh In On Legal Technology Startups.”

“We’ve all heard of the new, post-2008 recession ‘normal,’ and the legal technology startup scene is definitely a part of it,” wrote Elster.  But, he questioned, “How big a part? Is it just noice? An exciting distraction or a true disruption poised to change the legal game forever.”

To find the answers,  InsideLegal and Legal IT Professionals joined forces to address that issue in current issue of Legal IT Today. Elster’s cover story concludes that “legal tech startups are here to stay and will help to shape the next generation of lawyering whether we like it or not.”

The two organizations asked 10 legal technology industry leaders to assess the current situation, including CodeX director Roland Vogl. Others offering their wisdom include David Perla, president of Bloomberg BNA Legal Division and Bloomberg Law; Fastcase CEO Ed Walters; Basha Rubin, CEO of Priori Legal; the ubiquitous Dan Lear, Avvo’s director of industry relations (and also a blogger and hacker); Rob Saccone, CEO of SeyfarthLean Consulting; Peter Ozolin, Manzama’s CEO and chairman; Doug Caddell, former CIO at Foley & Lardner and now the owner of Legal CIO Consulting; Rick Katra, CEO of CosmoLex Cloud; and Stevie Ghiassi, co-founder of Australia’s Legaler.

Check it out—and see why Roland says “there is a new generation of savvy ‘lawentrepreneurs’ using existing web technologies to provide new options for corporate clients demanding more efficient delivery of legal services.

Monica Bay is a Fellow at CodeX. Brittany Thayer is a content and marketing coordinator at Stanford Law School.