Pettis: leaders must help shape the profession's future.

Technology is driving evolutionary changes impacting the practice of law, and it is up to legal leaders to take an active role in molding the profession's future.

That's the message Florida Bar President Eugene Pettis brought to the Board of Governors at its October meeting, as he encouraged each of them to carefully follow--and participate in--the work of the Vision 2016 commission, which recently embarked on its three-year comprehensive study of the future practice of law.

"We have a couple of choices," Pettis said. "We can sit back and observe those changes, or we can be the leaders that we were sent to this board to be and try to be the architects to help shape those changes."

The 68-member Vision 2016 commission met for the first time in Tampa in September, focusing on four broad areas that will greatly impact how lawyers practice in the decades to come: technology, legal education, admissions, and delivery of pro bono/legal services. (See story in the October 15 News.)

Pettis said "futurist" Richard Susskind--author of The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services and Tomorrow's Lawyers--believes the true drivers of the ongoing changes in society and the legal profession in particular are technology and the Internet, and consumers' attitudes of wanting more for less.

"And that's true," said Pettis, adding that his clients, many at Fortune 100 companies, "all want to get their services at a cheaper price."

Lawyers must identify how to deliver their services more effectively, efficiently, Pettis said, "and, more importantly, in the way the public wants to receive them."

With that understanding, Pettis said, Vision 2016 will explore ways to better use technology in law practices, including educating lawyers on cutting-edge ways to make the practice more efficient; and how the Bar can use technology to better connect with lawyers to provide more value for their membership.

In the realm of legal education, the commission will look at how law school curriculum needs to be adjusted to better prepare graduates for first-day readiness to practice law.

With regard to Bar admissions, the focus will be on the critical issue of reciprocity and the licensing of nonlawyers or nonlawyer technicians for certain areas of the law.

When it comes to pro bono and the delivery of legal services, the commission will address meeting the demands of people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer, whether they are indigent or middle-class.

In order to...