Kate Simpson, National Director of Knowledge Management at Bennett Jones LLP (Toronto), speaks at the Legal Innovation Conference on January 19, 2018 (photo credit: Jessica Handjiev, Joyful Emotion Photography)
What will the legal profession look like in ten or twenty years' time given the current breakneck speed of progress in computing and information technology?
This was the theme of the University of Alberta's inaugural Legal Innovation Conference on January 19, 2018, which featured a motley cast of forward-thinking lawyers and self-described tech "disruptors".
Co-hosted by the Faculty of Law and the Law and Business Association student group, the half-day conference covered a wide swath of topics ranging from the applicability of specific new technologies to the legal profession to the ways in which such technologies will likely transform the way in which law is practiced.
"This is an exciting time to be in the law profession," said UAlberta Law Dean Paul Paton in his opening remarks.
"In a very short period of time we've moved beyond using technology simply to make research and data collection more efficient, to predictive artificial intelligence (AI). This has the potential to completely transform how we serve clients and disrupt what we do as practising lawyers and as legal educators. Today's speakers and presentations reinforce the pressing need for us to examine how we can adapt and be ready while preserving the best of the past."
Innovation in the Practice of Law
The first panel, which was hosted by third-year UAlberta Law student (and Law and Business Association Co-President) Dylan Gibbs, focused on the future of firm structures and law practice amid what many observers are now calling the "fourth industrial revolution".
The first panel featured Keith Wilson, President and General Counsel of St. Albert-based Veritas Litigation Support - a company best known for its innovative use of drone technology for information gathering, as well as Michael Macaulay, Partner at Lawson Lundell LLP in Vancouver and Kate Simpson, National Director of Knowledge Management at the Toronto offices of Bennett Jones LLP.
Wilson kicked off the session by making a clear case for the adoption of cutting-edge technology by lawyers.
"As lawyers we use oral and written language to create a picture for a judge. More often than not, they get at least one central piece of the picture wrong. Also, we're reliant on the testimony of human witnesses, and human beings malfunction all the time while on the stand. It seems obvious,therefore, that any technological tool that gives you a more reliable picture of the facts of a case is invaluable," he said.
Simpson and Macauley both agreed that Canada remains somewhat behind the US and the UK in terms of adoption of cutting-edge IT tools by law firms, but anticipated that this gap will only be temporary, and will be bridged out of necessity at the behest of client demand.
"The main reason the legal industry in the UK is ahead of Canada in terms of tech uptake is that the UK suffered worse during the last recession and was forced to overhaul, while Canadian companies have remained more hesitant. But with services becoming increasingly globalized, Canadian firms will be forced to go where their British counterparts are going, or risk being left behind," said Simpson.
Innovative Legal Technologies and Services
The second panel, which was moderated by James T. Swanson, Partner at Miller Thomson LLP in Calgary, featured an early-adopter lawyer - Jason Morris of Round Table Law LLP in Sherwood Park, and two "disruptors" - Derek Hopfner of Toronto's Founded Technologies and legal tech wunderkind Jimoh Ovbiagele of San Francisco-based ROSS Intelligence.
The second session dove headfirst into the fear most often articulated vis-à-vis technological advancement, namely that lawyers themselves will end up being replaced by intelligent machines.
Morris asserted that lawyers need not all become geniuses at coding if they are to succeed in the future, but urged law students and young lawyers to keep up on advances in technology and continue to educate themselves.
"I don't think there's such a thing as "traditional law" because what lawyers are doing at any given time is different from what it was in the past. The time we're in is no different. We need to engrain curiosity about technology into our culture. When you're in a situation where you know there's going to be three significant technological shifts during your eight years in school, you need to remain exceedingly curious or you'll be left in the dust by the generation behind you," he explained.
Jimoh Ovbiagele echoed Morris' sentiments, adding that in his opinion information technology promises to be a force for democratization, and one that will free lawyers to do more and better work by outsourcing much of the profession's drudgery to machines.
"We're going to see more and more lawyers shifting to the "art" of the law, focusing more time on those things that are exceedingly hard for machines to do. It will also allow for scalable, more affordable legal services and greater access to justice. Currently in the US 80 per cent of people who need legal services can't afford them, and don't engage with the law in the way we would like. We have the power to change that," he said.
I, Lawyer
Keynote speaker Cameron Schuler, Executive Director of the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (AMII), provided a perfect recap of the conference, echoing many of the themes explored in the preceding panels.
A true renaissance man whose career has encompassed alternative energy, consumer goods, information technology, investment sales and trading, life sciences, manufacturing, medical devices and oil and gas, Schuler expounded further on many of the anxieties being voiced about the encroachment of technology on industries like law, noting that the global track record for automation and employment levels has thus far been very encouraging.
"Germany, which is one of the world's most highly automated countries, had an unemployment rate of over ten per cent in 2004. Today it has the lowest unemployment rate in Europe. I would say the positives of automation far outweigh the negatives," he said.
As for what a future relationship between humans and machines might look like in the legal profession, Schuler made an analogy to modern aviation.
"Modern commercial airliners are heavily automated and can practically fly themselves, and as a result air travel is far safer than it used to be. That said, the vast majority of air accidents nowadays are due to human error, often as a result of pilots becoming disengaged and relying too heavily on their automated systems. Manufacturers have recognized this and have sought to strike a balance between having the human being ultimately in control, and supported by computers. I think you'll see a similar relationship emerge in other professions."
The future, he concludes, is bright and exciting for young lawyers - provided they are willing and eager to think outside the box.
"It's worth noting that one out of every three jobs in existence today was created within the last thirty years. Yes, the industry will change in significant ways, but the AI business is ultimately a human business, and there is always a value-added role for the human being. If you want to be successful in the decades to come, you should be figuring out how to replace yourself."