Tomorrow's Lawyers - An Introduction to Your Future (Paperback, 2nd Revised edition)

Reviews

"AN UNDERSTATEMENT OF WHAT REAL PROBLEMS THE LEGAL WORLD MUST FACE WITH THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION" by Phillip T. - 4 June 2017

AN UNDERSTATEMENT OF WHAT REAL PROBLEMS THE LEGAL WORLD MUST FACE WITH THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION An appreciation by Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE of “The Barrister” Crystal balls have often been used as a spurious way to predict or explain things we know little about. And so it is here, with Professor Richard Susskind’s brave and excellent new edition of the international best seller “Tomorrow’s Lawyers” from OUP, which he ominously sub-titles “an introduction to your future”. Some will say, “what future” although we feel Susskind does a rare balancing act between the realities of the future and what we will probably face in the next decade with this revised edition since the original appeared in 2013. “Tomorrow’s Lawyers” is about prediction in a very changeable legal world at this crossroad as the pace accelerates. It is only four years since the first, out of date, edition appeared and much has happened since then. The real obstacle remains that the legal profession is quite “conservative” with a small “c” and does not like change. A great example is the continued reliance on the fax and the cheque book when most businesses have already moved on from them and embraced new technology. If anything, Susskind may find that his vision of the future is also somewhat “conservative” with a small “c”. We do not want to spoil this book for the reader so we do not intend to set out in detail his views - all members of the legal profession and those thinking of joining should read this book very carefully because the subject-matter will not be going away for any of us. We found the three parts most helpful where Susskind looks, firstly, at “radical changes in the legal market” (his “three drivers” revisited), “the new landscape” and finally (most importantly) “prospects for young lawyers”. The final chapter 18 concludes with the most devastating issue of all- “artificial intelligence (AI) and the long term”- almost certain to be the subject of detailed future research. The word “devastating” is used with care following the effects of Brexit on every piece of UK business. What could be a sharper pace for the development of AI with the massive consequent job losses which look inevitable. And what remains shocking is the maintenance, by many lawyers, of restrictive practices based on a redundant understanding of how we conduct future legal business. Susskind writes that “in the long run, the changes that I anticipate for lawyers and the administration of justice will be pervasive, irreversible and transformational.” He adds, “I am not suggesting that this means the legal sector will be turned on its head over the next 3 to 6 months”. “But”, he says, “I am confident we will see many fundamental shifts as we move into the 2020s”. We keep the best bit for last when Susskind refers to 2036, which will be mid-career for young lawyers now (2017), “it is neither hyperbolic nor fanciful to expect that the legal profession will have changed beyond recognition.” You have been warned! And on “online courts”, Susskind – a regular speaker at our Bar Conferences including the 2017 event – “I remain resolutely of the view that online courts will bring 2 great benefits – greater access to justice… and substantial cost savings, both for individual litigants as well as for the court system”. Yes, quite so. “In a decade, we will look back and wonder why we didn’t introduce them sooner”, he says. Tell the Bar Council/Law Society that one and get them to read “Tomorrow’s Lawyers” … and Susskind’s follow up editions as this is work in progress against much Luddite opposition so watch this space. The publication date for the second edition is 2017.