Back in 1989 when Sir Tim Berners-Lee first wrote a paper proposing an “information management” system that would become known as the World Wide Web, none of us could have envisaged the impact it would have on the way we live, work and communicate. Thirty years on, the way we use technology in every aspect of our lives has changed beyond recognition, more than 50 per cent of the world’s population is online, and worldwide, more than two billion websites exist.

In marking the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web on 12 March, Berners-Lee emphasised that what was important to him in 2019, in the context of "fake news" and political disruption, is that the web “serves humanity well”. Serving humanity well has and always will be the very foundation of the work that we, as members of the legal profession, carry out on a day to day basis.

However, the way solicitors practise law is undergoing change at a pace never experienced and in unforeseen ways. And the pace of that change is increasing exponentially.

As the use of legal technology accelerates, it is important that solicitors understand and anticipate how technology affects the way they practise law. Digital innovation can offer huge potential for solicitors to support their clients, reach more people and deliver enhanced, cost-efficient legal services.

In Newcastle last Friday, the Law Society held its first ever Regional Roadshow on the Future of Law and Innovation in the Profession (FLIP), which was attended by more than 80 solicitors from the Newcastle, Hunter, mid-North Coast and Central Coast regions. It is the latest in our series of FLIP initiatives aimed at preparing the legal profession for what’s been called the “next industrial revolution”. Similar FLIP Roadshows will be held in Wollongong, Dubbo and Byron Bay in April and May this year.

I would like to congratulate our former Law Society President Doug Humphreys OAM, who has been appointed a judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. Doug will be based in the Parramatta registry and is one of four appointments to the Federal Circuit Court, announced by Federal Attorney General Christian Porter MP.  Doug’s swearing in ceremony will be held at 4:30pm on Monday, 8 April at the Garfield Barwick Commonwealth Law Courts, Parramatta, and I invite members to attend and wish him well in his new role.

Finally, on behalf of the NSW legal profession, I would like to offer my deepest condolences and sympathies to the people of New Zealand for the horrific and tragic terrorist attacks that took place in Christchurch last Friday. In the aftermath of this shocking attack on the Islamic community we must all remain united in our opposition to hatred and intolerance.

Elizabeth Espinosa, Law Society President

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