Last week we were blessed by having David Maister's forthcoming article in the American Lawyer "Are Law Firms Manageable" placed on his website. This article explains how law firms dysfunction as organisations.
I can also post that The Law Society Gazette has managed to publish an interview with Richard Susskind who is the IT adviser to the Lord Chancellor and the author of the book "The Future of Law." The interview was made with Rupert White who deals with IT matters at the Law Society Gazette.
If you read both articles, you could view them as a massive incentive for Venture Capital Funds to enter the legal services market.
With respect to Susskind's interview, the message is that lawyers must adapt to the fact that the legal services can be sold as commodities otherwise they face a bleak future.
What I like about Susskind is that he really does have the capacity to use radical language but make compelling sense - This interview contains a cracking soundbite - "The dominant way in which law firms impart legal guidance remains the same as Bleak House and well before."
Where I may take issue with Susskind is over the time-frame when some law firms will see the writing on the wall as they cling into what he calls "bespoke service" and resist commoditisation - He is talking within terms of 20 years of many law firms who ignore this facing oblivion. I think it is going to be significantly less.
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