If the Devil’s in the Detail, the Daemon’s in the Disruptors…

Back in 1987, a friend of mine, as he completed his Applied Science Computing degree, confidently informed me that I was wasting my time with a law degree; computers, he said, would replace lawyers within 3 years. 26 years later, Richard Susskind began making a very nice living predicting the imminent demise of the legal profession as we know it.

Despite my friend’s confident predictions, and Richard’s endless rendition of ‘The Sky is Falling’, we lawyers and our profession are still here. Like Mark Twain, the reports of our death were an exaggeration.

That isn’t to say that there haven’t been changes to the way in which we do our work, or that the changes are finished. As technology gets better we will see the rise of daemons — which in computers are background programmes running autonomously — and an increase in their use.

Taming those daemons will be a part of our task, as this great disruption presents great opportunities for our profession. We stand as the checks and balances against those automatic processes, whether it be to ferret out bias in AI or cure the vagaries of computer-generated wills, we will be more needed that ever in a complex and ever-changing society.

So how do we get ourselves ready for this new role?

We need to adapt, to take on this new technology and turn it to our own purposes. Our business models will change, the way we deliver services will change and the range of services we can offer clients will almost certainly increase; technology in the law has always been a force-multiplier.

To find out what this will look like, and how you can fit into the Brave New World, get along to QLS Symposium 2020. We have gathered together some of the most innovative and active disruptors in our profession to discuss what future business models for law firms and departments will need to be.

Join Karen Grumley, (Head of Legal — Coal, Pacific National), Jemima Harris (Director, LOD Innovation), Richard Gardiner, (Partner, HopgoodGanim Lawyers), Peter Westerveld, (former Head of Innovation, Norton Rose Fulbright) and Janelle Kerrisk (Director, Helix Legal; Founder of LawLancer) for a discussion on the future of our businesses.

The daemons of classical mythology were wise guardian spirits who were the providers of destiny and sometimes riches. Our expert panel, chaired by Terri Mottershead, Executive Director, Centre for Legal Innovation (Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific) will provide you with guidance to forge a destiny (and perhaps riches) in the new legal world that is evolving. The daemons truly are in the disruptors!