Hilarie Bass, president of the American Bar Association

 

Hilarie Bass, the president of the American Bar Association (ABA), ventured into the heart of Silicon Valley on April 5, 2018, and challenged the Stanford CodeX FutureLaw conference attendees to “be bold, be adventurous and be courageous” in helping break down the barriers that impede collaboration among lawyers, technologists, and other professionals in shaping the future of legal services.

Bass observed that there is an inherent conflict between the disruptive impact of technological change and the practice of law. Technology, by its nature, is “forward-looking,” while legal training and professional responsibility rules create a legal service environment that is “backward looking” and risk-averse. Bass is concerned that the legal profession may be left behind if it does not innovate.

She pointed to the recommendations of the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services and its Recommendation 7 that the “legal profession should partner with other disciplines and the public for insights about innovating the delivery of legal services” to stimulate creative thinking about legal service in the future.

In the face of the factors that obstruct legal technology innovation and adoption there are at least three catalysts that may help break down the silos: clients, law schools, and the ABA.

Bass reported that a growing number of her clients are requiring fixed-fees or other alternative fee agreements. Her firm is not alone. These client demands may create the impetus for law firms to adopt legal technology to make them more efficient in delivering their services, said Bass.

Bass told the conference that the ABA is in the process of updating the Uniform Task-Based Management System (UTBMS) billing codes to work better with electronic billing technologies. The new codes will also be designed to support fixed-fee and alternative fee engagements. The 10 new code sets are scheduled to be announced at the August 2018 ABA annual meeting.

Bass is also hopeful that the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Education, which was launched on August 17, 2017, will help drive future legal service innovation. During the ABA's mid-year meeting the Commission held an open hearing to address the following questions: How can law schools prepare students for the law jobs of the 21st century? What are the new skillsets not traditionally included in law school curriculum?

Bass mentioned that developments such as an innovation index for law schools may be a resource which prospective law students may use to inform their decision-making and encourage law schools to develop innovation-related courses.

The ABA has several initiatives underway to spur technology innovation. For example, the ABA launched the Center for Innovation in 2016 in response to a recommendation by the Commission on the Future of Legal Services. The goal of the Center is to improve legal services through innovation, education and collaboration. Bass said that the Center selected eight “Innovation Fellows” last year who are currently engaged in various projects to develop technologies designed to improve legal services. In addition, the ABA's revision to comment 8 of Model Rule of Professional Responsibility 1.1 (requiring lawyers to keep abreast of the “benefits and risks” associated with technology) which has been adopted by some states, and the ABA annual Legal Tech show are two other ABA activities intended to help the legal community understand the benefits of technology in delivering legal services.

Bass closed her remarks by imploring the attorneys, technologists, educators, and other professionals at the FutureLaw conference to join the fight to break down the silos impeding the development of innovative legal service delivery.

 

Mark Michels is a Deloitte Risk and Financial Advisory managing director, Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP.