Change Is Here, And More Is Coming

As you know, we here at Abnormal Use oftentimes link to other outlets who have published our bloggers (or attorneys at our firm who may not be bloggers at Abnormal Use). Recently, our own John Cuttino – the current president-elect of DRI – saw the publication of his article, “Change Is Here, And More Is Coming” in March 2016 edition of For The Defense. Here’s the first few paragraphs of the piece:

“We are shaping the world faster than we can change ourselves, and we are applying to the present the habits of the past,” Winston Churchill.

Those wise words are particularly appropriate in 2016. Our profession is undeniably in the midst of great change. Some of those changes have happened, some are in process, and some have not yet begun. Some are very visible to us, and others are presently out of our sight. Humans that we are, it is likely that each of us is engaged in some form of denial of the changes in our profession. I’m betting some of us are like the cigarette smoker who, despite the evidence, believes (hopes) that the laws of nature will be suspended and that he or she will have no adverse health effects from smoking. Perhaps we think the changes won’t affect us because we live in a smaller city or state, or we have loyal clients, or it’ll be a while longer before the change impacts us directly, or we’ll be retired before major change affects our practice. Or maybe we know it’s coming, but we are just too busy to think much about it right now.

Regardless of what we think, change is here. And more is coming. I’m no soothsayer about this profession, but I’ve made it a point to read and learn everything I can about the near term future of the practice of law. As a result, I’d like to share with you some observations and predictions about changes you will see in your working lifetime.

To read the full article, which addresses everything from alternate legal service providers, virtual law practice, and law school education,, see here.