It’s the end of the legal world as we know it… but we feel fine

Daniel Susskind warns that the future of the legal profession is in jeopardy. While speaking to a group of [mostly legal] professionals about his new book, The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts (which he co-authored with his father, Richard Susskind), Susskind suggested that lawyers’ roles as the traditional gatekeepers to the legal profession may be coming to an end. As support for his thesis, Susskind cites eBay’s online dispute resolution model that resolves around 60 million disputes each year without the involvement of traditional lawyers.
With respect, we disagree. We recognize that new technology means there will be change. We have watched as machines have become increasingly capable of performing certain tasks, but at the same time, we as lawyers, have learned how to use the technology to support the legal profession. Just as society has evolved throughout the centuries, so too will our profession. Technology represents change, but it also presents challenges that only humans can overcome.
At Wortzmans we embrace technology and seize upon new technological advances to enhance our legal practice and the services we provide to our clients. We don’t shy away from technologies that promise to reduce the amount of time we spend reviewing electronic documents; rather we promote the efficiencies to our clients because we know that it will create new opportunities and challenges which add value and promote change in the legal industry.