Internet Newsletter for Lawyers
November/December 2005, by Delia Venables

Richard Susskind is something of a hero in legal internet circles having first written about the way that the internet would transform the practice of law way back in 1996.

In The Future of Law (OUP) he described traditional legal services as being advisory in nature, "one-to-one", reactive to problems as the problems came up, defensive of the client's position (and the lawyers), narrowly focussed on legal aspects of the situation, delivered in printed form and charged on the basis of time spent.

New legal services would redefine the lawyers as information engineers, information would be created for the "one-to-many" situation, advice would be proactive, and would suggest new opportunities, advice would combine legal, banking, business etc, it would be prepared and delivered using IT (and the internet) and charged on a basis reflecting the value of the advice.

His message was that Lawyers should start to adopt the opportunities which the Internet can provide - or lose out to others who will take their place.

And all this was 9 years ago!

Since then he has continued to lead in the general field of IT in the legal world. He has advised on numerous government inquiries and, since 1998, has been IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England. In 2003, he was appointed by the Cabinet Office as Chair of the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information. He holds law professorships at Gresham College in London and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He is also an OBE. You can read more about him at www.susskind.com.

Now he has brought out a book called The Susskind Interviews: Legal Experts in Changing Times. This charts interviews with 18 leading legal figures of our time - top judges, barristers, politicians and solicitors.

The interviews have taken place in turbulent times for lawyers and politicians, as they sought to cope with the implications of September 11th, proposals to abolish the Lord Chancellor’s Office, the possibility of a Supreme Court, the collapse of Enron and Andersen, and the Hutton Inquiry. The interviews are very candid and are supplemented with Richard's own impressions of his distinguished guests.

You can see the details of who has been interviewed on Richard’s site at www.susskind.com/interviews.html and you can order it from there, or by calling 020 7449 1111.

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