Undoubtedly one of the major forces that is today simultaneously driving changes in legal education and the legal profession is the impact of new technologies. New technologies have thrust the legal and educational marketplace into a data hungry cyber-era – first came emails, mobile and information technologies, next the advent of the internet and of course more recently cloud computing has entered the field. These new technologies signal new horizons, limitless possibilities and tend towards a culture that inculcates ravenous aspirations for remotely accessible services and products that are constantly expanding and developing their reach and application.
Simultaneously we are also seeing the legal profession striving to adapt to an altered economy, an expansive global legal services market and the increased internationalisation of law.
On the other hand, in a mode tending towards contraction, we are seeing law schools tightening their purse strings as many universities move into the next wave of economic ‘rationalisation’. Consequently, some legal academics are increasingly feeling trepidatious about the risk that pedagogy in the law curriculum will inevitably have to accede to economic pressures and the realities of delivering highly profitable legal programs as a priority.
Thus the landscape that is unfolding before our eyes is one that demands: (i) increased efficiencies in the delivery of legal education just as much as it does in the delivery of legal services; (ii) deliverables in legal education and legal practice that are innovative and cutting-edge; and (iii) systems that provide increased connectivity for service providers, consumers and the marketplace more broadly.
Can all these demands at once be met – and if so, can such demands be met without compromising the quality of what we as legal educators and lawyers do and create?
Technology may very well offer a panacea here; one that is organic in its application and tends towards unifying what, at least prima facie, seems irreconcilable. In legal practice, for example, advances in technology have facilitated the growth of legal services outsourcing, unbundled legal services and virtual law services, all of which arguably not only yield cost savings through the vast economies of scale involved and the enhanced accessibility to product and service provider which is afforded to consumers, but technology if applied well also facilitates the delivery of legal products that are timely, consumer-oriented, and even individualized without forgoing quality. Technology may do likewise for legal education. Although increased use of e-spaces and e-modes of course delivery may sometimes be seen to undermine teaching and learning, so to can the carefully crafted e-based unit of study at law school harness enhanced opportunities for a strong pedagogy in learning; one that is directed towards assisting the law student to engage in deep and autonomous learning and in developing the key competencies demanded of modern legal professionals and legal practice, such as strong research, problem-solving, and risk-management skills. Not to mention, of course, strong skills in accessing and using modern technologies.