Will Covid-19 change the way lawyers work in the future?

Charlie

Lawyers, like everyone else, have had to make changes due to Covid-19, but will Covid-19 change the way lawyers work in the future do you think?

Patrick

What we've seen happening during the pandemic is lawyers not having to commute, working from home, not having to spend those extra time getting in and out of the city and its changes a lot about how we work. But behind the scenes, I think the truth is that the Covid pandemic has given the way we work a push as there are all kinds of things behind the scenes that have been changing the way lawyers work for years.

Charlie

With that in mind, do you think that non-law degree students will find themselves at a disadvantage once legal education starts changing to adapt to a new technology focused world, particularly given the already busy timetables of the PGDL and MA Law students?

Patrick

I think the answer is definitely not. Because whatever we do as lawyers, our job at the very base of it is to explain extraordinary complicated things in a simple way so that people can understand them. That's what solicitors and barristers do. So that's the very nature of legal advice in many ways, so for non-law students who come to do a law conversion, the most important thing you're ever gonna learn as a lawyer is how the law works.

Charlie

Given the inequalities in the criminal justice system and the tendency for artificial intelligence (AI) to reproduce these inequalities, do you think the progress of legal tech should prioritise those before going at breakneck speed to modernise the profession?

Patrick

The truth is lawyers come in all shapes and sizes like doctors. Some lawyers work on big commercial cases. Some are very good at drafting contracts. Some write wills and work with people in private clients. Others work in the criminal justice system. The truth is the criminal justice system and AI are two things at the moment that really can’t go together because it needs that personal touch. There's lots of criticism of AI. I think that some people have looked at studies of people reoffending using AI, and the truth is that AI is not there yet. You can't use it to predict human behaviour. These areas of law where we are one on one, family law, criminal law, they need an understanding of human behaviour in order to work with them.

Charlie

How do changes in technology affect the teaching at The University of Law?

Patrick

I think the first thing to say is the foundation of a solid knowledge of black letter law is absolutely vital and the truth is we provide an absolutely first-class education in law, which is the starting point. The addition of technology is an interesting one. I think tech is a very important part of the future of legal services and as such one of the ways we've responded to that is by offering an MSc in Legal Tech. So, once you've completed your undergraduate degree and have an interest in that you can come and study our MSc Legal Technology postgrad degree. But I think we've all seen there is more to it. If you don't want to become a legal tech specialist, if you wanna become a lawyer, there's more skills that you need to learn, so one of the things we've done is to add more modules on the LLB; an introduction to legal innovation and technology and 21^st Century Legal Practice. Both of those modules include stuff beside the tech. There's plenty on tech and AI and automation, but moreover it looks at some of the skills we think lawyers are going to need in the 21^st Century. Things like marketing, sales; it's fascinating. We did a workshop last year on sales where a local company came in and did a sales training workshop and the first thing they asked was if the class thought that sales would be part of their job as a lawyer. No one put their hand up whatsoever. It's things like this, adding in sales, adding in marketing, new ways to provide legal services, understanding businesses, because understanding business for future commercial lawyers is absolutely vital.

 

  

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