More on the future of law

Another thought provoking post by Jordan Furlong in Law 21 on How to solve the legal employment problem. It makes for uneasy reading,

We’ve been bingeing on reports of law firm layoffs for a few months now, and there’s every reason to think those reports will continue through 2009. But we haven’t spent as much time looking at the big picture: there is a growing population of lawyers whose jobs are gone for good, and a larger group of lawyers whose underlying business models are fast becoming obsolete. . .

During the recession, we’re all going to learn to do more with less. Cost-saving efficiency and “good-enough” quality will be the twin standards by which purchases of all kinds will be made, including legal services. Lawyers have never needed to be efficient and they’ve always preferred an exhaustive answer to an adequate one; they’re not going to adjust easily, and some won’t adjust at all. Clients also will need their lawyers to focus more on high-value services that demand advisory skills and judgment, and less on than repetitive tasks that require boxes to be ticked off and i’s to be dotted. That’s going to be more than a business model challenge; that’s a new way for many legal professionals to view themselves and their functions, and again, some simply won’t  have the wherewithal to meet the new expectations.

In particular read the take on the problem for legal education: “churning out lawyers suited for 20th century practice”.

Our Chief of men

A knowledge of history is clearly not an employment requirement for government service in Canada, if the remarks of Alykhan Velshi, Jason Kenney’s spokesman, are anything to go by.  Referring to the decision to ban George Galloway from Canada, Velshi is reported as saying

“We’re going to uphold the law, not give special treatment to this infamous street-corner Cromwell.”

I have some sympathy with the Canadians, as Galloway is a far from likeable character, but a Cromwell?  Hardly.  For the real Cromwell you can do no better than Blair Worden’s summary in The English Civil Wars 1640 – 1660

His later victories, inside and outside England, were still more remarkable [than his exploits at Marston Moor and Naseby]. Through them, but also through willpower and political dexterity, a provincial gentleman-farmer, an obscure figure until his forties, rose to conquer three nations and to awe the courts of Europe.

What future?

I was more than a little depressed reading Mike Semple Piggot’s recent post in Legalweek.com’s Legal Village blog:

Law Society president Marsh talked to me about his views on how the profession would look after the recession – making a strong case in favour of firms weathering the present financial conditions better than many pundits are predicting.

Marsh, who has been through three recessions and says that he saw little difference between them, believes both City and high street firms are better positioned than in the past because of improved management and greater internal resources.

I am sure that Paul Marsh would like us all to be uplifted, and there is always the risk of talking things too far down: but his view is not quite how others see it (including me, and I reckon that I have seen as many recessions as he has). Admittedly it may be dangerous to think that because it is happening in the US it will happen here, but see Bruce MacEwen’s latest post The Human Toll in Adam Smith, Esq. In particular,

And it would be folly to predict anything other than that it will get worse before it gets better.