Today's post from those helpful folks at Attorney at Work begins as follows:
"This summer, the hottest ticket at state bar association annual meetings seems to be sessions focused on the future of the business of practicing law. And with just cause. There’s a lot going on out there to make us nervous."
I've certainly been a part of that trend. As readers of this blog know, I did a plenary session on the Future of Law Practice for ABA TECHSHOW in March and gave much the same talk to attendees at the OBA Solo & Small Firm Conference in June. I've also been invited to give the same address at several other state bars. At about the same time of our Solo & Small Firm Conference, Attorney at Work’s Merrilyn Astin Tarlton was giving a keynote address on the topic for the State Bar of Texas. In advance of that, she asked several "top practice management experts" for advice on what actions lawyers should be taking now to prepare for the future. (I put that phrase in quotes since she included me in the group.)
She has now shared those responses with all of us in today's post The Future is Hazy – Now What? This is a quite excellent collection of ideas, comments and observations. Some of these ideas might even be slightly contradictory. (And there's one that I would think was stolen from my TECHSHOW speech, except I think Matt left Chicago before my talk.) As that great philosopher Yogi Berra said: “It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
But when you think about it, is there really anything more important for you to do sometime this week than spend a few moments reading and thinking about your future?