Hello from the Future, Seven Trends Changing Law Practice Forever

Hello from the Future

by Matthew HomannLexThink LLC

Seven Trends Changing Practice Forever

You s

hould

be a

lawye

r.

LexThink.cominnovation: for lawyers

@MattHomann

www.nonbillablehour.com

Shiny shiny syndrome.

The one thing that’s changing in

law practice is: everything.

The future is already here -- it’s just not evenly distributed.

-William Gibson

The predictions that seem most correct are almost certain to be wrong.

- Ray Kurzweil

Most people are more comfortable with old problems than with new solutions.

- Charles Brower

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered.

- Galileo Galilei

Why are lawyers so bad at predicting the future?

© Matthew Homann 2010 All Rights Reserved

The practice of law depends upon precedents. The

business of law does not.

Just because nobody is ready for it doesn’t make it less likely to happen.

Leaders have too much invested in the present to prepare for the future.

© Matthew Homann 2010 All Rights Reserved

Ready to party like it’s 1999?

One thing we know is the future isn’t ...

© Matthew Homann 2010 All Rights Reserved

Don’t be chicken.

© Matthew Homann 2010 All Rights Reserved

Things change faster than we expect.

© Matthew Homann 2010 All Rights Reserved

Clients have less attention to pay than ever before.

Access to information is now instant.

#7

Legal work will be priced, not predicted.

© Matthew Homann 2010 All Rights Reserved

Lawyers rarely sell what their clients are buying.

Time is not a valid metric.

Firms Negotiate Value, not on Price

#6

Client-focused metrics will matter more

Clients will dictate the

measurements and monitor them in real

time.

#5

Legal projects aremanaged by managers

& lawyers are managedlike employees.

Managers manage to results not time spent.

#4

Service Matters.

The ratings economy drives client decision making.

Client surveys happen in real time.

Listening well becomes a core competency.

#3

All work becomes

commoditized.

#2

The dawn of the irrelevancy

of lawyers.

Clients demand the keys to the knowledge machine.

#1

Young Lawyers

Dissappear.

What can I do?

LexThink.cominnovation: for lawyers

@MattHomann

www.NonBillableHour.com