The Lawyer Learning Lifecycle
Education doesn’t stop for lawyers after passing the bar. In addition to meeting mandatory continuing education requirements and staying compliant with national and state rules and opinions, lawyers must keep their professional skills polished and up to date if they want to advance their careers and develop and maintain client relationships–and what lawyer doesn’t want to do that?
Challenges in Keeping Up with Training
Even lawyers who want to stay current on the latest tools and practice tips can struggle to do so. After all, they are under pressure to meet billable hour requirements and must be ready and able to respond to clients, whenever those clients need something. This leads to an understandable focus on immediate issues, rather than the longer-term investment in training.
Many law firms have also experienced professional development training that is less than optimal, with largely-generic courses that aren’t relatable to how lawyers work and what they need to know. Lawyers often also differ on the type of training they ideally would prefer, with many seeking out more self-paced digital or hybrid options than the classroom-style in-person training that used to be the norm.
Why Training Is No Longer Optional
And lawyers also don’t have a choice when it comes to ongoing learning, as new bar rules and opinions are increasingly requiring current knowledge in certain areas. Consider ABA Formal Opinion 512, which highlights that developing a reasonable understanding of generative AI is an ongoing responsibility. The opinion frames GenAI within obligations under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, including that attorneys must maintain competence, confidentiality, and communication. As the opinion notes, “With the ever-evolving use of technology by lawyers and courts, lawyers must be vigilant in complying with the Rules of Professional Conduct to ensure that lawyers are adhering to their ethical responsibilities and that clients are protected.”
GenAI is just one example, although a critical one, about how ongoing training is a requirement in today’s legal environment. It’s not something that is one and done.
Changing Client Expectations
Law firm attorneys must also be cognizant of how their clients are increasingly expecting more efficiency and productivity from their outside counsel. According to the recently released 17th Annual Law Department Operations Survey created by Blickstein Group in collaboration with FTI Consulting, more than 80% of legal department operations professionals reported that their number-one priority with their GenAI strategy is efficiency/performance. Only about half that many said cost savings is their greatest focus. Professional education will help lawyers meet these expectations.
When it comes to building and maintaining their professional skills, lawyers should think of it as an ongoing, iterative process. And with the right type of training that covers the information lawyers need to thrive in today’s legal economy (with its rigorous client expectations for both excellence and efficiency), it’s something they can look forward to doing that provides real value.