Book Review: Tomorrow's Lawyers - Richard Susskind

After seeing this book on many lawyers and aspiring lawyers 'must read' lists, I finally bought a copy.

In this book, the brilliant author, Richard Susskind, provides his opinion on how the industry will look for the next generations of lawyers.

I had a basic understanding of how technology is currently being used to automate legal services, so I thought I had a broad idea of what this book would be about. Oh how I was wrong!

What surprised me most about the book, was the level of detail that Richard's predictions provide.

Richard provides a clear and detailed explanation about how legal technology will work and how lawyers' roles will shift. Specific futuristic job titles are described and explored, and Richard discusses the impact and opportunities that these roles will bring. None of it sounds unfeasible or silly, and Richard convincingly persuades me that this is what the future will look like.

One of my favourite sections of the book is the list of questions that aspiring lawyers should be asking prospective employers during interviews to ensure that they are aligning themselves with forward-thinking legal businesses.

Overall, this is an excellent book to challenge the norms that lawyers and prospective lawyers might take for granted about the roles that they are currently playing or aspiring to play, and encouraging the lawyers of the present and future to remember that their job is to efficiently provide the client with a service. To achieve this, the role of technology cannot be ignored.

A must read for any student or lawyer!