I attended last week a meeting in Dublin of the chief executives of bars and law societies from around the world – well, from Europe, and common law jurisdictions beyond Europe (Africa, North America and the Asia Pacific region).I learned some funny things, such as that the most popular T-shirt in Iceland is decorated with the face of Gordon Brown with the words ‘is the colour of poo’ after it, since the Icelanders have still not forgotten that they were cast by the UK government as terrorists last year at the height of the financial crisis. And I also learned serious things, of which more below.
Among the guest speakers was Professor Richard Susskind, who has made a name for himself predicting the future of legal services. His latest book, The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services, published in 2008 by Oxford University Press, is based on the premise that, unless lawyers rethink the way that they offer services, and in particular through the use of new technologies, they may go the way of tallow chandlers, cordwainers and wheelwrights, all of whom have disappeared, even though we continue to use the goods that they once made.
He spoke 80% about money, 20% about knowledge, and 0% about justice. (I was actually disappointed when one of his slides was headed ‘Access to justice’ right at the end, because it was his first and only mention of justice, and spoiled the perfect point I would have otherwise made - but the mention lasted just a few seconds.) His view of a lawyer was of a person who undertook an economic function, to be judged by economic factors. The value added was through the use of the lawyer’s specialist knowledge alone. But what about the lawyer’s role as an advocate for justice?
I agreed with much of what he said. New technology is shifting the ground under which we all stand, and we have to keep pace with it. Commoditisation is inevitable in those parts of the legal services market which can be commoditised. Once the Legal Services Act is fully implemented and alternative business structures are available, there will be fierce competition from businesses which will not provide legal services in the old bespoke way.
But where I disagree is the implication that the lawyer’s role in justice can be dispensed with, as if it does not exist. All of Professor Susskind’s examples came from the area of corporate and commercial law. The firms he cited were the large ones in the City of London.
But bars around the world are sending letters every week to governments protesting about the murder of, or threats to, brave lawyers who stand up for their clients at great personal cost, sometimes when they know that their lives are at risk. This is not just something that applies abroad. Rosemary Nelson, a solicitor, was killed 10 years ago by a car bomb in Northern Ireland because of her defence work, after receiving death threats. Alastair Logan, a Guildford solicitor, heroically continued the defence of alleged Irish terrorists in circumstances which brought him no material benefits.
I mentioned these examples to Richard Susskind. He said: ‘But how many lawyers are involved in such work?’ Yet that is not the point. A lawyer’s training and a lawyer’s code of ethics must ensure that any lawyer would do the same in the same circumstances. No commercial enterprise, faced with loss of profit and death threats to its staff, would continue with such work. No commoditisation, no new technology, can replace the commitment of a determined lawyer, faced with everything that a hostile government or powerful grouping can throw, to do justice for a client. That is at the very heart of being a lawyer, and applies as much to a corporate lawyer refusing to commit an illegality for a client who brings in a good deal of money for the firm. Such determination should come from the very identity of being a lawyer in the first place.
So please, Professor Susskind, take account of this factor in the next book you write.
Jonathan Goldsmith is the Secretary General of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), which represents over 700,000 European lawyers through its member bars and law societies
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