Page 209 - Leaders in Legal Business 2018
P. 209
The Role of Bar Associations in Andrew Perlman & Janet
the Emerging Legal Services L. Jackson1
Marketplace
Chair of the Governing Council
and 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 curricua 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 the chair of the governing council of 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.
195
the Emerging Legal Services L. Jackson1
Marketplace
Chair of the Governing Council
and 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 curricua 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 the chair of the governing council of 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.
195
