The Future of Law, Lawyers and Law Professors… And the Exponential Growth of Disruptive Technology
Being a law professor and in-house lawyer has never been more exciting.
This may sound weird. After all, law schools are losing their appeal, the job market for law students looks grim, and the legal profession is facing multiple challenges and uncertainties.
So where does my excitement about being a law professor and an in-house lawyer come from?
In short, the answer to this question is “disruptive technology”. New technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, are transforming what it means to be a lawyer. And understanding and adapting to these changes is the key challenge facing every lawyer and law professor today.
It is a time of great uncertainty in the legal profession, but it is also a time of great opportunity. Not least, the opportunity to define what the “lawyer of the future” will look like.
It is time to bring in the sci-fi lawyer. Think about it! Whilst it is relatively easy to think of lawyers in other genres of books, films or television, the heroes of science fiction are never lawyers.
To imagine the likely role and function of lawyers in the near future, we need to start by developing a much better understanding of how disruptive technology is changing our world.
The emergence of “two parallel worlds”
There is no denying that the exponential growth of disruptive technology is changing our world.
Think networked technologies, social media, peer-to-peer platforms, the Internet of Things, big data, blockchain, automation/robotics, and artificial intelligence. Successive waves of innovation have created a new technological infrastructure that is transforming all aspects of everyday life.
The effect of these changes has been the creation of a new “digital world”. It is a fast-changing world that is structured around computer code, algorithms, fluid identities and rapidly evolving forms of capitalism. It is clear that this world with its accelerating pace of innovation is much more than “old wine in new bottles”.
Crucially, however, this new “digital world” has not yet replaced the old “analogue” world, but rather co-exists with it. We inhabit a complex space of parallel realities in which these two worlds — “analogue” and “digital” — constantly rub up against each other. The tension that exists between these parallel realities is the defining feature of our times.
Complicating this picture is the fact that the contours and meanings of this new digital reality are often uncertain. Inevitably, the response to such uncertainty is to employ “old world” concepts, and paradigms to understand and even regulate the new world. The result is a disconnect.
Instead, what we should be doing is developing new paradigms for mapping the different aspects of these multiple realities. After all, those individuals that are able to “bridge” these parallel realities, and to create synergies “between” them, will be best placed to add value.
Lawyers in the “Twilight Zone”
In a legal context, the uncertainties triggered by the emergence of a new digital reality are particularly urgent. But identifying the correct response to the “new normal” is not easy. What does seem clear, however, is that 20th century ideas are no longer adequate. Developed in an era of industrial production and nation states, most such thinking is just not appropriate for a globally connected age. In this context, everyone needs guidance.
Here are 4 suggestions that enable lawyers and legal professionals to make better choices in this new world of parallel realities.
(1) Understanding LegalTech and algorithms
Legal technology — or LegalTech — is changing the way lawyers practice law. It is fair to say that the legal profession is one of the most disrupted sectors of the consulting industry today.
LegalTech refers to platforms, IT services and software that first made law firms and lawyers more efficient in performing their activities. Practice management, document storage and automated billing and accounting software are obvious examples. LegalTech also assists legal professionals in due diligence and discovery processes.
But it will not stop here. Near future technological advances — most obviously, artificial intelligence, big data and automation — have already started to replace lawyers and other legal professionals. Artificial intelligence tools help clients review, understand and even draft legal documents. Machine learning and data analytics are not only used to do legal research, but also assist in legal decision-making and the prediction of legal cases.
Clearly, if legal work will be dependent on and performed by algorithms in the future, it is crucial for the future lawyers (and lawyers who are at the start of their careers) to get a better understanding of “machine learning” and “artificial intelligence”.
(2) Transforming from “lawyer” to “project manager”
There is no doubt that LegalTech will automate “legal work”, such as contract drafting, legal risk management and dispute resolution.
But, will this be the end of lawyers and legal advisors? The answer is “no”, if lawyers are able to assume the role of project managers.
As such, the capacity to work in multi-disciplinary teams will take on a much greater significance. In the “digital” world, this means that they don’t only have to work closely with accountants and fiscal advisors, but also with engineers, designers, architects and other experts/specialists (depending on the project at hand).
Law firms will become more like legal platforms with an emphasis on connecting legal and other professionals and managing collaboration. In a world of platforms, matchmaking and project-based collaborations, lawyers and legal advisors should be aware of the way network technology works. They should also start using the power of social media to build their own network.
(3) Advising “open organizations”
Fast-growth technology companies with few assets and fewer employees are central to the “digital world”.
Winning companies have used the opportunities of networked technology to develop new business models. Trust, value and wealth are created through platforms, connections and networks, instead of the management of workers or physical assets.
Crucially, many firms in this innovation-driven economy adopt new organizational forms and governance structures in order to deliver their new products and services.
What then are the main features of such organizations? To appeal to millennial “talent” and consumers, such firms have embraced mission-driven and inclusive organizational cultures and practices in which hierarchies are replaced by a “best-idea-wins” culture.
Significantly, however, many such “new” firms have often struggled to maintain this new governance model and fulfil their initial promise. Lawyers of the future understand the opportunities and challenges of the “digital world” and will help firms to re-invent their governance structures in order to be more open and inclusive.
(4) Embracing blockchain technology and “smart” contracts
A smart contract is a computer program code or protocol that automates the verification, execution and enforcement of certain terms and conditions of a contractual arrangement.
Nick Szabo, a computer scientist and legal theorist who first introduced the “term” in 1994, envisioned a smart contract as an important part of, for instance, a car loan. If the borrower would miss a payment term, the smart contract would not allow the use and operation of the car.
Clearly, smart contracts will become more prevalent in the growing world of Internet of Things. The more devices are connected to each other, the more “smart contracts” will be used to excecute and enforce “legal transactions”.
Blockchain technology can then help make the transactions verifiable and secure. A blockchain is a shared digital ledger or database that maintains a continuously growing list of records of recent transactions among participating parties involving digital devices and assets. The blockchain ensures the truth, integrity and authenticity of information needed to enter into “smart contract” transactions.
There is no doubt that the combination of blockchain technology and smart contracts is disrupting the traditional legal assumptions, doctrines and concepts. For instance, it will give a boost to the sharing economy (with its implications for property law). Another example is the set-up of “corporate organizations” built on software, code and smart contracts, challenging traditional corporation laws.
Why am I so excited?
It is clear that I don’t feel threatened by the exponential growth of technology and the subsequent changes in society. I view them more as opportunities.
The opportunities for in-house lawyers are obvious. If the “standardized work” and legal research activities can be performed by algorithms, there is more time for assisting the internal client with the specific challenges of the digital world.
But the transition from the “analogue world” to the “digital world” also offers exciting opportunities for law professors. Researching the legal implications surrounding new technologies is exciting, but the excitement about rethinking everything we thought we knew about the law is also magical.
The same goes for legal education. The new technologies in the digital world forces professors and other educators to return to the drawing board. The task is clear: creating new courses in the hopes of retaining relevancy, while ensuring job opportunities for law students now and in the future.
My International Business Law program at Tilburg University in the Netherlands will soon include “innovative” courses, such as “coding for lawyers”, “machine learning for lawyers”, “the law of open organizations”, “LegalTech”. These courses will adopt different forms, varying from traditional lectures, lab sessions, group projects, one-on-one mentorship and hackathons.
In this new world, we all need to become more like science fiction writers. At least, we all need to be thinking about the future role of lawyers and changing our practice now in order to adapt to the new reality that is being created by disruptive technology. And, in doing so, we will make it easier for the science fiction writers of today to imagine the lawyer of the future.
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