Outgoing Law Society Director General Ken Murphy spoke at length to younger members of the profession in an online event last night (2 March).

Mr Murphy told the Younger Members’ Committee gathering that the greatest change he had seen in his time in the profession was the move away from general practice, which was utterly predominant when he was qualifying.

He referred to ‘big law’ in the US – a product of globalisation that has been a phenomenon of recent decades.

Dominant

“The extent to which massive multinational corporations are hugely dominant in economic terms and economic activity, with intricate supply chains and the capacity to deliver in any part of the world, is one of the big changes of our era,” he said. “The legal profession has followed that change, and is closely connected to it,” he told the younger lawyers.

However, he advised those present not to specialise too early, in order to leave themselves open to wider opportunities. “There is nothing worse than being involved in an area of law that you don’t much like,” he observed.

“Keep on learning. Never stand still, do new stuff. That’s the best way to future-proof yourself,” he advised the young lawyers 

The director general, who will retire shortly having served 26 years in the role, said that, as digital natives, the younger lawyers had the capacity to “carry the future”.

Legal costs

Legal costs are a continuing theme in the profession, he added, and while lawyers have no difficulty in justifying legal costs, nobody outside of the profession feels the same way.

Legal fees are paid reluctantly, he said, and are the subject of constant criticism and jokes. “This is a perennial thing, in other countries as well,” he said.

Reform

“‘Reform’ is a loaded word,” Mr Murphy continued. “A change that I favour is a reform, and if changes are called reforms, it’s very hard to resist them.”

On the debate about awards levels for personal-injury litigation, he noted that the public tended to see itself as insurance-premium payers, rather than as potential accident victims and claimants.

“That’s where they see their interest – not in terms of levels of awards,” he said.

Strengths

The director general concluded that one of the great strengths of the legal profession had been its ability to adapt to change, despite its reputation for conservatism.

“That’s one of the reasons why it continues to thrive and succeed throughout the world,” he said.

The outgoing DG thanked the younger members for what he said would be one of his last opportunities to address a substantial part of the profession as a whole, before retirement this month after more than two-and-a-half decades of loyal service to the Law Society.