These are the three essential roles lawyers will play in the post-AI era. We need to start preparing legal education, lawyer licensing, and law practices to adapt.
Jordan, as usual, great piece. Funny, but I believe the three essential roles you identify as surviving AI have always been at the core of what we do as lawyers. The searching, researching, drafting, reviewing/revising, filing and -- ahem -- billing are the outcomes of or byproducts of the essential "human centred" lawyering roles. Lawyering byproducts are, it seems, easily enhanced, made more productive and perhaps replaced by technologies, including what may come with AI. I have observed that with all of the legal innovation we have seen over the years, the work and demand for lawyers have only increased. This time 'round may be different with the spectre of AI but, like you, I think there are very core human roles that lawyers will continue to perform, even after AI replaces more and more byproducts of lawyering.
Jordan, as usual, great piece. Funny, but I believe the three essential roles you identify as surviving AI have always been at the core of what we do as lawyers. The searching, researching, drafting, reviewing/revising, filing and -- ahem -- billing are the outcomes of or byproducts of the essential "human centred" lawyering roles. Lawyering byproducts are, it seems, easily enhanced, made more productive and perhaps replaced by technologies, including what may come with AI. I have observed that with all of the legal innovation we have seen over the years, the work and demand for lawyers have only increased. This time 'round may be different with the spectre of AI but, like you, I think there are very core human roles that lawyers will continue to perform, even after AI replaces more and more byproducts of lawyering.
No one will go to law school.
The older lawyers will retire , New lawyers will pivot to say influencers- God knows we don't have enough of those yet.
Is that a good result? A good enough reason to keep it away from legal education?