The Future of Law
Reflections and Predictions
2nd Edition
Will be published approx. on 24. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
328 pages
978-0-19-791908-8 (ISBN)
Description
The Future of Law: Reflections and Predictions marks the 30th anniversary of Richard Susskind's seminal work on the transformation of legal services. First published in 1996, the original edition argued that technology would fundamentally reshape legal practice and the administration of justice—an idea that many lawyers at the time dismissed. Three decades on, with artificial intelligence now advancing at a remarkable speed, those predictions have taken on renewed significance.
This anniversary edition reproduces the original text in full and unaltered, offering readers a rare opportunity to revisit the foundations of modern thinking about legal technology. Alongside the classic chapters, Susskind provides new commentary for each, reflecting on what was argued thirty years ago, assessing how these ideas have endured, and considering their implications for the years ahead.
In addition to looking back, the book offers an entirely new restatement of Susskind's current views on the future of law, with particular focus on the likely impact of AI on legal work, legal institutions, and access to justice. It situates contemporary developments in a broader historical context, helping readers understand how far the legal world has come—and how profoundly it may yet change.
Clear, authoritative, and forward-looking, The Future of Law: Reflections and Predictions is essential reading for practitioners, policymakers, technologists, academics, and anyone interested in the evolving relationship between law and digital technology.
This anniversary edition reproduces the original text in full and unaltered, offering readers a rare opportunity to revisit the foundations of modern thinking about legal technology. Alongside the classic chapters, Susskind provides new commentary for each, reflecting on what was argued thirty years ago, assessing how these ideas have endured, and considering their implications for the years ahead.
In addition to looking back, the book offers an entirely new restatement of Susskind's current views on the future of law, with particular focus on the likely impact of AI on legal work, legal institutions, and access to justice. It situates contemporary developments in a broader historical context, helping readers understand how far the legal world has come—and how profoundly it may yet change.
Clear, authoritative, and forward-looking, The Future of Law: Reflections and Predictions is essential reading for practitioners, policymakers, technologists, academics, and anyone interested in the evolving relationship between law and digital technology.
Reviews / Votes
One of the most important books about law in the past 50 years. Even more relevant today than when first published. Prescient, inspiring and humbling in even measure. I first read this as a trainee. I read it today as a managing partner. It paints a visionary, fundamentally uplifting picture of what a truly modern legal system could be. * Paul Lewis, Firmwide Managing Partner, Linklaters * Richard Susskind, who has greatly influenced so many of us in thinking about technology and justice, would be amply justified in saying, "I told you so", but this reissue is so much more than that. He reminds us, in his inimitable way, that the issues he has been writing about for decades remain of existential importance to all of us in the law, and highlights the great urgency with which we need to frame and address the critical questions that should be at the forefront of our minds. * Sundaresh Menon, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Singapore * One of the most visionary books ever written on the future of the legal profession, The Future of Law anticipated decades ago the transformation that the market would later confirm. This new edition adds fresh insights on AGI and reflections on the author's original thinking and predictions. A must-read book for every lawyer seeking to understand what comes next. * Pablo Blanco Perez, General Counsel, Repsol * Essential reading for lawyers, policymakers, and anyone concerned with trust, accountability and the rule of law. His predictions of what the future holds leave you fizzing with questions about the leadership required in government, in our public services, in private industry, to create a future where AGI is woven into our lives with rule of law principles as part of its DNA. * Fiona Rutherford, Chief Executive JUSTICE * Susskind brilliantly demonstrates that our biggest fear about the technological revolution he has long predicted-that it challenges everything we think we know about law and lawyering-can also be our greatest hope for the future, if we have the courage to return to first principles about the fundamental purposes of the legal system. Whether one ultimately agrees with his conclusions, the re-examination Susskind urges will be foundational to preserving the rule of law in the age of artificial intelligence. * David B. Wilkins, Lester Kissel Professor of Law and Director of the Center on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School *More details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Edition type
Revised edition
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-19-791908-8 (9780197919088)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Richard Susskind CBE KC (Hon) is widely recognised as the world's leading authority on the future of law and legal technology. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, where he gained a first-class honours degree in law, and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he completed a DPhil in law and computers (AI). He has worked across the private, public, educational, and charitable sectors. From 1998 to 2023, he served as Technology Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice. He is President of the Society for Computers and Law and holds professorships at the University of Oxford and the University of Strathclyde. Professor Susskind is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the British Computer Society, and he has received three national honours: CBE, OBE, and KC (Hon).