Lawyers face off their own Uber threat: NSW Law Society in future-proofing bid
The outback NSW town of Nyngan, in the centre of wool-growing territory and boasting a shearing shed museum, is the unlikely setting for a message that many of the nation's lawyers might not want to hear.
The picturesque town – population 2073 – is the home of Lawlab, a high-volume, paperless, online conveyancing service that has managed $10 billion worth of property transactions nationwide. It is just one of the legal market's myriad disrupters.
"Disruption to me seems to be something that everyone thinks happens to someone else – we've all sort of said [that] in the smug, snug complacency of the back seat of an Uber while watching the beginning of the end for [the taxi] industry," co-founder Richard Bootle told the NSW Law Society's landmark inquiry into the Future of Law and Innovation in the Profession.
"As lawyers, that charge plays very much to us.
'Oblivious to the white walkers'
"In Game of Thrones terms, I think we're all a bit Lannister-and-Stark-ish; we're all fighting over this little patch of ground oblivious to the white walkers heading towards us, about to put their cold, freezing hands on our shoulders, riding their dead horses through our villages," warned Mr Bootle.
"I'm constantly shocked by the lack of engagement in that, and this sense that as lawyers we're somehow protected."
Lawlab wasn't always a disrupter. It started as the amalgamation of a couple of local law firms, bought by Mr Bootle and his partner, former Corrs Chambers Westgarth lawyer Ian Perkins, when the two made the tree change to Mr Bootle's home town of Nyngan in 2000 to run the family farm.
Back then, the disrupters were city conveyancers cutting in on local work using faxes.
"We're obviously in the middle of nowhere, essentially, and what we faced was geographical isolation. We were very cognisant that if we didn't change and start opening our services to cities, then we would die."
Collaboration software didn't exist, so they built their own — a virtual business network between agents, brokers, lenders, lawyers — and rebranded to Lawlab in 2004. Today, they promise to "start the process within two business hours" and charge a fixed fee. In 2015, they rolled out their software, Rundl, as a platform for any service provider to use; a Facebook-style format accessible on tablets and smartphones.
Mr Bootle's disrupted-to-disrupter journey was among the evidence fed into the NSW Law Society's inquiry, which released its 112-page report on Tuesday night.
Setting out a broad gameplan to future-proof the profession, among the inquiry's 19 recommendations are a technology-focused incubator, a centre for innovation projects, programs to encourage diversity and flexible working, assistance in becoming more entrepreneurial, and an annual hackathon.
The aim is to help arm its 31,000 members as they tackle unprecedented change: increased automation, intense competition from new players, globalisation, shrinking client budgets, artificial intelligence.
NSW Law Society president Pauline Wright said new technologies could also improve access to justice particularly in regional and remote areas, bridging the "justice gap".
Ethics had to remain at the core of all developments, she said.
Lawyers may see the various changes as a threat, but Ms Wright said the society wanted to "help them see what the opportunities might be".
"We are part of the profession and primarily we've got to look after our clients, but we can't do that without having viable practices."
'Terrifying' eye opener
The FLIP inquiry, led by future committee chairman and Minter Ellison partner Gary Ulman, was tasked with examining "likely future trends in the profession" and comprised lawyers, an academic, a senior court official and a technology expert. Brookfield general counsel Claire Bibby and Human Rights Commissioner Ed Santow were among them.
More than 100 professionals — not just lawyers — gave evidence.
Mr Ulman said the inquiry had been an "eye opener" and "enlightening", albeit at times "terrifying".
Among witnesses were disrupters including LegalVision founder Lachlan McKnight, LawPath head of legal Dominic Woolrych, Hive Legal's Melissa Lyon, lexvoco director Anthony Wright and ex Macquarie Bank lawyer Leonie Chapman, who started her own web-based service particularly focused on the financial industry.
The inquiry also heard from law firms with innovative platforms, such as Allens' Beth Patterson, Norton Rose Fulbright's head of technology Peter Westerveld, Colin, Biggers & Paisley CIO Chris Latta, Gilbert & Tobin partner Charles Coorey and Maddocks senior associate Stuart Napthali.
Stockland general counsel Katherine Grace was among in-house counsel who helped.
In his introduction to the 10 chapter report, Mr Ulman calls predicting what "lies ahead" for the profession "problematic".
"Suffice it to say that change and innovation will continue but at what pace and with what impact only time will tell."
Launching the report in Sydney, Mr Ulman said it was a "really important day for the law society". The roll-out of the National Broadband Network would ease the "tyranny of distance", he said, noting regulatory change was "ripe for research". The report flagged the need for more work on consumer impacts.
Implementation from July
He said he was confident most, if not all, of the recommendations would be accepted by the law society. Implementation strategies start from July.
NSW Law Society chief executive Michael Tidball said the report was unique in its methodology and scope.
"Through extensive research and stakeholder engagement, the Society's Future Committee has been successful in producing a report which will help guide the future of our profession for many years to come," he said.
The report concedes the legal profession as a whole "has been relatively slow to innovate".
Disruption rooted in digital upheaval was a key theme of the inquiry, which heard how client demands were driving change.
"The moment you have a great digital experience in one part of your life you demand [it] in other parts," said Lawlab's Mr Bootle.
Although Lawlab has set up offices in six cities and boasts a nationwide client list (CBRE, Belle Property, LJ Hooker, McGrath and Aussie among them), most of the work is still done in Nyngan.
"We thought it would be difficult to get great young grads to come to remote central NSW," Mr Bootle told the inquiry.
But the firm has managed to lure around a dozen graduates in the past year, promising experience in a fast growth area.
"We're growing the population there as well."
katie.walsh@fairfaxmedia.com.au
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