KNOW, the Magazine for Paralegals Fall/Winter 2013.2 | Page 36

Changes for paralegals are already here .

WE

are entering a era of major, perhaps
even revolutionary, shifts in law practice, legal education,
and the role of both lawyers and nonlawyers who deliver
legal services. Already in motion but accelerated by the
economic meltdown five years ago, these shifts have
already resulted in significant downsizing and reorganization in large law firms, decreased demand for legal services affecting large and small firms alike, and high underand unemployment of lawyers.
Roles for paralegals are changing, requiring a re-envisioning of what paralegals can and should do and a concomitant rethinking of paralegal education. The idea of
nonlawyer practice has reemerged as a compelling subject of discussion within the ABA and the influential State
Bar of California, and is ever closer to becoming a reality in
the state of Washington.
This renewed interest is related to the disruption of
models for delivery of legal services and has spurred serious nationwide discussions about how to reform legal
education and requirements for entry into the legal profession. This cluster of concerns together with the continuing challenge of providing access to legal services for
low- and middle-income Americans has commanded the
attention of legal commentators, educators and the bar.
Several important books have been written on the
need to reform legal education and to restructure law
practice. Richard Susskind’s The End of Lawyers: Rethinking
the Nature of Legal Services explains that technology and
the commoditization of legal services demand a new way
to practice law, one which calls for streamlined law firms
and new roles for both lawyers and nonlawyers (Oxford
University Press, 2008). In his most recent book directed
to aspiring and new lawyers, he starts by saying, “Tomorrow’s legal world … bears little resemblance to that of the
past. Legal institutions and lawyers are at a crossroads, …
and are poised to change more radically than they have
over the last two centuries.” He predicts that we will have
virtual courts and law firms, global legal businesses, extensive legal process outsourcing, and web-based simulated
practice. (Tomorrow’s Lawyers, Oxford University Press,
2013)
36

“Roles for
paralegals are
changing,
requiring a
re-envisioning
of what paralegals can an