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Book reviews: The End of Lawyers?

23 April 2009
Issue: 7366 / Categories: Features
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The End of Lawyers?

Richard Susskind

Oxford University Press, £24.99, ISBN: 9780199541720

Richard Susskind has earned a great reputation as the leading expert in the computerisation of law. His latest book has wider ambitions: it marks the development of his thinking towards a comprehensive evaluation of the place of lawyers in society, especially in its economic aspects. Yet it remains grounded in his interest in the use of technology to aid and even replace the human element.

His thoughtful analysis almost overcomes my prejudice against his approach. Nostalgia for the shabby, sociable offices of my youth dims my appreciation of the mechanised efficiencies of modern commercial culture. I like to think I am in a caring profession not a business.

Yet reality must be confronted. Susskind's focus, and indeed his experience, is in the world of the large solicitors' firms and their corporate clients, many of whom employ in-house lawyers as well as outside firms. The revolution in speed and cost of communication has stripped away much of the mystery with

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Birketts—trainee cohort

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Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

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Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

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Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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