By Wendy Yang -
For solicitors running a busy practice, it can be overwhelming to keep up with all of the changes happening around you. Whether it’s information, technology, artificial intelligence (AI) or the evolving ways of delivering legal services, change is constant.
Deborah Hook, Director of Legal Operations at the University of Sydney, will be leading the upcoming CPD session on ‘Humanist practice in a digital world: Legal design for happier clients.’ Attendees will learn ways of making legal systems and services more ‘human-centred’ and how to improve the delivery of legal services without the need for new technology.
So, what are legal operations? Hook explains that legal operations is the application of business principles or skills to law. “So, everything that doesn’t fit in the bucket of being a lawyer or administrative support for lawyering can fall into legal ops,” she says.
Hook explains that legal operations can vary in practice and it can often depend on the legal ops team. “For us at the University of Sydney, … we are mostly about elevating the work of the legal team to have more impact and make the experience of legal services more effective …,” she says.
In a rapidly evolving, and competitive, environment, Hook believes it’s important for people to invest in their legal operations function. Hook admits that she is a bit ‘biased’ because this is her job, but she does not come from a background in operations. She worked as a solicitor for a number of years before making the transition to legal operations. “I’ve sort of gotten myself into legal operations because I like things working well and I like systemising things and making it more efficient,” she says.
In terms of the key takeaways for the session, Hook says that she is a “big believer in our people.” While AI and technology have grown exponentially, Hook says that technology will improve the way we work and place emphasis on different skills, rather than seek to replace lawyers or make them redundant.
“So, if you’re really good at research and writing … there may be a robot that does that faster and more effective than you later, but it won’t be able to do the things like building a trusted relationship, being a strategic thinker,” she says.
Hook encourages practitioners to think about how they can ‘future proof’ their careers and how they can cultivate their ‘human skills’ which you need to rely on to “survive and thrive in legal practice.”
Hook will be speaking at the upcoming webinar “Legal practice in a digital world: Mandatory rule 6.1.” Paul Monaghan, senior ethics solicitor and Carol Prasad, professional support solicitor, both from the Law Society of NSW, will also be presenting topics on ethical scenarios for digital legal practice and proper use of AI. To register, please click here.
