Palm Beach County Bar - Legal Trends You Can’t Afford to Miss
On March 13th through 15th, 2008, I was privileged to attend the ABA Bar Leadership Institute (BLI) in Chicago, Illinois. As part of that Institute, lectures were presented on various topics. One of the most interesting lectures was presented by Fred Ury, Past President of the Connecticut Bar Association and Thomas Lyons, Past President of the Rhode Island Bar Association. These two gentlemen are still practicing attorneys but they also teach and have focused and specialized on approaching trends in the legal practice. The lecture was so fascinating that I thought I would share some of the information they provided with you.
Demographics
1.Approximately 55% of lawyers nationally are baby-boomers, the eldest of whom are reaching retirement age.2.Fewer lawyers are coming into the profession than are approaching retirement age.
3.Bar Associations may have to plan for reduced memberships unless these demographics reverse themselves.
Legal Education and Law School Debt
1.After several years of decline, law school enrollments increased slightly last year.2.Female enrollments are declining.
3.Minority enrollments appear to be declining.
4.Law school tuitions are up 267% since 1990.
5.Starting salaries are up 60% since 1990.
6.Graduates of private law schools have debts of about $80,000.00 or more not including undergraduate debt.
Career Mobility
1.One in four workers have been on the same job for one year.2.One in two less than five years.
3.Today’s graduates will hold 10 to 14 jobs by their 38th birthday.
4.The Palm Beach County Bar Association experiences 20 to 30 address changes per month.
Technology and the Economics of the Practice
For a real eye-opener, one should take a look at a couple of the legal sites that I will list below. In fact, there are legal sites that promote the preparation of legal papers such as leases, trusts, wills, etc., across state lines over the Internet and there are even legal sites such as one listed below, that large industrial clients post assignments on to be bid upon by large law firms within a specified time period. The client, e.g. Exxon Mobil, will then select the bid that it deems most appropriate for its legal task and contract with the particular law firm or law firms selected. A selection of these sites for your review are as follows:
1. www.legaladviceline.com
The above are just a sampling. There are many more than these.
Along with the above information, you should be aware of these additional facts bearing on technology’s impact on our practices:1.More than 50% of U.S. 21 year olds have created content on the web.2.70% of 4 year olds have used a computer.
3.It was December of 1992 when the first commercial text message was sent over the Internet.
4.Today alone, commercial text messages exceed the population of the planet.
5.Today information is doubling every two years on the Internet.
6.It is predicted by the year 2010, information on the Internet could double every 72 hours!
These are some of the trends made apparent at the BLI. If you’re going to further your practice, it is fairly clear that all of us need to be aware of these and other fast-paced developments for, as the old saying goes “if you’re not on the train, you might be on the tracks.”
Throughout the rest of this year, I will try my best to alert our members to issues like these through this President’s Message column and at our meetings.
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