From ABA TechShow--Susskind: The End of Lawyers?

by Todd Scott

When a guy with a PhD from Oxford in artificial intelligence and problem solving writes a book called, “The End of Lawyers?” he will tend to get a lot of attention.  That was the case this week at ABA Techshow 2009at the Chicago Hilton after noted author and futurist Richard Susskind took the podium to give yesterday’s plenary.

Susskind wrote on the commoditization of legal services and predicted that in a decade legal services will move from what he calls “bespoke” services - or highly tailored and individualized — to services that are systemized, packaged, and commoditized.  He uses the Deloitt example of commoditizing tax and accounting services after, “100’s of experts spending a decade transforming the packaged services.”

Lawyers will be forced to change.  Susskind points out that there are sustaining technologies - those that support the way a sector works - and disruptive technologies - those that cause change - and there are at least ten disruptive technologies headed on a collision coarse with the traditional practice of law.  These include:  closed client communities, online dispute resolution, embedded legal knowledge, and online marketplace. 

Are small firms headed the way of the dinosaurs?  Not really, is the feeling of many of the lawyers and consultants here at Techshow.  “Small is the new big,” is the way legal technology consultant Ross Kodner puts it.  To follow more techshow happenings click here.

Todd Scott is the Vice President of Member Services and Risk Management at Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company.  His blog, RU@RISK is a great source for practical tips on how lawyers can avoid malpractice and ethics complaints.