Peer to Peer Magazine

TOMORROW'S LAWYERS: AN INTRODUCTION TO YOUR FUTURE by Anne Costello of Grippo & Elden LLC If you haven't read Richard Susskind's books (and any legal technologist working today should read his work), "Tomorrow's Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future" is a good place to start. Other reviewers have called the book "Susskind for Dummies," as the first section restates (and updates) his ideas from his previous titles. The second half moves to predictions regarding what type of employment young people entering the legal profession today may find in 10 to 15 years. It's perfect for this year's Law2020 theme of emerging careers. STANDARDIZED LEGAL WORK The core of Susskind's predictions on the evolution of legal practice is lawyers must move from the assumption that all legal work is bespoke (the beautiful English word for custom) to standardization. Legal work can and should be commoditized, and attorneys embracing commoditization will better serve their clients through efficient and cost-effective service. He believes all legal work, from huge multinational deals to the smallest personal matter, can be broken into small tasks. Efficient client service means analyzing each of these tasks and using the best tools and people available to complete the job at a lower cost. Lower cost for tasks can be achieved by alternative sourcing. 86 Peer to Peer EMERGING CAREERS Alternative sourcing for Susskind goes well beyond the outsourcing and subcontracting we see used regularly in legal service today. He lists and analyzes fifteen separate methods of alternative sourcing for legal tasks. The tools for managing and implementing alternative sourcing point to what he sees as the emerging legal careers of the future. Susskind passionately believes project management will be central to the efficient delivery of large-scale legal services in the future. He further contends attorneys today do not appreciate project management as a discipline in its own right. I take some issue with that since we see so many ILTA firms devoting themselves to building their project management groups and staff. I've also seen some ILTA firms' deep work in building legal process maps that break down legal work into discrete tasks to be sourced appropriately. Susskind thinks that more clients should be demanding this type of thought into the legal process. Project managers will orchestrate these tasks. DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES Technology has and will continue to transform legal services. Susskind identifies 10 "disruptive" technologies that are transforming the traditional law firm business model. (Funny sidenote about terms like "disruptive:" In the midst of completing our own Lync deployment, my favorite benefit is "relentless" connectivity.) Each of these technologies influences what work attorneys do, where the work is done and who is actually doing the work.

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