{"id":1384,"date":"2017-01-10T13:13:58","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T18:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/?p=449210"},"modified":"2017-01-10T13:13:58","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T18:13:58","slug":"the-transforming-profession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/01\/10\/the-transforming-profession\/","title":{"rendered":"The Transforming Profession"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"globeEd. note<\/u>: Please welcome our newest columnist, Scott Mozarsky<\/a> of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg BNA.<\/em><\/p>\n

The winds of change aren\u2019t just blowing in the legal profession. They\u2019re howling.<\/p>\n

Take a couple of interesting stories from recent weeks. In one, labor and employment firm Jackson Lewis announced the launch of a data analytics practice group<\/a>. The group, which includes statisticians as well as lawyers, will not only support the firm\u2019s legal work (for example, providing damages estimates) but also help clients with non-legal projects such as determining their optimal headcount. In the second story, Eversheds and Atlanta-based Sutherland Asbill & Brennan announced a transatlantic merger<\/a> to create a combined, global firm of 2,300 lawyers across 29 countries.<\/p>\n

There is a level of familiarity to both pieces of news. Firms have been creating practice groups and executing mergers for decades, after all. But it does not take close inspection to realize that developments such as these are becoming more and more common. They reflect profound changes occurring at an increasingly rapid pace within the legal profession. Those changes are being driven by two forces in particular: technology and globalization.<\/p>\n

Jackson Lewis\u2019s new group is a great example of the ways that law firms are enhancing their legal services\u2014and creating entirely new lines of business\u2014through the use of cutting-edge technology and data analytics. Meanwhile, a merged Eversheds Sutherland will become the latest iteration of a breed of law firm that is still in the process of defining itself: the truly global firm with depth and breadth worldwide.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been lucky enough to experience the factors driving such exciting and disruptive change\u2014the forces of globalization and technological advancement\u2014at a close distance for my entire professional career. Long before I became President of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg BNA\u2019s Legal Division in November, I spent my first years out of law school at two multinational law firms. Representing technology companies, among other clients, I spent part of that time doing cross-border transactions globally with a strong focus on inbound and outbound deals in Japan (where I lived after college) and China. I later moved to UBM, where as General Counsel of its Americas business and leading parts of PR Newswire and UBM Tech, I saw the transformative power of technology and globalization affecting a wide range of industries from media to B2B technology and health care.<\/p>\n

The legal profession, traditionally slow to embrace change, is experiencing rapid and meaningful change. The stories mentioned above are two of the latest examples of accelerating transformation in the legal industry. Major trends impacting the profession include:<\/p>\n