Richard Susskind about law firm IT management and cloud computing

16
Sep
2010

Rob Ameerun

"Law firm CIOs should be working at Board level and have a deep appreciation of the challenges of knowledge management and knowledge sharing"

This month, a new paperback edition of Richard Susskind’s last book “The End of Lawyers?” will be published. A good reason for Legal IT professionals to interview Susskind and ask him about the current status of the legal industry. Today the third and final part of the interview, where Susskind talks about cloud computing, video conferencing and the changing role of law firm IT management.

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is rapidly being adopted by the legal profession, predominantly by small law firms. Startup law firms can benefit from cloud computing: a mature IT infrastructure complete with the necessary legal applications and without major investments. Also, many legal applications only available to the larger firms are now within reach for small law firms in a new Software as a Service model. Susskind: “Cloud computing does the thing, it actually puts the data storage, the computing power, and the facilities that used to be only available to large organisations, make them available to small organisations. I think all these firms are absolutely crucial in bringing and driving technology through into the legal profession. These of themselves it seems to me are more infrastructural issues rather than fundamental strategic issues.”

“The desktop of the lawyer, whether or not the data and software is held locally, in networks, or in the cloud, is often something that actually is completely beyond the knowledge or the insight or the experience of the user. What the user is more concerned about is actually the tools that are available literally on their screen. And that is why a lot of developments, like for example the iPad and the next generation of handhelds, affect the way that lawyers work in a way that I don't think directly many of the other developments like cloud computing do. I think cloud computing, software as a service, and other developments are exciting concepts, or exciting infrastructure that enable the legal technology market to deliver the promise to lawyers, but actually the daily experience of lawyers is more likely to be changed by focusing on what the experience on their desktop is. And what they want is frankly greater portability, easier access to documents, more convenient communication with clients and so forth.”

Susskind also thinks that cloud computing will eventually be adopted by larger law firms. “The cost proposition is pretty compelling. And you are seeing, that every firm is trying to drive the efficiencies. So if you can store data or process data on your systems, more reliably and at lower costs using the cloud and associated technologies, then big businesses are bound to embrace it. They might be a little more cautious, for reasons of confidentiality of security and so forth, but I think they will embrace these technologies.”

Video Conferencing
“For me, a quite different technology that is going to be terribly significant in the next five years is desktop to desktop high definition video conferencing. For people who say video conferencing has been around for years, video conferencing of the quality we are now seeing has absolutely not been around for years, this is a different order of quality. And my point is, once that quality actually migrates onto the desktop, it is like Skype on steroids, it will radically change the way in which lawyers and clients communicate. A lot of the other developments like better search or cloud computing or many of the advances we are seeing across the world in basic technologies, they are all contributing to more efficient and modernised legal practice. But if you're looking for a major leap ahead, in my view it will be desktop to desktop video conferencing of high definition.”

A comparison to speech recognition, also being around for years now, is not correct according to Susskind. “I don't think it is like speech recognition, because I wrongly predicted it would be the dominant way in which we would put in information by 2010, I really did think that. That technology for one reason or another was bypassed, and I think it is because we found our own workarounds, and that workaround is we are all pretty good now at entering text with our fingers. We have just emerged a younger generation and indeed an older generation of individuals who have adapted to that, and although speech recognition is good for most people, the transition costs are too high. Actually, what most people can do with two fingers is fine. Video conferencing is something different, I really am absolutely prepared to say it will transform the way we all communicate from desktop to desktop. The difference between speech recognition and video conferencing is video conferencing is taking longer to get to the desktop than we expected. Speech recognition, I don't think, will ever dominate the desktop as we expected.”

Law firm IT management
The legal landscape is going through quite some changes and so is the role of IT management. CIOs, IT directors or IT managers, how will their role change in the years ahead? Susskind: “I don't see an IT director being the same as a CIO. This goes back to one of the grids in my book and the chapter about in-house lawyers. I believe that the traditional IT director looked after the back office technology, the office automation, fairly traditional basic information technologies, very powerful and modern technologies like accounting, word processing, email, all vital for the practice. But the transition to the CIO, the CIO is an individual in my view who also looks after internal knowledge management tools, who looks after online services, who looks after client communication technologies. The CIO is an individual who is not simply technically sound, this is the hybrid, the kind of person who the law firm is happy to have as ambassador for the firm and happy to speak to very senior clients. This is a person who is going to be involved in transforming, changing the business, so they have technology insight but they also have communication skills and a keen interest in the business of the law. They are interested in transforming, changing the way that lawyers work with their clients, and they want to be central to that. Very traditional IT directors of law firms could equally be IT directors in any other kind of businesses. They are interested in the basic office automation systems that one finds right across various industries and sectors. The next generation, should be working at Board level within law firms, and have a deep appreciation of the challenges of knowledge management, knowledge sharing, internally and externally. Someone who is interested in the delivery of legal service on the back of technology. So that's a different animal.”

Not merely a role shifting, Susskind continues. “It is actually a new role, and that is my inclination. I don't think the IT directors disappear, it is just someone rather different on top of them and right at the heart of the business, changing the business, driving the business, differentiating the business. This is a person who, for example, when major law firms are bidding for work, they are a key person in the pitch team, actually attending meetings with clients and compelling the clients to think this is the kind of modernised firm we want to work with. So for me generally, this is not to criticise traditional IT directors, but you either have to as a traditional IT director be prepared to make a huge leap and greatly extend your talents and your skills, or I think it can be expected that different people will be overall responsible for technology.”

This was the third and final part of our interview with Richard Susskind. In part one, Susskind talked about the new edition of his bestselling book "The End of Lawyers?", embracing change, and the impact of the global financial crisis on law firms. In part two, Susskind focussed on social media and the role of legal IT software vendors.