It is time to stop using the term “non-lawyer” to refer to everyone who works in legal service who has not passed the bar exam. This may seem like a minor issue to some, but it is not. In fact, it reflects an outlook that impedes the ability of our profession to make the changes we need to make.
Read MoreWhen I was a boy, I dreamed of being a lawyer. I wanted to be Perry Mason—cross examining witnesses until they admitted they were guilty and my innocent clients were exonerated. My dream came true; I might not have been Perry Mason, but I had a long and rewarding career as a lawyer advising and defending clients.
Read MoreAs we’ve observed on this blog, the anticipated “paradigm shift” in legal service is proceeding much slower than most observers expected. It is proceeding and eventually will occur, but it is still moving at a relative snail’s pace.
Read More“Too Many Law Students, Too Few Legal Jobs,” Steven Harper’s op-ed in the New York Times last week, drew public attention to a serious problem: 40% of 2014 law school graduates are unable to find jobs as lawyers.
Read MoreProfessor Marsha Cohen is on a mission. She is determined to address two challenges she knows well from her distinguished career in law: (1) Making legal education more practical—preparing students actually to practice law; and (2) Supplying talented and motivated lawyers to represent the underserved in America’s system of justice.
Read MoreI have written previously about the disappointing pace of adoption of legal technology. Powerful new tools have been developed, and more are being created every day. They just aren’t being used as much as they could be or should be.
Read MoreMs. Rhode is an eminent professor at the Stanford Law School and a prolific writer and speaker. She has been a scholar and empirical student of the way law is practiced and regulated for nearly four decades. Her command of these subjects shows on every page of her new book.
Read MoreThe imperative starts with corporate clients. The pressure they are under to reduce spending will be focused as intensely on legal spend as any other. Procurement departments are commonly involved in decisions concerning legal expenses. Market data shows that clients are paying less per unit of value delivered. The pressure to deliver quality legal service for lower fees is part of a new reality.
Read MoreThe current legal landscape presents stark contrasts—it is at once the best of times and the worst of times, as Dickens would have put it. It is the best of times in at least two respects. First, many participants are doing very well financially, especially the largest law firms and the most successful specialty firms. Second, as I wrote last week, technology and other developments present unprecedented opportunities to improve the quality and lower the cost of legal service, while simultaneously improving the financial and personal rewards for those who deliver it.
Read MoreI spent the last 40 years in the delivery of legal service. First as a lawyer, then as a practice group leader, then as chairman of a large law firm. During that time I did my share of changing how the law works and how that service is delivered. In the next chapter of my professional life, I intend to continue to be a catalyst for change. A catalyst for improving the way legal service is delivered and for making careers in legal service more rewarding. My blogs on LEI are intended to generate thought and debate which will further these overarching objectives.
Read MoreMost discussion of the future of law (including my blog posts) focuses on how different things will be. That’s appropriate. We need to understand the changes the world of tomorrow will require. We should not lose sight of the constants, however. Some of the elements of law practice which lawyers value most and find most rewarding—such as quality of service and client relationships—will continue to be at least as important in the world of tomorrow as they are today. Indeed, those two elements are worth noting in particular.
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