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The Role of Bar Associations in Andrew Perlman & Janet
the Emerging Legal Services L. Jackson1
Marketplace
Special Advisor; Managing
Director, ABA Center for
Innovation
The legal services marketplace is rapidly evolving, and bar associations must embrace
those changes or risk irrelevance. By developing new educational programs and initiatives,
facilitating the profession’s use of cost-saving tools, accelerating solutions that address the access
to justice crisis, and welcoming other professionals who can improve how legal services are
delivered and accessed, the bar can play an essential leadership role during a time of significant
change.
Educational Programs and Initiatives
The public increasingly expects and
demands services to be delivered in new ways. We
shop, bank, do our taxes, and find information
differently today because of technology and
innovation. Similar developments are affecting
legal services, and lawyers need to learn how to
adjust. Many law schools are expanding their
curricula to include knowledge and skills about law
practice technology and innovation,2 but most of
today’s lawyers do not know how to adapt. Bar associations can help.
Continuing Legal Education
Continuing legal education (CLE) programs offer a conventional opportunity to educate
members about important changes to the legal marketplace. Florida has gone even farther.3 In
September 2016, the Florida Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of unanimously
approving a rule requiring Florida lawyers to take technology-related continuing legal education
courses. The rule requires lawyers to take a minimum of three hours of technology-related CLE
courses every three years. The rule went into effect on January 1, 2017.
1 Andrew Perlman is Dean and Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School. He is a special advisor to the ABA Center for Innovation and
previously served as vice chair of the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services.
Janet L. Jackson is the managing director of the ABA Center for Innovation.
2 Howard Wasserman, Legal Education in the 21st Century, PRAWFSBLAWG (Feb. 21, 2017),
http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2017/02/legal-education-in-the-21st-century.html.
3 Victor Li, Florida Supreme Court Approves Mandatory Tech CLEs for Lawyers, ABA J. (Sept. 30, 2016),
www.abajournal.com/news/article/florida_supreme_court_approves_mandatory_tech_cles_for_lawyers.
218
the Emerging Legal Services L. Jackson1
Marketplace
Special Advisor; Managing
Director, ABA Center for
Innovation
The legal services marketplace is rapidly evolving, and bar associations must embrace
those changes or risk irrelevance. By developing new educational programs and initiatives,
facilitating the profession’s use of cost-saving tools, accelerating solutions that address the access
to justice crisis, and welcoming other professionals who can improve how legal services are
delivered and accessed, the bar can play an essential leadership role during a time of significant
change.
Educational Programs and Initiatives
The public increasingly expects and
demands services to be delivered in new ways. We
shop, bank, do our taxes, and find information
differently today because of technology and
innovation. Similar developments are affecting
legal services, and lawyers need to learn how to
adjust. Many law schools are expanding their
curricula to include knowledge and skills about law
practice technology and innovation,2 but most of
today’s lawyers do not know how to adapt. Bar associations can help.
Continuing Legal Education
Continuing legal education (CLE) programs offer a conventional opportunity to educate
members about important changes to the legal marketplace. Florida has gone even farther.3 In
September 2016, the Florida Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of unanimously
approving a rule requiring Florida lawyers to take technology-related continuing legal education
courses. The rule requires lawyers to take a minimum of three hours of technology-related CLE
courses every three years. The rule went into effect on January 1, 2017.
1 Andrew Perlman is Dean and Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School. He is a special advisor to the ABA Center for Innovation and
previously served as vice chair of the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services.
Janet L. Jackson is the managing director of the ABA Center for Innovation.
2 Howard Wasserman, Legal Education in the 21st Century, PRAWFSBLAWG (Feb. 21, 2017),
http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2017/02/legal-education-in-the-21st-century.html.
3 Victor Li, Florida Supreme Court Approves Mandatory Tech CLEs for Lawyers, ABA J. (Sept. 30, 2016),
www.abajournal.com/news/article/florida_supreme_court_approves_mandatory_tech_cles_for_lawyers.
218
