Susskind Richard - Tomorrows Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future

Praise for Tomorrows Lawyers:

For years, Susskind has challenged lawyers to reinvent the way we work. Now, in Tomorrows Lawyers, he presents his clearest picture yet of what the future has in store.

Hugh Verrier, Chairman, White & Case

A must-read for anyone interested in the future of legal services. Insightful, thought provoking and challenging, Susskind has clearly identified the inexorable forces that will drive change.

David Allgood, Executive Vice President and
General Counsel, Royal Bank of Canada

An invaluable resource for all participants in 21st century law. Susskind provides a uniquely expert, yet readable and succinct, analysis of the profound changes underway in the profession and business of law, including specific predictions of where it all is headed and concrete strategies for achieving rewarding outcomes.

Ralph Baxter, Chairman and CEO, Orrick

One of the legal worlds most respected commentators, Richard Susskind, has amassed further compelling evidence of the need for a legal profession that extends itself beyond traditional service. Tomorrows Lawyers is a must-read not only for those embarking on a legal career - but also acts as a timely reminder to practitioners who wish to stay ahead of the curve.

Robert Gogel, CEO, Integreon

In Tomorrows Lawyers, Richard Susskind has managed to articulate the tremendous change facing the legal profession in a uniquely insightful way. He captures the challenges and opportunities for the lawyer of the future in the most readable form I have come across. This book is required reading for anyone interested in the business of law.

Neville Eisenberg, Managing Partner,
Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP

An Introduction to Your Future

Richard Susskind

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
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Richard Susskind, 2013

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First published 2013

Impression: 1

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I dedicate this book to
Daniel, Jamie, and Ali,
my loving children, who bring me endless happiness

I have written this book to provide tomorrows lawyers and legal educators with an accessible account of the pressing issues that currently face the legal profession and the justice system. We are, I have no doubt, on the brink of fundamental change in the world of law, and my main aim is to encourage wider discussion of the forces at play and their likely impact.

Although originally conceived as a guide to the future for the next generation of lawyers, I expect that the book will also be read by more experienced practitioners. For busy professionals who do not have the time to read lengthy texts, I hope that it serves as a punchier version of my ideas than my previous work. Certainly, it represents a substantially updated version of my views on trends in the legal market.

I do not anticipate that readers will agree with all of what I say. But if the book gives rise to more serious reflection and debate about the future of the law and lawyers, then I have done my job. And yet, because we live in such rapidly shifting times, it is a job that is necessarily incomplete. Each day, I hear fresh tales of innovation in lawa new legal business here, an online facility there, and a regular flow of imaginative ideas for meeting clients needs in different ways. In citing these innovations, I had to draw the line somewhere, however, and so I have only been able to refer to developments that surfaced before the end of May 2012. I would not be surprised, by the time this book is published, if some important new legal services have been launched in the interim.

I have some people to thank. First of all, there is the team at Oxford University Press. This is the fifth time that OUP has agreed to take on one of my books and, as ever, it has been a privilege to work with such a well-regarded publishing house. I am especially grateful to Ruth Anderson and Sophie Barham in the UK and to Ninell Silberberg in the US for their friendly support and advice. I must also record my thanks to the various referees who anonymously assessed my book proposal and made a wide range of suggestions that led, I believe, to many significant improvements.

Next is Patricia Cato, who helped me with innumerable initial drafts and still comfortably outperforms any speech recognition system in making sense of my rapid Glaswegian.

I have also benefited greatly from the guidance, encouragement, and criticisms of a small group of friends and colleagues who generously spent many hours of their time reading an early draft of the bookNeville Eisenberg, Hazel Genn, Daniel Harris, Laurence Mills, David Morley, Alan Paterson, and Tony Williams. To each, I extend my profound thanks.

Two reviewers deserve separate mentionmy sons, Daniel and Jamie. This book would not have been written without their love and encouragement. They enthused when I came up with the idea of a book for aspiring lawyers, they motivated me when other commitments made it difficult to maintain momentum, and they commented extensively on earlier drafts. Their range and clarity of thought amaze me.

The last person but one to thank is Ali, my daughter and friend, to whom, along with her brothers, this book is dedicated. I cherish every one of the many companionable moments we spend together. I could not have a more wonderful daughter.

And finally, as always, I am very grateful to my loving wife, Michelle. For over 30 years now, she has indulgently endured my bouts of obsessive writing. It cannot be easy. Her boundless support for my work and her confidence in my ideas mean so very much to me.

Richard Susskind
June 2012
Radlett, England

When one door closes, another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL