The future of the legal advisor - impact of technology

Ian McDougall, Legal Director - ECLA, Lexis Nexis Group

The modern law office is an amazing place when compared to the law office of the past. If we go back only a little way, the modern law office may well seem like something out of Star Trek. For much of the past, the most complicated piece of technology most law firms had was a typewriter. Research was a process of reviewing a mountain of books, periodicals and statutes. Indeed, an important part of the legal advisor’s skill was just being able to retrieve the relevant area of law. In the distant past, law offices would employ “scribes” to carefully copy important documents, when the ability to write was a skill in itself. Of course, the introduction of printing machinery led to the commoditisation of those writing skills. “Commoditisation” is a word I will be returning to in this piece as it continues to have an important impact on the development of the provision of legal services.

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UK IT Media September 2008 Vol. 2, No. 5, Autumn 2008

Ian McDougall

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I am a Barrister and Legal Director for LexisNexis in EMEA region. Formally, Chief European Counsel for Hughes Electronics and Group Head of Legal for PayPoint Plc. Speaker at conferences and also previously published in European Lawyer magazine.

Lexis Nexis Group

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LexisNexis is the leading online legal, tax and regulatory publisher and supplier of workflow solutions for knowledge based professionals. In addition, it provides one of the largest online News & Business aggregation services and includes such offering as “anti-money laundering” and customer background checking (“Know-Your-Customer”) services.

UK IT Media September 2008 Vol. 2, No. 5, Autumn 2008

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