Product Description

In this much anticipated sequel to the legal bestseller, The Future of Law, Susskind lays down a challenge to all lawyers to ask themselves, with their hands on their hearts, what elements of their current workload could be undertaken differently - more quickly, cheaply, efficiently, or to a higher quality - using alternative methods of working. The challenge for legal readers is to identify their distinctive skills and talents, the capabilities that they possess that cannot, crudely, be replaced by advanced systems or by less costly workers supported by technology or standard processes, or by lay people armed with online self-help tools. It is argued that the market is increasingly unlikely to tolerate expensive lawyers for tasks (guiding, advising, drafting, researching, problem-solving, and more) that can equally or better be discharged, directly or indirectly, by smart systems and processes. It follows, the book claims, that the jobs of many traditional lawyers will be substantially eroded and often eliminated. This is where the legal profession will be taken, it is argued, by two forces: by a market pull towards commoditisation and by pervasive development and uptake of information technology. At the same time, the book foresees new law jobs emerging which may be highly rewarding, even if very different from those of today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49840 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
'His advice cannot be ignored by those lawyers who want to survive the economic turmoil.' --Joshua Rozenberg, The Law Society Gazette

'I feel Susskind has made an excellent start by opening up the debate.' --Phillip Taylor, The Barrister

'The End Of Lawyers is a fascinating and timely book.' --Bruce MacEwen, Adam Smith, Esq.

'This Book is addictive! Susskind has done it again with an extremely engaging blend of advice...I believe anyone working in the professional service form could find useful examples of what can be accomplished in their own profession...' -- Patrick Mckenna

'Richard Susskind's predictions of 1996, in the Future of Law, can now be seen to be coming to pass. I am confident that those in this new work, where he looks even further into the future, will likewise come to pass, given the extraordinary depth of knowledge, analysis and reasoning he has brought to bear and which this book demonstrates on every page.'
--Lord Saville of Newdigate, President of the Society for Computers and Law

'Richard Susskind speaks to the issues facing law firms big and small, in-house legal systems, legal publishers, training establishments and individual lawyers. He has a lucid style informed by personal experience and observation and deep connections within the legal profession. This book should be compulsory reading for all who care about the future of the law.' --Mark Harding, Group General Counsel, Barclays

'If you don't quickly absorb what Susskind has to say, you'll already be behind in adapting to the modern legal profession, in-house as well as private practice. You can't and won't agree with everything here, but you must read it all and think about it all. It would be irresponsible (and self-destructive) to avoid reflecting on the voluminous arguments and examples presented here.' --David Maister, consultant and author, The Trusted Advisor

'Susskind remains the only writer today who can put the future of lawyers and the legal professions on the agenda at the highest levels of government, the judiciary, the legal institutions, major corporations, and law firms.' -- Charles Christian, Editor, Legal Technology Insider

'In The End of Lawyers?, Richard Susskind brilliantly and passionately shows us how to think about practising law in the 21st century. The book's inspirational outlook and yet practical approach make it a must-read for any lawyer aspiring to achieve professional success and make a difference for his or her clients.' --Dov Seldman, Chairman and CEO, LRN, and author, HOW

'Richard Susskind's new book tells us that we should, contrary to the profession's engrained conservatism, turn our minds to the future to better understand the profession and the law. It is thought-provoking and entertaining at the same time. I strongly encourage law firms and in-house lawyers to read this book and embrace the new methods and technologies that Richard Susskind is recommending.' --Peter Kurer, Chairman, UBS

'This is a fascinating book. It raises serious questions not only about the future of legal practice, but about how legal services are structured and delivered now. As is to be expected from Susskind, the arguments are pacey and challenging. The conclusions and predictions are likely to provoke strong reactions, but the book will not fail to engage.' --Professor Dame Hazel Genn, University College London Faculty of Laws

'A wide-ranging book that is of value not only to lawyers contemplating their future, but to anyone whose work touches upon the law. Blending the futures of law and technology, Susskind's vision is far-reaching and tightly-argued, showing the displacement that lies ahead and the ways in which society can gain from it.' --Jonathan Zittrain, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School and author, The Future of the Internet

'This book paints a scary future. But as a call to arms, to embrace the future, it lays down a challenge for lawyers everywhere for we have no birthright, no power to avoid development, to 'freeze the frame.' Susskind makes a most persuasive case that the 'incremental revolution' has already arrived; so join it or be left on the wrong side of the barricades.' -- Stuart Popham, Senior Partner, Clifford Chance

'Susskind's engaging book urges a drastic reassessment of the legal profession and suggests a series of reforms for law firms of the future.' -- The In-House Lawyer

'In light of the current economic climate, Susskind may find that his predictions come true sooner than even he thinks.' -- The In-House Lawyer

'This is an enourmously important book, and if you have an interest in how the legal marketplace will operate in future, you have to read it...We talk a lot about "visionaries" these days, but in the legal profession, nobody seriously competes with Richard Susskind for this title, and this book shows why.' --Jordan Furlong, www.law21.ca

'The End of Lawyers? is a must-read for every managing partner in the country.' -- Mitch Kowlaski, Financial Post

'This is a strikingly thought-provoking book and a must-read for all law-firms.' -- Modus Operandi

'This book makes some clear predicitions about what lawyers will do and not do in the future, but is most valuable for raising the issues in the first place. It is a proactive peek into the possible future of legal work and the lawyers who perform it.' --Mark C Miller, Law and Politics Book Review

'The End of Lawyers? is a road map to the archipelago of legal innovation already emerging all around us. Ignore it at your peril.' --Michael Stern, The AM Law Daily

'If you are ready to look into Susskind's question, this book makes fascinating reading. And if you are serious about embracing the changing environment, it is the primer for new ideas in bold action.' --Karen Bell, LawPro

'If you are a lawyer and haven't read Richard's book, you should. And, no, reading the reviews and the articles about the book won't suffice. Buy the book, sit in a quiet room and read deeply about his predictions of the future of the practice of Law.' -- Jason Mendelson, Mendelson's Musings

Review
This is an outstanding publication. Buy it. Read it. Think about it. (Douglas Mill, Journal of the Law Society of Scotland )

Customer Reviews

The End of Lawyers?
The timing of this vital read for every lawyer could not have been better. Economic downturn is accelerating the rate at which the candle of traditional legal practice is incinerating at both ends. Clients' increasing intolerance of legal uncertainty, risk and cost, and their growing need for transparency, combine to emphasize what Susskind identifies as ten technologies with the collective potential of overturning the commonly-accepted role of the practicing lawyer. The balance of power has shifted to clients, such as in-house counsel. Here, in under 300 pages, is a stream of ideas from someone long regarded as a futurologist for how lawyers can re-focus and re-apply their added value, and grow their practices - despite economic challenges - partly by leveraging emerging technology. It is persuasive, pithy, honest, illustrated with examples and browseable. Having been an in-house lawyer for 37 years, observing how traditional law practice has been deployed by leading firms, I would urge everyone in the field to read this one carefully and take its foresight seriously.

Warning! Warning! The end is nigh!
I'm reminded of Blair's treacherous mission for Frank Field - "think the unthinkable". He did and got sacked! Susskind is made of different stuff (I hope) with this rethink on the nature of our legal services.

Academic Susskind has been thinking the unthinkable here, too. It's worth it after inconclusive attempts by Labour to introduce new packages on legal services, a commission, far too much regulation, and a "push me, pull you" policy on conditional fee agreements so we don't really know where we are or what direction we are going in- and whether we are even allowed to question the future because it is not the `done thing' and we should just take what is meted out from the government.

However, the next decade should be the decade of change for us as IT takes over and those carbon copies find their final resting place in the `V & A'. The author used a novel method to test his theories after his forerunner "The Future of Law", and was clearly delighted with the responses contained in his selected quotes from nine eminent people on the dust jacket: comments which are both sensible and constructive.

This book does present a scary future, but it's one we can manage, without Shakespeare's remedy - `first, let's kill all the lawyers' - which is what some of Susskind's imagery may conjure up for less secure lawyers. The thesis is about our continuing structure, how we deliver our services to the client and the state, and it should also be about what rights we have as lawyers fulfilling our functions as a career under continuous professional development policies- and about democracy within the legal profession which, for some, seems missing with our professional bodies.

So where does Susskind take us in his 8 chapters? The answer is along a road driven by 2 forces:

* by a market pull towards the commoditization of legal services;
* by the pervasive development and uptake of new and disruptive legal technologies; and
* our jobs.

The problem is that everyone else has the same problems just now so there's a need for a constructive approach by all (in other words, the government). Mixed with this will be the modern needs of lawyers, their physical and psychological profiles and wants, and the way in which business and society has adapted to new conditions so far.

I feel Susskind has made an excellent start by opening up this debate but we have a long way to go as the digital era takes effect. But what happens then? I would suggest that whilst the basics of representation and advice remain even with IT, the prognosis and implications in his conclusion should be read and re-read.

The author talks finally about motive- this is actually the beginning of a new structure for legal services which will always be needed in a civilized society. His parting aspiration that these services should be quicker, better, cheaper and more widely available is right (of course they should), but it hasn't worked in the past so why should it work in the future just because of IT! Susskind's rethink must be positive because as a newly famous American has just said "yes, we can". I think we can, so there is no end of lawyers, just a new beginning so the end is nigh has been postponed...indefinitely.