T O M O R R O W ’ S L AW Y E R S 1 TOMORROW’S LAWYERS An Introduction to Your Future S E C O N D E D I T I O N Richard Susskind 1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © Richard Susskind 2017 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition published in 2013 Second Edition published in 2017 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. 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I dedicate this book to Daniel, Jamie, and Ali, my loving children, who bring me endless happiness vii P R E FA C E T O T H E S E C O N D E D I T I O N One of the central claims in the first edition of this book, pub- lished in 2013, was that the legal world would change more in the next 20 years than it has in the past two centuries. Three years on, I believe we are on course. In the intervening period, much has happened in the legal world. To give a flavour— many major law firms have since set up low- cost service centres to undertake routine legal work; the Big 4 accounting firms have rapidly grown their global legal capabilities; there has been a great upsurge of legaltech start- ups, now well over 1,000 worldwide; the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) in law has captured the imagination of innovators across the profession, from market leading firms to law student developers; in England and Wales, in our liberal- ized legal regime, innumerable ‘alternative business structures’ have been launched (there are now over 500); professional bod- ies, such as the Canadian Bar Association, have produced studies on the future of legal services; senior judges have been strongly advocating the wider use of technology; the British government has committed to investing over £1 billion in modernizing and digitizing the court system in England and Wales; innumer- able in- house legal departments, especially in the US, have been appointing chief operating officers to rethink and manage their operations; and, if readers will forgive me, more Chinese law- yers have bought this book than English lawyers. In short, much viii Preface to the Second Edition has changed in these three short years. At the same time, most commentators agree that the pace of change is accelerating. And great numbers of leaders across the legal profession are now openly acknowledging that the world of law is entering a period of transformation. In truth, we are just warming up. My own thinking has also moved on. In part, I have learned, as always, from my law firm clients, each of whom has been pow- ering ahead, embracing alternative labour models as well as new technologies. I have also been preoccupied over the last couple of years with online dispute resolution. I chaired an advisory group of the Civil Justice Council that devised the idea of online courts, and their introduction is now judicial and government policy for England and Wales. Above all, I had the great privilege of writ- ing a book, The Future of the Professions, with my son, Daniel Susskind, a Fellow in Economics at Balliol College, Oxford. This was published in 2015. Looking beyond law to other professions, and working with an economist, has led me to revisit some of my past analysis. All of which is to say that the first edition of this book is now out of date. Accordingly, my aim in writing this second edition is to take account of recent advances in the legal marketplace along- side developments in my own thinking and experience. Once again, I have kept it brief, because my concern here is with the big picture— the broad trends and the likely outcomes. My main purpose is to encourage open- minded debate and reflection, with a view to improving our legal systems. While the book was origi- nally intended for young lawyers, it transpires that older lawyers Preface to the Second Edition ix also like short and inexpensive books and so they read it too. I am happy with this— all lawyers, unless they are retiring today, are tomorrow’s lawyers. Richard Susskind October 2016 Radlett, England xi P R E FA C E T O T H E F I R S T E D I T I O N I have written this book to provide tomorrow’s lawyers and legal educators with an accessible account of the pressing issues that currently face the legal profession and the justice system. We are, I have no doubt, on the brink of fundamental change in the world of law, and my main aim is to encourage wider discussion of the forces at play and their likely impact. Although originally conceived as a guide to the future for the next generation of lawyers, I expect that the book will also be read by more experienced practitioners. For busy professionals who do not have the time to read lengthy texts, I hope that it serves as a punchier version of my ideas than my previous work. Certainly, it represents a substantially updated version of my views on trends in the legal market. I do not anticipate that readers will agree with all of what I say. But if the book gives rise to more serious reflection and debate about the future of the law and lawyers, then I have done my job. And yet, because we live in such rapidly shifting times, it is a job that is necessarily incomplete. Each day, I hear fresh tales of inno- vation in law— a new legal business here, an online facility there, and a regular flow of imaginative ideas for meeting clients’ needs in different ways. In citing these innovations, I had to draw the line somewhere, however, and so I have only been able to refer to developments that surfaced before the end of May 2012. I would not be surprised, by the time this book is published, if some important new legal services have been launched in the interim. xii Preface to the First Edition I have some people to thank. First of all, there is the team at Oxford University Press. This is the fifth time that OUP has agreed to take on one of my books and, as ever, it has been a privilege to work with such a well- regarded publishing house. I am especially grateful to Ruth Anderson and Sophie Barham in the UK and to Ninell Silberberg in the US for their friendly support and advice. I must also record my thanks to the various referees who anonymously assessed my book proposal and made a wide range of suggestions that led, I believe, to many significant improvements. Next is Patricia Cato, who helped me with innumerable initial drafts and still comfortably outperforms any speech recognition system in making sense of my rapid Glaswegian. I have also benefited greatly from the guidance, encourage- ment, and criticisms of a small group of friends and colleagues who generously spent many hours of their time reading an early draft of the book— Neville Eisenberg, Hazel Genn, Daniel Harris, Laurence Mills, David Morley, Alan Paterson, and Tony Williams. To each, I extend my profound thanks. Two reviewers deserve separate mention— my sons, Daniel and Jamie. This book would not have been written without their love and encouragement. They enthused when I came up with the idea of a book for aspiring lawyers, they motivated me when other commitments made it difficult to maintain momentum, and they commented extensively on earlier drafts. Their range and clarity of thought amaze me. The last person but one to thank is Ali, my daughter and friend, to whom, along with her brothers, this book is dedicated. I cher- ish every one of the many companionable moments we spend together. I could not have a more wonderful daughter. Preface to the First Edition xiii And finally, as always, I am very grateful to my loving wife, Michelle. For over 30 years now, she has indulgently endured my bouts of obsessive writing. It cannot be easy. Her boundless sup- port for my work and her confidence in my ideas mean so very much to me. Richard Susskind June 2012 Radlett, England When one door closes, another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us. alexander graham bell Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution. clay shirky