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17 July 2026
Issue: 8170 / Categories: Legal News , Legal services , Profession , Technology , Career focus
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NLJ this week: Lawyers must become product designers

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The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London

He argues advances in artificial intelligence, automation and digital platforms are transforming not just legal practice but the role of lawyers themselves. Routine legal work is increasingly automated, while clients now expect fast, platform-based services rather than traditional advisory relationships.

Mason predicts entry-level legal roles will diminish as lawyers focus on supervising technology and designing legal systems. Smaller firms, he says, must embrace digital delivery or rethink their business models. Legal education also needs radical reform, teaching students entrepreneurial thinking alongside legal doctrine.

As Mason puts it, 'the world of law is changing', and tomorrow's lawyers will need an entirely new mix of technical, strategic and commercial skills to succeed.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys senior leadership appointments

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths strengthens London Construction and Engineering practice with two strategic senior hires

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins announces strategic hire to deepen skills base in the social business sector

NEWS
More than 100 teams from the legal and financial services sectors competed in five sports at the 51st Law Society RFC Festival of Sport earlier this month
Part-time status need only be an effective cause of less favourable treatment, rather than the sole cause, the Supreme Court has held in Augustine v Data Cars
Britain’s new acknowledgement that Israel’s occupation is unlawful, and accompanying settlement-goods ban and sanctions, is significant but overdue, argue Danny Friedman KC and Victor Kattan in NLJ this week
New planning fee rises, wider trade union access rights and a service-by-email trap feature in Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way
Existing defamation law can respond to AI ‘hallucinations’, but allocating responsibility will prove harder where outputs reach users without human intervention
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