Recently, The Society for Computers and Law published the results of its first SCL Law Tech Barometer, a survey designed to measure and better understand the technology law sector. And things are on the up, with the majority of respondents confident their tech law work will increase over the next 12 months despite the continued uncertainty of Brexit.
Innovations in AI, driverless cars, fintech and health tech are just some of the reasons SCL members are seeing a greater need for legal advice from solicitors with technology sector expertise.
Respondents sighted that the top three drivers of that growth are: data & privacy work (78% of respondents said this would drive business); cybersecurity (59%); and, AI (49%).
The report also looked ahead at how technology will change the legal industry, quoting a response from our Technology Partner Rob Cobley.
When asked “What do you think of the following statement: ‘AI will threaten my job in the next five years’?”
Rob responded: “It will strongly affect what my current day to day work looks like, but it won’t threaten my future career. That’s because we are small enough to be early adopters and we are already looking at taking advantage of the opportunities to adapt to be more efficient using AI and understanding how we can provide legal services and what it means to be lawyers in that new legal space. It’s going to take a bit longer than 5 years for it to seriously affect the whole of the profession (and it will affect some areas far more significantly than others) but the ripples will have grown much larger by then.”
To read further comments and insights from SCL members download a copy of the full SCL Barometer 2019 here.
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