Last week, the second meeting of the “Network of the Centers on the Legal Profession” took place at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg. Representatives from the Centers on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, Fordham School of Law (New York), IE Law (Madrid), and King’s College (London) gathered to discuss current research projects and executive education programs, as well as to exchange views on key issues and topics in their respective countries.
The collaboration between the centers began in April 2025 at the initiative of IE Law School and Harvard Law School. Even then, it was clear that discussing the future of the legal profession together is more important today than ever - across national borders and disciplines.
The discussions focused, among other things, on the following questions:
- Where is the legal profession headed?
- What will the legal job market of the future look like?
- How are young people being prepared for it?
- What are the key challenges regarding the development and promotion of new talent in the legal market?
During the discussion, it became clear that the Centers on the Legal Profession - in addition to country-specific aspects of their respective legal markets - share a wide range of common themes:
o The nature of the legal profession will undergo dramatic changes due to AI - with implications for professional identity, billing and compensation models, service versus product offerings, interprofessional collaboration, specialization, etc.
o The legal education market must respond to this - but has few or hesitant answers.
o The currently (still) comfortable economic situation of many law firms is blinding them to the necessity of reinventing themselves in order to survive in the market in the long term.
After 1.5 intensive days of workshops and networking events with selected representatives from law firms and companies, a new date for 2027 was immediately set. King’s College (London) will then host this distinguished gathering.
