The Next 25 Years

It was 25 years ago this month that I opened a law firm in my name, after having worked as a clerk and practiced for one of the city’s preeminent personal injury firms for the preceding 10 years.

As I reflect back on the past quarter-century, I certainly can see that the legal profession has changed – not only the faces, gender, and ethnicity of lawyers – but in the way it is being practiced.

Technology, alternative dispute resolution, electronic filing, and creative billing structures having all become commonplace.

As we look where the profession is heading in the next 25 years, I see a more business-oriented profession in a world where lawyers and judges still hold an important place in an increasingly complex global environment.

Philip K. Howard, the author of “Life Without Lawyers,” has tried to scare everyone into thinking that lawyers not only offer no solutions but are part of the problem.  I simply disagree.

Having sat on a panel with him in Atlanta recently at the Best Lawyers’ 25th Anniversary Event discussing this topic, I can say that I view the world more optimistically, with the glass half-full.

One can talk about McDonald’s coffee verdicts that have been blown out of proportion or $54 million trousers lost at a dry-cleaners, but then I’ll tell you about fighting to make flying safer or improving 911 response systems in reaction to lawsuit that needed to be filed.

Are doctors treading more carefully?  I certainly hope so, because for every-so-called unnecessary or defensive medicine test that was taken on a sick patient, I can tell you about one that was not.

Especially in Illinois, there are many measures in place that protect the medical profession and encourage the best and the brightest to be physicians, if they have the right motivation – to help the sick.

But to argue that Americans should get ride of lawyers is to say one doesn’t trust this country’s jurists to do the right thing.  Certainly Chicago has seen its share of judges who have made mistakes, but what about all of the judges I have seen who try to do the right thing for the right reasons – judges who faithfully research the law, study the facts, and try to come to a decision based on reason, justice, and the rule of law.

Even when judges make those occasional mistakes, the appellate courts are not afraid to step in to right a wrong.

Howard argues for a modified “loser pays” rule.

Those who are against it say the poor, economically disadvantaged, forsake plaintiff will not be able to afford such fees if they lose.  I say, bring it on.

That proposition would really help the system and the plaintiff who is truly victimized, and that notion will serve as good as any discouragement for filing questionable lawsuits.

A close examination reveals that it is the defense-oriented bar that is against this rule, because they know they would be paying more of the time than not.  I don’t see that rule coming about in the near future, though.

What I do see happening, however, is a greater reliance on mandatory arbitration, particularly in medical malpractice and products liability cases – another element of the vanishing trial.

I see more industries running to Congress for immunities and shields from litigation in the name of lawsuits, when it is really more a reflection of their negligent, non-visionary way of conducting business.

I see technology taking over the practice of law, with complex matters becoming more manageable for those who have the time, money, and intellect to invest in seeking out these state-of-the-art-tools.

And I see more of a regional, national, and possibly international licensing paradigm as the practice of law becomes more globalized in the handling of economic crises and changes of worldly proportions.  Airline crash cases are just one for example.

Human rights that are being violated routinely around the world are another.

We are already living in an era when switching on a light bulb, turning on your car, even brushing your teeth with the water running becomes a matter of national interest.

Private rights and liberties in the years to come cannot be protected or expanded without the help of lawyers battling governmental agencies who try to regulate and control those rights in the name of equality.

That’s a big word, a word on which nations – this nation – were built.  But it is hard to come by, given all of the special interests who jockey for position and power.

It’s really justice that we are seeking.  Justice that the right things are done.  Justice that our freedoms are protected.

Justice that everyone, and everyone’s children and grandchildren can live with the hope of becoming all they want to be.  And living in a world marked by the peaceful resolution of disputes.

That’s how I see the next 25 years to come.  And everyone certainly has their work cut out for them.