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January 3, 2011

Jack Newton

2011 Prognostication Round-Up

At this time of year many legal bloggers are busy making predictions about what major trends, technologies and shifts we'll be seeing in the legal space in the coming year. Here's a roundup of what some of the legal blogosphere thinks is in store in 2011:

A broad examination of these various posts sees a few specific recurring themes:

  • Mobile will be huge in 2011
  • Tablet computing will continue to see huge gains in 2011
  • Cloud computing is on the rise, and continuing to reshape the legal (and overall) technology landscape
  • Social media will continue to see increased adoption and impact in 2011
  • Legal Process Outsourcing will have a dramatic impact on the legal profession

Have I missed a 2011 prognostication post? Let me know in the comments and I'll add it to the list.

Update 6-Jan-2011: Added a fantastic and comprehensive roundup of solo and small firm trends for 2011 by Carolyn Elefant at MyShingle.

Jack Newton is co-founder and President of Clio, a leading provider of cloud-based practice management software. Jack writes frequently on the security, ethical, and practical aspects of cloud computing, and has spoken at CLE seminars across Canada and the U.S. about how practice management systems can be used to help a lawyer practice efficiently, ethically and competently. Jack can be reached at jack@goclio.com.
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2 Comments on “2011 Prognostication Round-Up”

  1. Connie Crosby says:
    January 4, 2011 at 12:03 am

    You beat me to it! Thank you for putting this together, Jack.

    For me one of the trends we are seeing in other industries as a result of all of these trends combined is the ability for people to work in a more mobile, independent fashion. I am not sure if we will see more independent lawyers and virtual law firms as a result (maybe we will) but certainly I imagine we will see an increasing trend on the client side.

    Are lawyers prepared to advise people like me who work independently, but come together in informal groups to work on large projects? Or entrepreneurs who are kicking off start-ups? A lot of people who lost jobs in recent times have created their own opportunities and will probably not be going back to BigCorp 9 to 5-ish jobs any time soon. Having stepped out of the Matrix, I can see just how deep the rabbit hole goes. My feeling is we are seeing a major shift in society.

    Okay, now I'm starting to feel that I should have put together my own set of predictions for the coming year. ;)

    Cheers!

  2. Jack Newton says:
    January 4, 2011 at 3:47 pm

    I think you're bang on with this Connie. All the underlying trends are really pointing toward a more decentralized, mobile, and on-demand workforce. And it's touching all industries, not just legal. At the same time, consumer attitudes and expectations are shifting rapidly. With these two factors at play there's no doubt we'll see some huge transformations in 2011 and beyond.

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