Reaction Paper to BAR and BENCH 2025By Robert Ramirez

Change is inevitable. The evolution of technology is yielding both benefits and challenges to the legal profession this is the message of Unified Courts of Guam Chief Justice Robert Torres, Jr in his talk BAR and BENCH 2025 last February 12, 2015 at CEU School of Law & Jurisprudence. While I agree with his message, his view on what the future will be ten years from now is somewhat exaggerated particularly here in the Philippines. Nevertheless, the future of legal practice is set to be much more automated.

Though there is exaggeration on his presentation about the future, I think it is his way to catch attention from the audience. It is a wake-up call for everyone; we have to keep abreast with the technological changes and its development. The primary challenge of technology in the coming years is to redesign the way lawyers and courts work so that technology is fully integrated into their workflow in an efficient and effective manner. Another challenge is the increase in educational and training opportunities for lawyers regarding practical ways to use technology to enhance their practices, to understand and use technology more effectively, and to develop practice management and project management skills.In the presentation, Chief Justice Torres discussion is akin to what legal futurist Richard Susskind predicts in his book Transforming the Law. Susskind discusses the ways in which the Internet is transforming the delivery of legal services. He revisits the Future of Law by summarizing its central arguments, updating the main themes, clarifying the impact of his ideas on lawyers and responding to key objections by critics. He also looks beyond legal practice to the justice system more generally, concentrating on the impact of IT on judges, the courts and society. Susskinds latest book Tomorrows Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future builds on his previous work and predicts fundamental and irreversible changes in the world of law. According to him, the future of legal service will be neither Grisham nor Rumpole. Instead, it will be a world of virtual courts, Internet-based global legal businesses, online document production, commoditized service, legal process outsourcing, and Web-based simulated practice. Legal markets will be liberalized, with new jobs for lawyers and new employers too. This book targets young and aspiring lawyers, and those who want to modernize the legal and justice systems. It introduces the new legal landscape and offers practical guidance for those who intend to build careers and businesses in law. This is what the Chief Justice conveyed in his presentation.With or without the hyperbole of Chief Justices presentation on the legal profession in the future, we have to accept the fact that change is indeed inevitable, and as lawyers, or future lawyers, how do we respond to these changes? This is the major question that must be answered. Another is that the preparedness of our country to adapt to such changes, are we ready to face these challenges? Philippine legal profession must be ready for a shift that will entail not only new knowledge and awareness, but also a new set of skills of a lawyer that will encompass the advancement in technology and other disciplines.There are also essential changes in most areas of legal education caused by the rapid changes in technology and the increasing globalization of knowledge and economies that must be addressed. Best practices and innovation have become common terms in business, government and education. As in all disciplines, adapting to a rapidly changing world is becoming a fact of life. The Philippine legal profession must learn to accept that they cannot continue to operate in a shelter of protectionism while the society around them is embracing change. As in all other professions, the rapid changes in the practice of each profession as driven by many factors such as technological advancements, globalization and economic developments needs to adapt to these changes. But we have to note that all professions are interrelated and affect all of us and thus it is very important that one discipline should not be left behind by the other discipline, we can only achieve this with the help of course of the government, we need to engage the three branches of the government to help one another, not only to always emphasize being the co-equal branch that a certain situation is not within their province and such the other should be responsible. I know this would be difficult but a coordinated team yields effectiveness and efficiency.Indeed, change is inevitable, but to adapt to such change is the major challenge.