The Good News: Yes, We Are Still Relevant

AuthorAdam Newhouse
Pages67-75
67
CHAPTER 8
The Good News: Yes, We Are
Still Relevant
Of course, the bar may experience the Great Recession quite
differently; yet the possibility of long-term growth, innovation,
and resurgence should not be discounted, and claims regarding the
death of the profession and some of its leading institutions may be
premature.188
—Eli Wald
Those of us who grew up in the pre-digital world may find it unnerving
to operate in the new economy where technology appears to have taken
control of the direction and mode of our thinking. Doomsayers tell us
our professional ship is sinking. No wonder so many of us are confused,
while prospective law students keep wondering whether the risks of
going to law school are worth the gamble.
Burying our heads in the sand will not free us from the confusion.
We need to coldly reassess our strengths and weaknesses before we
either buy into doomsayers’ laments or move boldly to carry our profes-
sional mission to new heights. First, we need to know: are we still rel-
evant today?
Is Law a Commodity?
In the wake of the Great Recession, some proclaimed the beginning
of a new era for lawyers, calling for the need to de- and reconstruct
our profession. They contended that law was becoming so commod-
itized that a traditional lawyer would soon become a thing of the
188. Wald (cited in note 16) at 2053.
new55202_08_ch08_065-076.indd 67 7/8/16 12:53 PM

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