by Traverse Legal, reviewed by Enrico Schaefer - January 6, 2005 - 'The Greatest' Philosophy, Alternative Billing, The Billable Hour
Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog just posted a link to a great article by Law Practice Today which provides a synopisis of a round table discussion about the future of the practice of law.
Looking to the Future: What Changes Do You See Coming in the Next Twenty Years?
The panel agrees that rapid changes are coming to our profession and that law firms and lawyers must step up or be left behind.
Some of my favorite quotes:
Joe Kashi – We can predict something, however. There will be a substantial premium placed upon lawyers and staff possessing the technical background, skills and willingness to rapidly adjust to changing circumstances and to quickly assimilate new technologies into their office procedures. Law firms that cannot quickly evolve will sink into irrelevance. We need only remember that twenty years ago, many law firms still typed documents on typewriters, databases where in their infancy, there was little or no practical computer assisted legal research, mobile phones were installed only in the cars of Hollywood moguls, and an 8 MHz 80286 PC and cumbersome LaserJet 1 printer were the epitome of law office technology. Now, we use highly integrated legal-specific practice management and accounting programs, pervasive wireless networks, and 3 GHz systems without a second thought.
Shuey: Almost all commodity practice (e.g., uncontested divorces, low damages litigation, basic estate planning, and simple business structure creation) will be provided either by non-lawyer commercial entities and/or by the court system itself.
Werner: My sense is that people who are in private practice will no longer be billing the majority of their work by the hour. I don’t believe that market forces will stand for it, nor do I believe that attorneys entering the profession will be willing to devote the same amount of time to work as their more senior counterparts. Junior attorneys want to have a life now, not in the distant future or at retirement. There may have to be tradeoffs for these younger attorneys in terms of remuneration, but I think more will be willing to make that trade off for more discretionary time, flexible schedules, and alternative practice options. Many attorneys forget or are not aware that billing by the hour was not the origin of how attorneys earned fees, and has come to prominence in the last 40 years.
Yes my friends, smart people are not only thinking about these things but prediciting them as well. You [we] are not alone!
As a founding partner of Traverse Legal, PLC, he has more than thirty years of experience as an attorney for both established companies and emerging start-ups. His extensive experience includes navigating technology law matters and complex litigation throughout the United States.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Enrico Schaefer, who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing Business, IP, and Technology Law litigation attorney.
