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The Future of Law Practice

The Future of Law Practice. Presentation by Charles F. Robinson Clearwater, FL Massachusetts Bar Association. How to “Seize” The Future of Law Practice. Presentation by Charles F. Robinson Clearwater, FL Massachusetts Bar Association. Today’s Agenda. Why worry about the future?

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The Future of Law Practice

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  1. The Future of Law Practice Presentation byCharles F. RobinsonClearwater, FL Massachusetts Bar Association

  2. How to “Seize” The Future of Law Practice Presentation byCharles F. RobinsonClearwater, FL Massachusetts Bar Association

  3. Today’s Agenda • Why worry about the future? • The 2004 environment • Trends v. Cycles • How to create your preferred future © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  4. Presentation Materials http://CharlieRobinsonFuturist.com/ © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  5. © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  6. © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  7. It Feels Like Something is Happening • We feel uneasy • We feel tentative • We feel angry and frustrated • There is competition everywhere we turn • Will the massive change we are going through continue? • Can we return to the way it used to be? © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  8. Tom Peters predicts • Ninety per cent white-collar jobs will disappear in the next ten years. • What color collars do lawyers wear? • Is there an exception for lawyers? © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  9. Never in history has incumbency been worth less. Examples include: © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  10. The real threat is irrelevance. © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  11. Chief Justice Major Harding 2/5/2000 • Dispute resolution as we know it may be a dinosaur • Must look at reforming the jury system • The big issue before the court system is relevance © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  12. Litigation © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  13. Wired Magazine (January, 1998) Guardians of the old order are trying their best to hold back change and preserve their power. © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  14. © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  15. Stare Decisis- Walking Through Life Backwards © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  16. Bill Gates Warning ”We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten." © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  17. Tom Peters “If you don’t like change, you are going to like irrelevance even less” © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  18. Marconi v Sarnoff © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  19. “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken OlsonPresident, Chairman and Founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  20. “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” Western Union internal memo, 1876. © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  21. “I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face and not Gary Cooper.” Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in “Gone With the Wind” © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  22. “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Charles H. Duell,Commissioner,US Office of Patents, 1899 © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  23. What are Profession’s Core Values?-Traditionalist Take • Confidentiality • Independent judgment (Competently exercise independent judgment) • Avoidance of conflict • Loyalty to clients © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  24. Core Values- Professionalism Take • Honor • Integrity • Nobility • Decency • Respect • Character • Paul R. Lipton • Alternative amoral technicians © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  25. NH BAR OUTREACH 2000 Can the legal profession survive the “dot.comet”? © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  26. Results of a poll conducted by Franklin Pierce Law Center graduates of their clients: • Lawyers charge excessively and add significantly to the cost of a legal need. • Lawyers add significantly to the time it takes to satisfy a legal need. • Lawyers complicate already-complicated problems. © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  27. Law School Client Survey cont • Lawyers don't take time to learn enough about a client's legal need, and then do not adequately address the need. When they address the need, they are paternalistic and arrogant. • Lawyers don't know when to step aside. • Lawyers' expertise in litigation and advocacy impedes problem solving. © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  28. Guild Power Dimensions • Power and control over the association- right to create own rules • Bar ethics rules promulgated by court, not legislature or executive branch • Control over the workplace • Number and status of workers • Bar examination and education requirements • Pricing of output • Bar minimum fee schedules • Prohibition on advertising © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  29. Guild Power Dimensions Cont 3. Control over the market • UPL civil and criminal statutes (except Arizona) • Power to define law practice 4. Power over the relation between the guild and the state • State had to grant monopoly to the bar • State trying to undo bar regulation ever since • Right to control availability = right to set the price Death of the Guilds- Professions, States, and the Advance of Capitalism 1930 To the Present Elliott A. Krause 1996 © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  30. Guild Status Decline • Goldfarb 421 U.S. 773(1975) • End of pricing control • Bates 433 U.S. 350 (1977) • Advertising allows for competition • Guild status gone since 1975 but many in denial in 2004 © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  31. Cycles and Trends

  32. Trends v. Cycles • Cycle says wait it out and it will come back. • Weather • Markets • Trend says will not likely return to status quo • We must deal with it or • Let it take us wherever the trend goes © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  33. Trend or Cycle • Tort “reform” © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  34. 1.Tort Reform • “Economically destructive litigation” • US most expensive tort system in the world • $179 billion 2002 direct costs • $636 per capita • 150% of amount spent on pharmaceuticals • Bills pending in 20 states • 11 states have passed legislation “Trends” Volume 1, Issue 3, July 2003 © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  35. Tort Reform Targets • Joint and several liability • Size of jury awards ($250,000) pain & suffering • Asbestos liability • Medical malpractice • Judicial review of jury awards © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  36. Trend Newsletter Predictions • Asbestos special legislation limiting awards by 2005 • Pain & suffering caps state/federal 2006 • Product liability litigation- statute of limitations of 15-18 years • Exempt wholesalers/retailers who don’t alter products • Punitive cap at 200% of actual • Federalize class-actions over $2 million • Federal preemption of auto insurance litigation to include no fault coverage for pain and suffering © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  37. Update January 2004 Associated Press January 8, 2004 • Senate compromise to keep some cases in state court likely to allow bill to pass. • Curb on class-action suits • Limit attorney fees for “coupon settlements” • Link fees to redemption rate of coupon or hours x rate © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  38. Senator Chuck Schumer, D NY • “Lawsuits have gotten out of control in America and something needs to be done to rein them in.” • “While he believes in the right to sue, he also believes that there have been excesses and there ought to be reform.” Phil Singer, Schumer spokesman. AP 1-8-2004 © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  39. Lawyer’s Fees Come Under Fire Miami Herald 1-4-2004 • Massachusetts lawyers seek $2.1 billion paycheck for winning $8.3 billion settlement. • Argue $775 million insufficient • Efforts in Florida and 13 other states to rein in contingency fees. • “Law is supposed to serve people, not lawyers” Nancy Udell, Gen. Counsel Common Good • ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section appoints 11 lawyer task force © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  40. Tort Reform- Trend or Cycle? • If cycle make low priority • If trend bar must actively decide • Effect on public • Effect on civil justice • Effect on legal profession • Strategic Plan to • Protect public • Protect civil justice system • Make appropriate changes © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  41. Trend or Cycle • Tort “reform” • Declining image of bar/lawyers © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  42. 2. Declining Image of Bar Associations from ABA to State and Local-Trend or Cycle? • What is greatest problem facing the bar and its members today, ignorance or apathy? © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  43. California... Here We Come??? “The Bar has drifted, and become lost. It is now part magazine publisher, part real estate investor, part travel agent, part critic, commingling its responsibilities and revenues in a manner which creates an almost constant appearance of impropriety.” Governor Pete Wilson © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  44. California Bar Funding Vetoed • Bloated • Arrogant • Oblivious • Unresponsive Lawyers Weekly USA June 15, 1998 © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  45. Battle Lines – London Times 7-29-03 • Law Society looking extinction in the face • Government wants to strip bar of self regulatory powers • Client complaints up 50% • Banks, insurance companies and building societies to handle probate • Government wants one-stop shops © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  46. Revolution Overseas- December 2003 ABA Journal- “Shot Through Hull” • Government commissioner to oversee grievance process • Strip the bar (Law Society) of regulatory powers • Liberalize MDP • Various pros mix and mingle money • Banks and insurance companies to sell legal services and software. © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  47. Tesco Plan for Legal Reform- The Guardian 7-25-03 • Lord Falconer- probate by banks, building societies, insurance companies • Government favors “one-stop shops” • Government to regulate not lawyers but legal services • Big corporations to be allowed to practice law. • Existing regulation framework is “outdated, inflexible, over complex, insufficiently transparent” © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  48. Lord Falconer of ThorotonDecember 3, 2003 • “Justice, Rights and Democracy” • “Justice for all as central as education for all” • “That means a justice system that works… and in which people have faith.” • “Both of these objectives- better service in the justice system, better government and democracy in the political system- are driven by one overriding point-serving the public.” © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  49. Lord Falconer Continues • “For too long, the courts, the law, the justice system and constitutional issues have been seen as the preserve of their key interest groups. They are not. They play a vital part in everyone’s daily life…..” • “But what must endure is our values. What we are, what we do: but crucially, what we do it for.” © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

  50. UPL- A Dog That Won’t HuntGemini Ventures of Tampa Inc. v. Hamilton Engineering 26 Fla L. Weekly 927 (2nd DCA April 2001). “We, as part of the legal profession, should be ever vigilant to protect the public from those who seek to provide legal services without the requisite training and knowledge. However… © 2004 Charles F. Robinson

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