The legal profession is facing disruption with the advent of automation, blockchain and artificial intelligence to undertake legal tasks and solve legal problems. There is more radical change expected as the use of technology in law becomes more mainstream. There is much perplexity within the profession about what this means for the viability of practice and how solicitors perform their work.

Technology presents challenges and opportunities for both legal service providers and clients. The impact of innovation on the various segments of the profession also differs.

One need only look at how changes in areas such as document drafting and review, legal research, e-discovery and billing, analytics and prediction is affecting the work of solicitors. In the legal assistance sector, too, technology has the potential to reduce costs and increase efficiencies meaning more disadvantaged and vulnerable people could have access to justice.

It is important that solicitors understand and anticipate how technology will affect the way they practise law. The upcoming inaugural Future of Law and Innovation in the Profession Conference and Dinner on 14 September offers solicitors the chance to come up to speed with the latest technological developments and experience how innovation is changing the way law is practised.

The conference will include more than 50 eminent international and Australian speakers, law tech experts, members of the judiciary, academics and regulators in thought leadership and practical forum sessions.

At the LawTech Theatre and the Emerging Technology Lounge you will be able to explore technologies that are significantly altering the shape of the Australian legal landscape. The event will also feature the #innovatelaw 2018 hackathon finalists.

The FLIP Conference is one of many ways the Law Society is powering ahead with new initiatives to help the legal profession meet the challenges posed by technological and structural change. It follows the Law Society’s announcement in March of the dedication of $1.25 million for FLIP Stream, a milestone partnership with the University of NSW, which is funding research into innovation for five years. As a result of this partnership, FLIP Stream is focused this year on exploring the use of artificial intelligence within the legal profession as well as the unbundling of legal services and legal project management. The results of this research will be revealed at the FLIP Conference. 

The FLIP Stream and FLIP Conference are key outcomes of the Law Society’s landmark Future of Law and Innovation in the Profession report released in March 2017 which drew on the testimony of more than 100 witnesses from diverse segments of the legal services sector. The committee which oversaw the report has now refocused its efforts on implementing the report’s 19 recommendations and the roll-out of legal innovation initiatives.

Doug Humphreys
Law Society President 2018
Twitter:  @LSNSW_President

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