The practice of law doesn't look the same as it did 20, 10, or even five years ago. The emergence of new technologies, the transformation of legal processes, and the changing global and competitive legal landscape has irrevocably altered how legal practitioners approach their jobs. Those in the know call these changes “disruptions.”

And these disruptions aren't slowing down any time soon. Legaltech News spoke with Sophie Ross, senior managing director at FTI Technology, and David Cohen, the leader of the E-Discovery Practice Group at Reed Smith, ahead of the “Disruption: Five Forces Shaping the Legal Landscape” panel at Legaltech West in San Francisco. The panel will also feature Judge John M. Facciola; e-discovery & digital forensics senior manager Christopher Sitter of Juniper Networks; and corporate counsel Christopher Mooney of Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.

Ross says that the panel will focus on five key categories of disruptions: e-discovery as a business process; emerging e-discovery technologies; responsibilities and skills needed for new technologies; costs and competition; and the globalization of the legal profession. She says these five categories have one key thing in common: the need for innovation and flexibility.