Law Practice Management
Prophet Richard Susskind Predicts the Future of Law; Internet is Key
Posted Feb 17, 2009 6:32 PM CST
By Martha Neil
A prophet who serves as something of a Cassandra to the legal profession is on an international tour to promote his latest book.
Initially pooh-poohed when he predicted, in 1996, a central role for the Internet in the provision of legal services, Richard Susskind, an Oxford University-educated lawyer and legal technology consultant, is today given credence as a bearer of bad news for those reluctant to watch the profession change, according to the Globe and Mail.
Now that the ubiquity of e-mail is no longer seen as a wild prediction but an established fact, newer cutting-edge changes to what Susskind describes as the classic interface between lawyers and clients include services that allow clients of some major United Kingdom law firms to download standard contract documents and lawyers in British courts to download standard judicial orders.
Late last year, Toronto attorney Michael Carabash launched a website, Dynamic Lawyers, that connects counsel to clients who have posted online questions, seeking free legal advice. (The Canadian newspaper reports that 36 lawyers have paid an annual fee of $30 each for the privilege of posting on the site; but Carabash says in a subsequent e-mail to ABAJournal.com that the fee is actually $30 per month.)
“I started this business because of what Richard Susskind has been saying," he tells the Globe and Mail. "The profession is changing."
Susskind's latest book is titled The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services.
Related earlier ABAJournal.com coverage:
Susskind: Are Lawyers Becoming Obsolete?
It’s Official: UK Law Firms Soon For Sale
Legal Futurist: ‘The Party is Now Over’
Futurist Says Lawyers Will Become Legal Risk Consultants
What Lawyers Can Learn from Obama’s Victory
Corrected at 8 p.m. on Feb.18 to include information from Carabash e-mail.
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Comments
B. McLeod
Feb 17, 2009 7:19 PM CST
Pretty much just describing things that are already happening here. A prophet? I think not. That is the Susskindest cut of all.
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Eric B. Johnson
Feb 17, 2009 10:38 PM CST
Can you get stuff on the internet, yes. Do you want to meet your lawyer in person if your going to court. yes. In fact, if you have a lot to lose or gain don’t you want the most personalized and ‘in person’ legal experience that you can obtain. Of course. I guess I need to read Susskind’s book, but I doubt I will get to it. yawn.
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akman
Feb 18, 2009 5:07 AM CST
anyone who follows a prophet belongs to a cult
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R. Mullen
Mar 2, 2009 5:32 PM CST
It will be interesting to read Susskind’s new work. I had some quibbles with his model years ago and will dig out my notes and blog them. One, as I recall, was that his predictions are targeted to the big firm environment, and failed to take into account the rapid changes in capability AND capacity that were evident even back in 1995. This is because his view of legal technology was top down, not bottom up. The “average lawyer” now has access to tools that exceed those to which only the top law firms had access 10 years ago. Further, no longer being bound to Westlaw/Lexis view of the legal universe, developers are able to revision the role that taxonomies play in legal analysis in view of the benefits we can gain from crowd- and cloud-sourcing legal services. Top law firms are driving these developments, but broad adoption is what is changing the legal landscape, I would say on a monthly basis! I remember when Ross Kudner represented those of us who were geek-lawyers;—it was a very small world. Now, the growth of interest in legal tech means that the products that get brought to market are going to make prediction nearly impossible.
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