UUM ONLINE: Practitioners of the law must be able to accept and adapt to technology to continue to be relevant to the needs of the community.
According to the Chief Justice of Malaysia, Yang Amat Arif Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Richard Malanjum, the needs of the community change from time to time, but the law profession still lags far behind.
"The needs of society today have changed in line with the change in time whereby today many aspects of our lives haves been influenced by technology. If you (practitioner of law) only continue what was done 20-30 years ago, technology will take over your work.
"If one is insensitive to the times and does not change, there will be no market in the future for law graduates," he said at the Adjunct Professorial Lecture - "The Future of Legal Profession in the 21st Century," organised by the School of Law Studies (SoL) Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) at the Seminar Hall A, Convention Centre.
According to Tan Sri Richard, technology drives most of the industries today.
"The accounting and engineering professions have long progressed together with technology. Indeed, it is important for law practitioners to familiarize themselves with technology because technology has also begun to be imbued into this profession.
"In the future, we may witness the use of virtual courts and artificial intelligence in the judicial process. Documents printed and files will no longer be used and digital forms will be used," he said.
He added, an in-depth review conducted by Larry Richard (Creator and Main Consultant of LawyerBrain, a management negotiating firm) in 2016, revealed that the quality that future lawyers must possess included Technology Proficiency, Leadership Proficiency, Entrepreneurship Competency and commercial intelligence.
"In addition, lawyers in the 21st century also need to have Cooperation Skills, EQ and Empathy, Resilience, Agility, ability to adapt, cross-cultural and" Global Thought" as well as the Efficiency to synthesize.
"These qualities broaden the traditional response to the characteristics needed to become a successful lawyer who is described as having deep knowledge in the field of law," he said.
Also present at the lecture were Alor Setar High Court Judge, Yang Arif Dato' Haji Ghazali Cha; Legal Advisor to the State of Kedah, Yang Berhormat Tuan Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Affairs & Alumni), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hendrik Lamsali; Dean of SoL, Dr. Rohana Abdul Rahman, UUM Law lecturers and students.