Law Society of Saskatchewan
Find Legal AssistanceMember ProfileMember ResourcesContact
  • 0
    Cart
  • My Account
  • About Us
      • News
        • Legal News (Legal Sourcery)
        • Podcast
        • ReSource
        • Videos
        • Benchers’ Digest
        • Case Mail
      • Mission and Values
      • Committees
      • Convocation
      • Benchers
      • Annual and Financial Reports
      • Contact Us
  • Initiatives
      • Access to Justice
        • Future of Legal Services Initiative
          • The Limited Licensing Pilot
        • Limited Scope Legal Services – Information for the Public
        • Limited Scope Legal Services – Information for Lawyers
        • Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week
      • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
        • Demographic Data Collection FAQ
        • Equity Office
      • Legal Information
        • Legal Information Guidelines
        • Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information
      • Truth and Reconciliation
        • Additional Resources
        • Information on Indigenous Class Action Settlements
      • Saskatchewan Justicia Project
  • Regulation
      • Definition of the Practice of Law and Unauthorized Practice of Law
      • Firm Regulation
        • Designated Representative (DR) Hub
      • New Sole Practitioner/Small Firm Practice Program
      • Act, Code and Rules
        • The Legal Profession Act, 1990
        • Code of Professional Conduct and Amendments
        • Law Society Rules, Amendments and Practice Directives
        • Rules Concordance – Read More
      • Hearings, Decisions and Rulings
        • Hearing Committee Adjudicator Roster
        • Pending Discipline Matters
        • Discipline Decisions
        • Conduct Review Database
        • Ethics Rulings Database
        • Pending Admissions and Education Matters
        • Admissions and Education Decisions
        • Disqualification and Reinstatement
      • Lawyers with Practice Conditions/Restrictions
      • Lawyer Trusteeships and Successors
      • Potential Complaint Outcomes
        • Ethics Committee
        • Competency Committee
        • Conduct Investigation Committee
  • Public
      • Finding Legal Assistance
      • Find Legal Assistance Search Guidance
      • Get Legal Information, Resources, and Options for Assistance
      • What to Expect From Your Lawyer
      • Looking For Lost Wills
      • Making a Complaint
        • Complaints Process
      • Common Client Concerns
        • Understanding Lawyers’ Fees
        • Quality of Service
        • Conflict of Interest
        • Confidentiality
        • Withdrawal
        • File Transfers
      • Common Client Concerns
        • Role of an Estate’s Lawyer
        • Role of Opposing Lawyer
        • Breach of Trust Conditions/Undertakings
        • Lawyer’s Conduct in Court
        • Lawyer’s Outside Interests
  • Lawyers and Students
      • Becoming a Lawyer in Saskatchewan
        • Students-at-law
        • Transfer Lawyers
        • International Applicants
        • Western Canada Competency Profile
      • Becoming a Principal
      • Career And Volunteer Opportunities
        • Students Seeking Articles
      • Membership Services
      • Mentorship Program
      • Awards, Bursaries, Scholarships
      • Locum Registry
      • Expanded Practice Advisor Program
      • Forms and Fees
        • Law Society Forms
        • Trust Account Forms
      • Western Conveyancing Protocol
        • Protocol for Saskatchewan
      • Practice Resources
        • General Resources
        • Successor Listing
        • King’s Bench Rules
      • Health and Wellness
      • Pro Bono Legal Services
  • Legal Resources
  • CPD
      • CPD Activities
        • CPD Calendar of Activities
        • CPD On Demand (Subscription)
        • Recorded Versions Shop
        • Study Group Resources
      • CPD Policy
        • Reporting CPD Hours
        • Eligible CPD Activities
        • Remedial CPD Plan Information
        • FAQs for Members
        • FAQs for CPD Providers
      • Contact Us
      • Volunteers
      • Presenter Section
  • Shop
Law Society of Saskatchewan Libraries & Librarians Knowledge is Power: Jordan Furlong on Law Librarians and the Future Legal Market

The information provided on this blog is to, the best of our knowledge, accurate and up-to-date as of the date of posting. However, please be aware that information can change rapidly and without notice. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information presented after the posting date. It is advised that readers exercise due diligence and independently verify the accuracy of information they find on this blog news feed. Here are links to the most current information available in relation to our Membership, Saskatchewan Case Law, and Saskatchewan Legislation.

Knowledge is Power: Jordan Furlong on Law Librarians and the Future Legal Market

September 19, 2018

By Alan Kilpatrick

Jordan Furlong is a well-known Canadian legal writer, innovator, and futurist.  Furlong spoke recently at the 2018 Canadian Association of Law Libraries Conference about the future of the legal market and the role law librarians will play in that market.

Key components of the future legal market include knowledge, data, and information.  Those who can harness knowledge and successfully acquire, analyze, and disseminate information to law firms will play an influential role in this new market.  Legal information professionals and law librarians, Furlong asserts, are the ideal group to do this given their robust and competitive set of skills and capabilities.

 The Future Legal Market

Today’s legal market is wrought by uncertainly and upheaval.  From deregulation to alternative service providers, little remains certain about the provision of legal services.  Furlong explains that the legal market of the future will be shaped by clients, markets, and law firms.

In the future, clients will expect faster results and more value for less money.  How clients identify value will be personal and subjective.  Lawyers will no longer dictate how client value is identified.  The market will transform as alternative service providers begin to provide routine legal services.  As clients take advantage of these cheaper alternatives, billable hours will diminish.  Legal technology and artificial intelligence will become increasingly innovative and capable.  Routine services will become automated and firm profitability will be further reduced.  Finally, law firm culture will experience a generational shift.  As millennials take over, firm culture will shift toward a strong focus on client satisfaction.

The Legal Intelligence Era

Client expectations, evolving markets, and firm transformations will dominate the legal market of the future.  Success with each of these elements will depend on gathering, understanding, and acting on relevant information, data, and knowledge.  Given the prominence of information, Furlong describes the future market as a legal intelligence era.  Law librarians, Furlong notes, will have a leading role to play with regards to client intelligence, firm intelligence, and market intelligence.

Legal information professionals can play a role in gathering critical intelligence about clients and making that intelligence easily accessible to the firm.  Client intelligence could include client profiles, matter summaries, and satisfaction surveys.  Taking advantage of legal information professionals will help save firm lawyers’ time, maintain firm profitability, achieve better client outcomes, and ensure higher client satisfaction.

Law librarians can produce internal intelligence about firm practices, processes, and procedures.  Furlong explains that firms often know little about themselves and how they operate internally.  Firm intelligence could include profitability reports and process improvement recommendations.  This type of in-house intelligence is critical as it will help make existing firm processes more cost efficient and sustainable.

Finally, market intelligence will be crucial.  With expert business research skills, information professionals are uniquely positioned to produce competitor reports, scouting reports, and trend overviews for the firm.  Accurate market intelligence like this will enable a firm to gain advantages over its competitors and successfully prepare for tumultuous market forces.

In the legal market, knowledge is power.

 

This blog post was inspired by a session at CALL/ACBD 2018: Knowledge is Power: The Role of Law Librarians in the Future Legal Market presented by Jordan Furlong. 

 Source

Furlong, J. (2018). Knowledge is Power: The Role of Law Librarians in the Future Legal Market. Plenary Session at CALL/ACBD 2018.

Share this:
    

Archives

Categories

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe for the latest news from our blog "Legal Sourcery".


Submit News Post

Submission Guidelines

Online Tools

  • Search
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • LSS Initiatives
  • For Lawyers & Students
  • For the Public
  • Regulation
  • CPD

Subscribe Now

Subscribe for the latest news from our blog "Legal Sourcery".

Stay Connected

Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin

© 2025 Law Society of Saskatchewan. Website & Hosting by OmniOnline