Legal Commentary

Author/professor/futurist/techie Richard Susskind was the headline act at today's "Generals of the Revolution" road show, touting his campaign that the profession must recognize that lawyers -- whether they are in private or corporate practice -- must embrace new work models and technology to meet the demands of their clients for better, faster, and cheaper legal services. (Attendees at the event received a copy of his 2008 book: "The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services.")

Lawyers, he said, must grasp that their clients want "proactive, not reactive" services that incorporate a heavy dose of risk management. Clients want dispute avoidance, not resolution. They'd rather have "a fence at the top of the cliff than an ambulance at the bottom." And, he said, necessary change is not simply about automating existing workflow and processes, it also means innovation.

Susskind effectively outlined a primer for legal professionals to identify, face, and embrace change, in the light of corporate demands for "better, faster, cheaper" legal services. That means determining what services require the nuanced expertise of veteran lawyers, versus what parts of the process can be commoditized and either outsourced, or via technology, offered as templates, checklists, and even self-service options.

A good analogy always helps folks understand concepts, and the England-based Susskind offered a British metaphor: Tailors who create unique suits based on individual measurements provide what is called "Bespoke" work, he says. But many folks prefer the economy of prêt-à-porter.

The New York City event is the fourth of five scheduled programs (also in London, Houston, Palo Alto, and Chicago), presented by Datacert, and co-sponsored by ILTA, the General Counsel Forum, and InsideCounsel magazine. Today's event also coincides with the launch of Datacert's new Passport, a practice and risk management system that targets corporate counsel.