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06 May 2016 / Greg Wildisen
Issue: 7697 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Practising on auto-pilot

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Did the Susskinds get it right? Not quite, as Greg Wildisen explains

The main thrust of Richard Susskind’s latest blockbuster (co-authored with his son Daniel) is that we are on the brink of fundamental and irreversible change in the way that professionals make their expertise available to society (The Future of the Professions: How Technology will Transform the Work of Human Experts, Richard Susskind and Daniel Susskind). Naturally such a contention makes this book compelling reading for anyone interested in understanding how this change will likely affect their own profession or industry. Most of us will have a copy of the book, which is organised into three parts: change; theory; and implications. But what have we learnt from it?

Part 1—Change

Some professions, notably the legal profession, are far less advanced in their use of technology than others. For example both the health profession and architects have adopted significantly more sophisticated technology to better serve their clients. One can only assume therefore, that when the inevitable changes commence for law, that change will be even more dramatic than in other professions. The authors

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn adds employee benefits and executive compensation practice in London with partner Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL appoints new partner and head of intellectual property disputes

NEWS
A series of recent decisions has clarified important principles across property law, from perpetuities to lease renewals and public rights over land
Employers cannot rely on wellbeing services alone to defend workplace stress claims after a High Court decision awarding almost £1m to an overworked employee
Andy Burnham's brand of 'Manchesterism' could offer fresh thinking on legal aid and access to justice if it reaches Westminster, according to Roger Smith, NLJ columnist and former director of JUSTICE
The constitutional fallout from a change of prime minister, rather than the politics, is under scrutiny as questions arise over the limits of executive authority in a leadership transition
The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London
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