Future Law

Forward-Looking Legal Profession: Reality or Oxymoron?

The future may be unknowable, but it’s not unthinkable. That line from the introduction to Bruce MacEwen’s book “Tomorrowland: Scenarios for Law Firms Beyond the Horizon” really stuck with me.

As lawyers, we should think about what is coming around the corner. We should ask ourselves: What can we do to prepare for the inevitable?

“Firms need to embrace a longer-term, fundamental shift in the way that they think about their markets, their clients, their services and their futures,” said James W. Jones, lead author of the Georgetown Law Center’s “Report on the State of the Legal Market .” The report goes on to note that the last 10 years have been difficult and, looking ahead, “significant long-term challenges remain .”

It is apparent that more and more members of the legal profession are taking this thinking about the future to heart. Some-thing must change. But what and by how much? A first step toward change is identifying the problem. The problem —or problems —with the current model of training lawyers and delivering legal services have been the subject of a panoply of bar-generated reports over the past several years.

READ MORE  Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Volume 163 No. 154 August 9, 2017

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