At the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) conference in New Delhi in February this year, the “Beyond the Bar: Legal Work by Non-Lawyers — Challenge or Opportunity?” panel, discussed non-lawyers doing law-related work and even introducing innovations. Panellist Clayton Kimpton, chief executive of the Law Association of New Zealand in Auckland, shares his thoughts with India Business Law Journal on why and how lawyers should be at the forefront of change and innovation in their field.
India Business Law Journal: What interested you to be a part of this panel discussion?
Kimpton: The reason that I was interested in being on this panel is because it talked about whether it [non-lawyers doing lawrelated work] is a challenge or an opportunity.
My organisation, the Law Association of New Zealand, has been around since 1879, and in the 1950s a decision was made to commercialise a range of documents that all the all lawyers were using, like the agreement for sale, purchase of real estate, deeds of lease, agreements to lease, [and] a whole range of things. This decision was very much ahead of its time.
Rather than people going to artificial intelligence (AI) or non-lawyers, they have the option to come to us. Our documents are so well known and are dependable as they have the integrity of being written by lawyers. Hence, my point is, rather than just allowing non-lawyers to compete with AI, it is better for lawyers to collectively innovate.
IBLJ: What advice or guidance would you give to lawyers wanting to collectively innovate?
Kimpton: Take some of the things that are unaffordable, perhaps the middle market and productise them together, so that people are able to access these solutions.
For example, I’d have to check the exact numbers, but about 40% of adults in New Zealand do not have a will. They think they don’t need one until they get old.
There’s this mindset with middle-income people that they don’t want to go and see a lawyer. It’s not the poor people. It’s not the rich people. And I guess my premise is that if we, as lawyers, can productise some of the things that we do for the middle one, we’re going to get more clients, and two, we’re going to save those people an awful lot of grief by setting up their legal lives.
The same can apply to tenancy agreements, independent contractors, employment contracts and even guidance on how to set up a company, among others.
When we look at non-lawyers doing legal work, I would say, “bring that on!”, because we, as lawyers, can produce something that is so much better, so much more reliable and effective if we do it properly.
IBLJ: Would guidelines, as to what extent non-lawyers can participate in the legal field and related issues, help the idea of reliable innovation in law?
Kimpton: In New Zealand, we are a deregulated market. There are a few things that lawyers have to do, but online, you can download an independent contract and do things with it, without ever involving a lawyer.
The problem with this is that AI can hallucinate, the open documents are not jurisdiction specific, and reliability is always a question. Not everyone has a closed AI environment.
So what I’m saying to the market is, just be careful. If you can capture a trusted source, then we’re able to be a better solution than the non-lawyers trying to muscle into the market.
IBLJ: So you lean towards having a cautious approach about having non-lawyers in the legal field?
Kimpton: Non-lawyers are there and it is a free market. So all power to them.
But we [lawyers] can do better if we are innovative.
