CBA Record Nov-Dec 2019

Chicago Bar Foundation Report

Leading Our Profession into the Future The CBA/CBF Task Force on the Sustainable Practice of Law & Innovation By E. Lynn Grayson, Justice Mary Ann Mason (ret.), and Jessica Bednarz

T he practice of law has changed over the years and continues to change at an even quicker pace today. The days when lawyers relied on books (and pocket parts) to Shepardize cases, and associates spent countless hours holed up in conference rooms reviewing banker’s boxes of documents are long gone. Given the speed and precision of computer programs that can perform these functions, no one in the legal profession waxes nostalgic for the “good old days” on that front. But although in these and other ways technology and innovation have undeniably changed for the better the way we practice law, we are not seeing the same kinds of changes in the way we deliver legal services to those in need of them. In fact, virtually every profession other than law has harnessed the power of technological innovation to stream- line and simplify the delivery of expertise to consumers. The business model for the prac- tice of law has remained stagnant, and we are facedwith a legal market that demonstrably is not working well either for lawyers trying to serve the consumer market or for the public in need of legal help. For all the good we do as a profession, we can no longer avoid the fact that our system of justice is not working for the vast majority of people it is designed to serve. The percentage of litigants appearing in court cases unrepresented by counsel has

increased exponentially. At the same time, lawyers struggle to maintain economically viable practices. Although the reasons for this growing market failure are multifaceted and complex, one overarching driver is that the Rules of Professional Conduct governing the business of law – that is, the way legal services are delivered ‒ have not kept upwith the pace of change around us. How Did We Get Here? As Professor Bill Henderson of the Indiana Maurer School of Law noted in a compre- hensive July 2018 Legal Market Landscape Report, the economics of law are not work- ing in our favor, and our stifling ethics rules – particularly those regulating the business of law – are to blame. Professor Henderson notes that the amount of money spent on consumer legal services over the past five years has declined by nearly $7 billion, while the percentage of litigants needing legal services (but deciding to forgo them) is on the rise. During the same period, the segment of the market for corporate legal services increased by more than $26 billion. In other words, a party in need of and able to pay a lawyer can readily find one, while “middle market” cli- ents, unable to pay prevailing hourly rates for legal representation, increasingly go it alone. Add into the equation the well docu- mented fact that the economics of law have changed at a time whenwe havemore lawyers

Presenters at the task force kick off included (left to right) Chicago Bar Foun- dation Executive Director Bob Glaves, Task Force Co-Chair E. Lynn Grayson of Nijman Franzetti LLP, Co-Chair and Retired Illinois Appellate Justice Mary Anne Mason and Executive Director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism Jayne Reardon.

Information about the CBA/CBFTask Force on the Sustainable Practice of Law& Innovation, including the charter, member and com- mittee list, and resources, can be found at https://chicagobarfoundation.org/advocacy/ issues/sustainable-practice-innovation/.

16 November/December 2019