We're running out of time to identify the functions and design the competencies of the post-AI legal profession. Here's my latest "Future Lawyer Starter Kit." Tell me what you think.
In my view, the task you've set yourself can be rephrased as follows: "What does it mean to be a person in the world of AI?" Or to put it another way, "When our purely cognitive capacities have been bested by machines, where shall we discover our value as human beings?"
I think we agree that lawyers, if they are to be anything, must be people first and foremost -- AI will take care of the rest.
My own list of 10 is as follows:
Conscience and self-control
Disposition to learn (for lawyers this means learning the current state of the law); awareness of the mutability of knowledge (for lawyers, the law's constant flux)
Analytical thinking
Metaphorical thinking
Assertiveness; willingness to face conflict if necessary
Flexibility; willingness to find common ground
Capacity to live with, and tack between, incompatible rules, values, priorities, ideas
Imagination; creativity; “thinking outside the box”
Awareness of one’s own feelings; calmness; centeredness
Locating within oneself what others feel; empathy; relatedness
From these attributes flow the essential legal skills: Disaggregating problems; discovering solutions; advising; advocating; negotiating; planning; and strategizing.
Dear Jordan,
Thanks for this thought-provoking list.
In my view, the task you've set yourself can be rephrased as follows: "What does it mean to be a person in the world of AI?" Or to put it another way, "When our purely cognitive capacities have been bested by machines, where shall we discover our value as human beings?"
I think we agree that lawyers, if they are to be anything, must be people first and foremost -- AI will take care of the rest.
My own list of 10 is as follows:
Conscience and self-control
Disposition to learn (for lawyers this means learning the current state of the law); awareness of the mutability of knowledge (for lawyers, the law's constant flux)
Analytical thinking
Metaphorical thinking
Assertiveness; willingness to face conflict if necessary
Flexibility; willingness to find common ground
Capacity to live with, and tack between, incompatible rules, values, priorities, ideas
Imagination; creativity; “thinking outside the box”
Awareness of one’s own feelings; calmness; centeredness
Locating within oneself what others feel; empathy; relatedness
From these attributes flow the essential legal skills: Disaggregating problems; discovering solutions; advising; advocating; negotiating; planning; and strategizing.