Synopses & Reviews
Tomorrow's Lawyers predicts fundamental and irreversible changes in the world of law. For Richard Susskind, best-selling author of
The End of Lawyers?, the future of legal service will be neither Grisham nor Rumpole. Instead, it will be a world of virtual courts, Internet-based global legal businesses, online document production, commoditized service, legal process outsourcing, and web-based simulated practice. Legal markets will be liberalized, with new jobs for lawyers and new employers too. This book is a definitive guide to this future - for young and aspiring lawyers, and for all who want to modernize our legal and justice systems. It introduces the new legal landscape and offers practical guidance for those who intend to build careers and businesses in law.
Tomorrow's Lawyers is divided into three parts. The first is an updated restatement of Richard Susskind's views on the future of legal services, as laid out in his previous bestselling works, The Future of Law, Transforming the Law, and The End of Lawyers?. He identifies the key drivers of change, such as the economic downturn, and considers how these will impact on the legal marketplace. In the second part, Susskind sketches out the new legal landscape as he predicts it, including the changing role of law firms, and in-house lawyers, and the coming of virtual hearings and online dispute resolution. The third part focuses on the prospects for aspiring lawyers, predicting what new jobs and new employers there will be, and equipping prospective lawyers with penetrating questions to put to their current and future employers.
This is the essential introduction to the future of law for those who want to succeed in the rapidly changing legal landscape.
Review
"In Tomorrow's Lawyers, Susskind achieves what very few people attempt and hardly anyone achieves, namely to predict the future in a complex field, in an inspired, credible, and engaging way. Nobody has better credentials to write about the current and future effects of the ongoing electronic and economic revolution on the rule and practice of law."
--Lord Neuberger, Master of the Rolls
"Aimed at an audience much in need of optimism, hope and insight, Susskind has produced a concise, readable and thought provoking guide for young lawyers on how to think about their future."
--Professor David Wilkins, Harvard Law School
"For years, Susskind has challenged lawyers to reinvent the way we work. Now, in Tomorrow's Lawyers, he presents his clearest picture yet of what the future has in store."
--Hugh Verrier, Chairman, White and Case
"A must-read for anyone interested in the future of legal services. Insightful, thought provoking and challenging, Susskind has clearly identified the inexorable forces that will drive change."
--David Allgood, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Royal Bank of Canada
"Susskind's best book yet, Tomorrow's Lawyers unleashes with explosive energy the disruptive trends liberating the legal industry from centuries of conservatism. An enjoyable read that lights up the future."
--David Morley, Senior Partner, Allen and Overy
Synopsis
In his newest provocative and forward-looking volume on the legal profession, Richard Susskind-the best-selling author of
The End of Lawyers? and
The Future of Law-predicts fundamental and irreversible changes in the world of law. What Susskind sees is eye-opening-a legal world of virtual courts, Internet-based global legal businesses, online document production, commoditized service, legal process outsourcing, and web-based simulated practice. Legal markets will be liberalized, with new jobs for lawyers and new employers too.
Tomorrow's Lawyers is a definitive guide to this future--for young and aspiring lawyers, and for all who want to modernize our legal and justice systems. It introduces the new legal landscape and offers practical guidance for those who intend to build careers and businesses in law. Susskind identifies the key drivers of change, such as the economic downturn, and considers how these will shape the legal marketplace. He then sketches out the new legal landscape as he envisions it, highlighting the changing role of law firms-and in-house lawyers-and the coming of virtual hearings and online dispute resolution. He also suggests solutions to major concerns within the legal profession, such as diminishing public funding, and explores alternative roles for future lawyers in a world increasingly dominated by IT. And what are the prospects for aspiring lawyers? Susskind predicts what new jobs and new employers there will be, equipping prospective lawyers with penetrating questions to put to their current and future bosses.
Tomorrow's Lawyers is an essential roadmap to the future of law for those who want to survive the rapidly changing legal landscape.
About the Author
Richard Susskind OBE is an acclaimed author, speaker, and independent adviser to international professional firms and national governments. He is President of the Society for Computers and the Law IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice. He holds professorships at Oxford University, University College London, and elsewhere. His work has been translated into more than 10 languages, and he has been invited to speak in over 40 countries.
Table of Contents
Introduction
PART ONE: RADICAL CHANGES IN THE LEGAL MARKET
1. Three Drivers of Change
2. Strategies for Success
3. Commoditizing the Law
4. Working Differently
5. Disruptive Legal Technologies
PART TWO: THE NEW LANDSCAPE
6. The Future for Law Firms
7. The Shifting Role of In-House Lawyers
8. The Timing of the Changes
9. Access to Justice and Online Legal Services
10. Judges, IT, Virtual Courts, and ODR
PART THREE: PROSPECTS FOR YOUNG LAWYERS
11. New Jobs for Lawyers
12. Who Will Employ Young Lawyers?
13. Training Lawyers for What?
14. Replacing the Old Training Ground
15. Questions to Ask Employers
16. The Long-term