Liquid Legal: Towards a Common Legal Platform

631 Pages·2020·15.791 MB·English

by  Kai Jacob, Dierk Schindler, Roger Strathausen

Law for Professionals
Kai Jacob
Dierk Schindler
Roger Strathausen Editors
Liquid Legal
Towards a Common Legal Platform
Law for Professionals
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/16313
(cid:129) (cid:129)
Kai Jacob Dierk Schindler
Roger Strathausen
Editors
Liquid Legal
Towards a Common Legal Platform
Editors
KaiJacob DierkSchindler
DeloitteLegalRechtsanwaltsgesellschaft RobertBoschGmbH
mbH Stuttgart,Germany
Stuttgart,Germany
RogerStrathausen
Dr.StrathausenConsultancy
Sevilla,Spain
ISSN2662-141X ISSN2662-1428 (electronic)
LawforProfessionals
ISBN978-3-030-48265-7 ISBN978-3-030-48266-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48266-4
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Foreword
The 2020s looks set to be a decade of unprecedented transformation in the legal
world.Newtechnologieswillbringradicalchangestothewaythatlegalservicesare
delivered,andnewplayerswillrisetoprominenceinthemarketplace,notleastthe
Big4butalso,itislikely,oneortwogame-changinglegaltechstart-ups.Thelegal
departmentsofmajororganizationswillbeincreasinglydemandingoncostsandwill
reinventthemselves,shiftingfrombeingfrustratedfire-fightersandblossominginto
fully-fledgedlegalriskmanagers.Inthecourtstoo,therewillbetransformation,as
virtual hearings and online courts replace much conventional public dispute
resolution.
To guide us through this remarkable maelstrom comes the second volume of
LiquidLegal.In2017,IwaspleasedtorecommendthefirstcollectioninTheTimes
newspaperintheUK.Itssuccessorismoreambitious,anditisapleasureonceagain
to commend this body of work to the legal community. It is a smorgasbord of
insights into the future of law, a rich resource for everyone who cares about the
evolutionofthelegalindustry.
It is a strikingly diverse collection. There is something here for everyone in the
law:in-houselawyers,bothinindustryandintheprivatesector;practitionersinlaw
firms of all sizes; legal technologists as well as knowledge engineers; academic
lawyersandtheirstudents;andalternativeprovidersintheirmanyguises.
Theeditorshavedonemuchmorethancommissionthecontributions.Toimpose
some coherence on the many different perspectives, they have made explicit
connections between related chapters,creatinga network ofanalyses, casestudies,
visions,andresearch.
The book also has a running and important theme—the idea of designing and
building a common legal platform, a shared resource that could help avoid the
duplication of effort and reinvention of the wheel that takes place globally today
onaregrettablescale.Ifsuccessfullybuiltanddelivered,thisplatformcouldleadnot
onlytoamoreefficientlegalmarketbutshouldalsoincreaseaccesstojustice.
vv
vi Foreword
Iwishthisbookeverysuccessandlookforwardtothedebatethatitdeservesto
generate.
OxfordInternetInstitute RichardSusskind,OBE
Oxford,UK
March2020
Foreword: Start with Reality
Bynow,formanyyears,thelegalcommunityhasbeendiscussingwhethertransfor-
mationanddigitalizationisreachingourprofessionandwhatthisactuallymeansfor
professionalsinthelegalecosystem.
Althoughbookslike“TheEndofLawyers?”byRichardSusskind,whohasalso
provided a foreword to this book, have shaken up our profession, I do have the
impression that since then, the reality of many legal professionals has remained
unchangedoratleastalmostunchanged.Nevertheless,manylegalprofessionalssee
adarkstripeatthehorizon.Fortunately,itstillseemstobefaraway,andjustclosing
the eyes is still sufficient to postpone any implementation of real changes and to
justifycontinuingthediscussionaboutthemeritsofsuchchanges.Thethreathasnot
materialized yet. However, the unease is growing and more and more people are
feeling it. It is time to walk the talk. In fact, we are seeing that the transformation
actuallyhasstartedafteradecadeofdiscussionandisacceleratingatabreathtaking
speed.Itisnotthequestionofwhetherwechangebutonlyhow.Theactualquestion
is:Dowedrivethechange,orwillwebeovercomebythetransformation?
Tobeabletoleadasuccessfultransformation,wehavetostartwithlookingatthe
reality. Understanding reality is the only sensible starting point for any journey.
Althoughmostpeoplewillassumetheyknowthereality,becausetheydealwithit
every day, the truth is that it is not as easy as it appears. Reality looks different
depending on your standpoint. In addition, it is not sufficient to consider facts of
today but you need to anticipate tomorrow, if not even the day after. You need to
have an idea of what is coming, and this can only be an assumption. However,
withoutmakingassumptionsyouwillnotbeabletosetaclearpath.Weneedtobe
awareofwhereourassumptionsstartandbeopentoadaptthemwhenwerecognize
that we were wrong. It is all about being open to change, observing what is
happening,andbeinghappyifyoufindsomethingthatallowsyoutoimprove.We
must learn to embrace ambiguity and that nobody is completely right in the first
place.
Another challenge we face is that we tend to see things we would like to see.
Biasesarepartofourhumannatureandtheyinfluencehowweperceivereality.Self-
awareness and the confidence to admit, also as leaders, that we might have been
wrongdemandscourage.Wearenotimmunetotheseeffects,andhowwedealwith
vviiii
viii Foreword:StartwithReality
them will determine our view and approach to the world and the success of our
transformation.
To make it even more complex, the bias can make you take the past as the
reference point and thereby limit your ability to see, or even anticipate, upcoming
changestriggeredbydigitalization—tothebetterortotheworse.Often,weexpect
exaggerated changes from digitalization. We must retain an open mind to remain
adaptable.Wemusthavethecouragetoapplyatrialanderrorapproachtodetermine
whatisgoingon.ThisiswhyIlikedthebook“LiquidLegal—TransformingLegal
into a Business Savvy, Information Enabled and Performance Driven Industry”
(Jacob/Schindler/Strathausen(eds.)2017).Itdidnotassumetoknowwhatiscoming
butbroughtavarietyofideastohelpustogetourpictureofwhatishappeningtoday.
Once we have understood, and more importantly, accepted reality, we can set a
targetandderiveacoursethatbringsustowherewewanttogo.Todothis,weneed
notonlytolookatwhatweknowandwhatwehavelearnedinthepast,butwemust
haveafreshlookatourtask.Experienceneedstobecomplementedbyopennessand
thewillingnesstoquestioneverythingwearedoingwithoutreservation.
What Is Driving Legal?
Transformationisthebuzzwordofourtimes,andoftenwehearthatdigitalizationis
thedriverofthistransformation.Ofcourse,thisistrue—butnotthewholetruth.In
fact,newexpectationsfromourclientsandtheincreaseofcomplexityarethedrivers
ofmostofthechanges.Today,clientsdonotacceptthatlawyerssitinanivorytower
andjustdealwiththelaw.Answersandpracticalsolutionsarekey,andtimeisofthe
essence. Practicing the law in such an environment becomes more and more
complex. Just looking at the regulatory environment, the sheer amount of
regulations, and the public expectation towards our clients, we have to admit that
ourprofessiongetsmoreandmoredifficulttomaster.Formercertaintyinthelegal
worldisreplacedbyambiguity.Weusedtoliveinalegalworldthatwasgoverned
byapositivisticlegalconcept.Theoutcomeofacasewaspredeterminedbythefacts
and by the law. It was just a question of how accurate the law was applied. We
neededtogatherthefactsandthenwecouldapplythelawjustlikeamachine,which
would bring us a result a good lawyer already knew in advance. The rule of law
applied. The complexity of today’s international regulation puts limits on this
approach. The law became only one part of a social and political interaction that
influences theoutcomeofourwork.Ifwelook atlegal risksevolving today,often
theoutcomecannotbedeterminedinadvanceanymore.Worse,Ihavetoadmitthat
theevaluationofaspecificcase in10yearsmightbedifferent fromtheonetoday,
evenwithoutanactualchangeinthelaw.Antitrustlawisagoodexampleforthis.In
theEU,wehavequiteastableregulationbutnonethelesstheinterpretationtodayis
quite different from what public authorities found 20 years ago. Nevertheless, still
today clients typically expect from their lawyer to provide “the answer” and to
foresee even future assessments of today’s decisions. The hindsight bias is largely
known,butpublicpressurewillalsoplayitspart.
Foreword:StartwithReality ix
Deglobalization will lead to additional risks, making any forecast even more
difficult, especially if we need to plan for some years in the future. The digital
transformationatlargeaddsfurthertothechallenge.Softwareisanintegratedpartof
manyproductsandAIapplicationsarefindingtheirwayintomoreandmoreareasof
business. How are we supposed to deal with products that decide by themselves?
Howdoesourlegaltoolsetapplytothis?Thesechangesleadtoanincreaseddemand
forlegalworkandatthesametimemakeourjobmoredifficult.Partofourresponse
mustbetochangethewaywework.Thisiswheredigitalizationjumpsinandnew
formsofcollaborationbecomeanecessity.Weneedtosharetheknowledgewehave
in our organization and find new interfaces to the business world to make sure we
havealltheinformationweneedtomakesounddecisions.Justapplyingthelawas
“legalmachines”liesinthepast.Donotgetmewrong,excellenceinlawisstillan
indispensableconditionforalawyerbutitisnotsufficient.Merelyofferingspecialist
knowledgewillnotearnyouaseatatthebusinesstableanymore.Weneedtobring
differentspecialiststogethertofindthebestsolutioninawaynotslowingdownour
reaction time and not multiplying the need for resources. A successful lawyer is a
riskmanager,whoneedsabroadcomprehensionofthetechnical,commercial,and
socialinteractiontoassesstheimpacthisorheradviceandthefollowingdecisions
willhave.Weneedtodeveloptheprofessionfurtherandtoadmitthatwealsoneed
newcapabilitiestostayrelevantasaprofession.Thiswillonlybepossibleifwelook
atthepeople.Wehavetoorganizeourselvesaroundhumanbeings.
However,noneedfordoomandgloom!Ibelievethatwearelivingininteresting
times. We have the opportunity to rethink our profession. Nothing we learned and
what seemed to be cornerstones of our profession remain unchallenged. We are
askedtoquestionanythingandtochangewhatbecomesanimpedimenttousevenif
itwashelpfulinthepast.Whatwedoandhowwedoitneedstobeusefultoday,and
no merits of the past justify keeping something not supporting our transformation.
Thisisnotabouttheonebigleap—wewillratherhavetotakemanysmallsteps,and
sometimes,evenaccepttotakeastepback.Suchistheprocessofinnovation.Letus
findatargetandmoveinthisdirection,andletusbehonest:somesetbacksarepart
of the transformation—no problem, as long as the direction is the right one.
Sometimes, we will have to amend our plan, and sometimes we even might need
toadapttothetarget.Letusbeopentorealityandfollowourpathbutneverassume
wearealwaysright.Collaborationanddigitalizationwillbekeytothis,butalsohave
yourconcretetaskandyourowntargetinmind.
People and Leadership
Isiteasytoforeseescenariosthatarenightmares?Withoutadoubt.Isitpossibleto
seeascenariowhereeverythingturnsoutwell?Again,withoutanydoubt.Thefuture
isnotdetermined.Itisuptoustoshapethefuture.Thetransformationseemsathreat
to some, but it depends on our choices and our actions. Whether it turns out
positively or not does not depend on a certain technology but on the question:
How do we deal with the transformation? It is our responsibility to implement the