Ep 071: Legal Futurist Richard Susskind on Coronavirus, Courts and the Legal Profession

Ever since the publication of his seminal 1996 book, The Future of Law, Richard Susskind has remained the world’s most-recognized and most-respected speaker and author on the future of legal services. But even he could not have foreseen the sudden relevance of his latest book, Online Courts and the Future of Justice.  On this episode of LawNext, Susskind joins host Bob Ambrogi for a conversation about the legal profession and the judicial system in a time of global pandemic. Will the pandemic fast-forward law’s leap into the future? Will there be fundamental change in legal services delivery? Will courts move online more quickly than even he had thought? Susskind shares his thoughts on these questions and more. Susskind is an author, speaker, and independent adviser to major professional firms and national governments. His main area of expertise is the future of professional service and, in particular, the ways in which technology and the Internet are changing the work of lawyers. He has worked on legal technology for over 30 years.  Susskind has, since 1998, been IT adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. He is president of the Society for Computers and Law, chair of the Online Dispute Resolution Advisory Group of the Civil Justice Council, and chair of the Advisory Board of the Oxford Internet Institute, where he is also a visiting professor. He also holds professorships at UCL, Gresham College, London, and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. NEW: Comment on this show: Record a voice comment on your mobile phone and send it to [email protected]. We are now on Patreon! Subscribe to our page to be able to access show transcripts, or to submit a question for our guests. Thank you to our sponsor, MyCase, and to John E. Grant and Agile Professionals LLC for being a lead Patreon supporter of our show.