Commentary: The End of Lawyers on the Heals of Technology
By Brett Burney
Special to the Legal Technology blog
Throughout his keynote address for ABA TECHSHOW 2009, Richard Susskind eloquently illustrated how technology will facilitate the delivery of innovative, commoditized legal services. With points drawn from his recent book, "The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services," Susskind captivated the crowd with bold predictions, illuminating observations and audacious prophecies.
Held the first week of April, this year's ABA TECHSHOW held a whiff of anxiety that wafted among the attendees and vendors. Concerns about the economy prompted fears of low turnout, but an amazing number of first-time attendees and virtuosic veterans alike made the annual trek to Chicago.
THE WORLD OF LAW ACCORDING TO SUSSKIND
The setting was perfect for Richard Susskind's keynote address. His remarks spoke directly to the unspoken apprehension prevalent at the conference. Most lawyers, Susskind contended, are concentrating on keeping their heads down during the current downturn, and looking forward to the day when they can "return to normal." Susskind declared, however, that this is not just a temporary "blip" in the legal landscape, but a vehicle for information technology to permanently alter the efficiencies of delivering legal services.
To demonstrate, Susskind distinguished between automation and innovation. He stated that many of us think of automation when we consider technology in the legal profession -- the application of technology to mechanize and streamline a process that already exists.
Susskind argued, however, that technology is better utilized when it is used for innovation. He offered the ATM as an example. One could argue that the ATM simply automated the disbursement of money, but the ATM was innovative and downright revolutionary in that customers could receive money at 2 a.m. in the morning. They had access to cold, hard cash 24 hours a day from multiple locations. While banks had always disbursed money, there was no precedent for 24 hour access. The ATM was a technological innovation that significantly transformed the banking industry.
In 1996, Susskind boldly asserted that e-mail would become the dominant method of communication between lawyers and their clients. That statement sounds trivial today, but Susskind commented that 13 years ago he was verbally flogged by lawyers who insisted he lacked a fundamental understanding of client confidentiality and security -- no "serious" and upstanding lawyer would ever use electronic mail to communicate with their client.
At TECHSHOW 2009, Susskind asserted that more recent technologies such as instant messaging, blogs, Twitter and Facebook will become major communication platforms used by lawyers. Susskind posited a scenario, for example, where all of a lawyer's contacts and clients are accessible on Facebook. This may sound foolhardy to most people who consider Facebook something that only their children use for fun, but the platform has amazing potential, recognized by anyone who has used Facebook to rediscover lost friends, past classmates or to organize social events.
One of Susskind's main assertions was a move to the commoditization of legal services based on technology innovation, away from the more expensive, custom-fitted, "bespoke" model of lawyering.
In his research, Susskind reported that just about every lawyer insists they provide a customized suite of services for their clients because of the impression that clients hire lawyers for their unique skills.
And while it's true that each lawyer is unique, Susskind argued: 1) that clients usually seek out legal counsel based on the fact that those lawyers have done similar work in the past; and 2) that most lawyers consistently re-use previous work (their own and from others), copying and pasting from model documents and past successful contracts.
Richard Susskind's keynote address is available as an MP3 audio download from the ABA TECHSHOW Website.
EDUCATION IN THE HALLS
One the paramount benefits of attending TECHSHOW is for the networking opportunities. And while attendees certainly have candid access to multiple vendors and specialized consultants, the best networking angle is access to other lawyers and legal professionals from across the country. I witnessed numerous conversations where lawyers swapped stories on how they solved technical issues and logistically streamlined workflows in their respective offices. The hallway conversations are often more valuable than the formal educational sessions.
It's difficult to convince people of the amazing potential and power of this hallway networking if they've never attended TECHSHOW. That's why I was thrilled to see quite a few folks video-taping interviews and various events. Watching these videos are a poor substitute for actually being there in person, but they do give you a good sense of the community and environment:
• Finis Price at TechnoEsq.com posted a great interview with Fujitsu about their new ScanSanp S1500 scanner and another interview with Larry Port of Rocket Matter.
• Rex Gradeless of the Social Media Law Student blog had several great interviews with speakers, attendees and vendors from Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 of the conference.
• And the always lively Kevin O'Keefe launched a new feather in his LexBlog Cubs cap with LexConference, billing itself as a go-to site for comprehensive coverage of legal conferences. Their TECHSHOW 2009 page has an amazing number of interviews with folks at the conference, including planning board chair Laura Calloway, Adriana Linares, Andy Adkins, Steve Matthews, Nerino Petro, Jack Newton of Clio, keynote speaker Richard Susskind and yours truly.
BUZZING AROUND THE EXHIBIT HALL
Based on the dire straits of the current economy, one might have expected tumbleweeds to be rolling throughout the exhibit hall. On the contrary, every vendor I spoke with was very pleased with the focused traffic they received.
Software as a service continued to be a big buzzword this year. Two major darlings in this space are Clio and Rocket Matter, who both provide online practice management, calendaring, billing and invoicing services. Both companies debuted their platforms last year at TECHSHOW and generated a lot of interest over the past 12 months. Both companies were active in the TECHSHOW Twittersphere throughout the conference and Rocket Matter made a noticeable splash giving away the "made for TV" Snuggies.
I also heard some good buzz about digital dictation vendors BigHand and WinScribe. Dictation continues to be a very vocal topic at TECHSHOW and both of these vendors have perfected the workflow necessary for successful dictation -- anywhere and anytime.
Other splashes on the vendor side included Jabberclick, Litfolio and MonetaSuite.
I also like to find those unique vendors that don't necessarily run in the traditional legal technology circles, but still do very well at TECHSHOW. Sprint (wireless handsets), Mozy (online backup), and HP (scanners and computers) all had very nice booths and appeared to stay quite busy. There was one additional vendor that for me truly invoked the spirit of ABA TECHSHOW. I had written a review last year of a product called Depo from a small company called TrialPrep. I was elated to see Laurence Steffan and his wife manning a booth at the show complete with copies of my review and trial CDs of their software. Depo is a small application that summarizes transcripts and is obviously a labor of love for Laurence. A small company like TrialPrep would probably get lost in the shuffle at large conferences like LegalTech or ILTA, but Laurence enthusiastically reported a steady stream of interest from attendees (several walkups even while I was at the booth talking to them). To me, it is a small and successful company like TrialPrep that embodies the soul and spirit of ABA TECHSHOW.
PANELS A-PLENTY
The educational sessions at TECHSHOW are some of the best, and this year saw the return of successful tracks such as "A Day in the (Techno) Life," "E-Discovery Boot Camp," and "Solo & Small Firm."
One track that was consistently well attended was "Paperless Practice." From what I could gather, attendees were very keen to learn how to streamline their office, get rid of paper, and lower costs. Sessions focused on how to properly use a scanner and how to establish efficient workflows around document management. Companies like Worldox and Adobe benefited from the fever-pitch interest in scanning and paperless benefits.
While not officially part of the Paperless Practice track, the Acrobat panel featuring Rick Borstein from Adobe was standing room only. Rick described some of the new features in Acrobat 9 and dissected some tips from his incredible Acrobat for Legal Professionals blog.
The "Mac Track" was introduced at last year's TECHSHOW and made another successful appearance this year. Jeff Richardson of the iPhone J.D. blog spoke last year with Ben Stevens of TheMacLawyer.com blog. This year Ben was paired up with first-time attendee David Sparks who documented his reflections of the show on his MacSparky blog.
The ABA TECHSHOW features interactive "roundtables" every year. The Twitter and iPhone sessions were packed as attendees tried to figure out what all the fuss was about on those two topics. TECHSHOW 2009 appeared to be a success, thanks to the tireless work of many volunteers who directed folks throughout the exhibit hall, manned the always-helpful concierge desk, organized the exceptional panels, and generally worked behind the scenes to ensure a smooth show.
Richard Susskind's keynote address underscored the importance of get-togethers like TECHSHOW. It is becoming more important than ever to keep abreast of how technology can be innovatively incorporated into the practice of law. Lawyers who care about staying competitive in a changing world will make sure they attend next year's TECHSHOW (mark your calendars for March 25-27, 2010).
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