Future legal professionals will need to be proactive and versatile

“In the near future, lawyers will be required to possess more than a law degree in order to be successful,” said an intellectual property lawyer. On top of the standard law degree, future lawyers should go an extra mile and learn more about technology and computing. He said that aspiring lawyers should be seriously thinking about securing more certificates like MBA, and maybe computer programming.

The future lawyers will be doing more than the current junior lawyers have in their hands. They will need to be proactive and flexible in order to fit into the competition accordingly. That means the current demographic have fewer jobs as compared to the future estimated workload for millennial lawyers.

“The future lawyers will need to double down into further professions in order to cover a wide legal area and more knowledge and skills on how to relate to the changing legal industry,” said Shelston IP principal Matt Ward . However, he put it clear that it didn’t mean software technology and artificial intelligence would completely replace lawyers. “What I am trying to say is that there will be more opportunities for lawyers who made an effort to learn more about business and technology,” said Mr. Ward.

He added that more work will require business management and technology skills in order to be accomplished successfully. They will need the lawyers to run practices that yield positive results by utilising the best and effective technological tools.

Also, to achieve positive feedback from their clients, future lawyers should know the possible limits when applying various technological applications for their clients. It is important for them to know when it’s time to put down the tools and have some real conversation with their clients – preferably face-to-face.

“In short, they should really understand the limits and when it’s time to apply technology into their legal practice,” said Mr. Ward. He said that law firms should encourage their lawyers and junior attorneys to prepare highly tailored advice for their clients. That will help them utilise technology accordingly.

Tomorrow’s lawyers will be required to have creativity, leadership, judgment, counsel, ingenuity, insight and proper risk assessment – being in a position to critically assess risks and desist from negative risks and default blocking. That should be supplemented in addition to a professional knowledge of coding and computer applications.

He added that currently at their firm, they are looking for fresh graduates with an advanced knowledge in business and technology that will put them in a position to provide extra services that are directly linked with the legal industry.

The future legal services technology platform should be approached with a variety of skills and massive knowledge. That will help future lawyers design and implement accurate and relevant legal services for their clients.

The high technology space is put there to help law firms provide technical quality advice to their clients. “In fact, that should be the main game for every law firm in Australia aspiring for the best and nothing less,” Mr. Ward said while speaking with Aussie Lawyer Blog.

For example, Shelston IP is placed at the distinct advantage because they are a patent business.