Lawyers at the International Bar Association’s annual conference have predicted that the global legal market will soon bow to the pressure of technology platforms, taking part in what has been dubbed the ‘Uberisation’ of the legal sector.
Partner at Aird & Berlis LLP in Canada, Aaron Baer described how large groups of people were not being served by current legal operations, and that consumers would stand to benefit from standardised and efficient ways of working. Baer outlined how he sees potential for a platform like Uber, where lawyers are rated by clients and market themselves in a single platform. he said:
‘At the end of the day we are just service providers. And when you watch the disruption in service providers in all other industries, why wouldn’t we be next? Consumers want convenience, they want affordability and they want good service. And to get there we need to rethink how we traditionally do the work.’
Dalton Albrecht, counsel at EY Law LLP, predicted that we would see a massive decentralisation of legal work, with firms reducing office space in the wake of Covid-19. Also that ‘gig economy’ type platforms could see a shift in the way small and medium firms carry out legal work.
‘I don’t think it will affect big law quite as much. For big litigation or important tax matters you’re not going to go to someone referred to you by a tech platform,’
‘But for more routine matters…I think these platforms will clean up eventually. Smaller law firms are going to have to reorganise themselves and maybe get into associations of law firms where they can share technology and clients’.
This concept isn’t new, with the Financial Times running an article on this exact topic back in 2016.
The IBA’s annual conference is currently being help virtually, and will finish on 27th November.