Are barristers at risk of being replaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Susan Kiefel, Chief Justice of the High Court and Tom Bathurst, Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court, seem to think so. At a recent Australian Bar Association Convention this is what they had to say – For barristers to remain competitive and relevant in the legal services market, they must:

• become more conscious and responsive to clients’ needs;
•  readjust their focus to skills such as critical thinking and persuasion that cannot be easily replaced by AI;
• find ways to contain costs;
• help make the civil law and justice system more accessible.

They said the existing court system is an antiquity, ever evolving but not really radically different from its existence in the 19th C. We have published two infographics on our blog page to help illustrate this point. Conventional ways of using the legal system, including such things as time charging (charging clients by 6 minute time increments) and preferring litigation over ADR (alternative dispute resolution) is simply becoming too burdensome for the average person to engage with lawyers and the civil justice system. Whitelaw Legal Group (WLG) has developed its own service delivery system to cut out time wastage and unnecessary costs and stress. Our Open Door policy invites you to contact us anytime – over phone, via email or face to face – to discuss your issue, problem, challenge or aspiration – and there is no time limit or charge for this. Call us on 6431 7674. Christopher Whitelaw Director