The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services Richard Susskind ©2008 (Oxford Univ. Press, Clarendon St., Ox. U.K.)

Richard Susskind

TODAY’S LEGAL PARADIGM TOMORROW’S LEGAL PARADIGM Legal Service Advisory service One-to-one Reactive service Time-based billing Restrictive Defensive Legal focus Information service One-to-many Proactive service Commodity pricing Empowering Pragmatic Business focus Legal Process Legal problem solving Dispute resolution Publication of law A dedicated legal profession Print-based Legal risk management Dispute pre-emption Promulgation of law Legal specialists and information engineers IT-based legal systems Fig. 1.1 The Shift in Legal Paradigm

BespokeStandardized Systematized Packaged Commoditized Fig. 2.1 The Evolution of Legal Services Ch. 2 The Path to Commoditization p. 29

Lawyers fear of commoditization b/c It devalues the practice of law (less “special”) They fear economics of information commodity markets – If natural market forces at work, competition will reduce marginal cost of reproducing information for one more copy (lower marginal profit) – If negligible marginal cost in competitive market, price almost nil (lost profits)

2.2 Pull of market Psychologically & emotionally: law firm comfort zone to left, discomfort increases when movement to right Reality: few firms presently live by bespoke work alone Client demand for increased efficiency, lower- cost standardized, systematized and maybe packaged law & law-related services.

2.3 Opportunities for innovative lawyers pp High quality, packaged on-line legal services offer substantial income & profit to the right legal entrepreneurs – Although high development costs, once expertise & system established, low marginal cost for marketing & improvement > “making money while you sleep” E.g., Limited scope representation? – Trick: maintain offering as a “package” & not let it become a commodity. Cf. UCC Art. 2, “thing” Competitive strategies when others enter market: 1) add value or sell to B who will preserve as package; 2) branding; 3) give commodity for free (g.w., mktg)

BespokeStandardized Systematized Packaged Commoditized Fig. 2.2 Scope for Innovation

Ch. 8 Conclusion – the Future of Lawyers 10 year forecast: struggle for those unwilling/unable to adapt. Those who can embrace technology & innovative service delivery will succeed, even if not per their earlier “dreams.” p year forecast: significantly fewer lawyers providing traditional consultative advisory service; emergence of new legal professionals w/ very different roles p. 273 Q: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

8.1 Prognosis pp Corporate General Counsel under acute pressures to: Reduce size of in-house legal department Spend less on outside firms Find ways of coping w/ more & riskier legal & compliance work than ever before  Outside law firms becoming selected by “hard- nosed, in-house procurement specialists.  THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS!

8.1 Prognosis pp Emerging new competitors (outsourcers, entrepreneurial publishers) Q: Examples? Disruptive legal technologies (document assembly, collaboration w/in closed communities, legal open-sourcing, embedded legal knowledge) Market response – New methods, systems & processes to reduce cost of routine legal work; multi-sourcing of legal work Cf. MDP/ABS? – Clients will find ways to share costs of legal services (recycling, collaboration, open source docs for trade groups)

5 types of future lawyers pp Expert trusted advisor Enhanced practitioner Legal knowledge engineer Legal risk manager Legal hybrid WHERE DO YOU FIT IN THIS FUTURE? HOW CAN YOU EQUIP YOURSELF?

Blame it on computers???? a_xWw Hal, 2001 Space Odyessey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

What categories of legal professionals at greatest risk? Least risk? Most – U.K.: Solicitors & in-house “employed counsel” doing routine work – Translate to U.S.? Least – U.K. “highly bespoke work of specialized barristers” – Translate to U.S.?

What messages should U.S., we take from Susskind? Law firms? Lawyer regulation? Law schools? 1/piigs-might-fly.html