Advice on Information Governance and eDisclosure for Tomorrow’s Lawyers

March 7, 2013 - PRLog -- Chris Dale of the eDisclosure Information Project speaks to Professor Richard Susskind, Author of “Tomorrow’s Lawyers” about some of the key messages of his book, which provides guidance for young and experienced lawyers alike on information governance and edisclosure.

Legal IQ: I run the eDisclosure Information Project, which carries information about electronic disclosure or discovery between judges, lawyers, clients and providers in the UK and elsewhere. That involves the court rules, and it involves technology, but it also involves the business processes of lawyers and the client objectives. Lord Justice Jackson's amendments to the civil procedure rules include a requirement that lawyers should budget for litigation early in the proceedings, and there's an obvious overlap with the messages that we've had for a long time from Richard Susskind over many years about how lawyers work for their clients and how they charge them. So we've not just got a court-led requirement to reduce costs but to predict them, and that neatly matches what Richard Susskind has always said about what clients want from their lawyers.

Richard Susskind's new book, Tomorrow's Lawyers, pulls together many of the themes from his earlier books in an easily read 160 pages. With its sub-title, An Introduction to Your Future, it is primarily addressed to younger lawyers, those embarking on a career in the law and junior partners in law firms.

The prognosis, I should say straightaway, is not all gloom for those who are willing to accept the challenges that Richard Susskind raises. Richard, perhaps you could give us an overview of your messages in Tomorrow's Lawyers?

R Susskind: Yes. We should perhaps qualify with a little bit of background; it might help. I did originally write the book for young and aspiring lawyers. I was frustrated, as I was travelling and speaking, that very few law students, and fewer still professors, really seemed to be interested in or have any insight into some of the key trends that I and others were observing in the legal market, so I thought it would be good to reduce it to one simple text. But, as I wrote the book, and as I got more senior lawyers to review it, and this is to some sense slightly disconcerting, but a number of senior lawyers said to me, actually it's more readable, more digestible and more relevant than your previous works for people who've been in the profession for some time. So although it's pitched at one level for the young and aspiring lawyer, I think there's a simple set of messages there for anyone who's interested in working in the legal profession.

Download the full interview here: http://www.infogovsummit.com/Event.aspx?id=793382#Presentations

Related Event:

Chris Dale and Richard Susskind will be speaking at the Information Governance and eDisclosure Summit, which will take place from 14 - 16 May, 2013 at the Lancaster London Hotel, UK. For information, please email enquire@iqpc.co.uk or call +44 (0) 2307 368 9300. More resources can also be found at: http://www.legaliqonline.com/