Digital Technologies in the Work of Advocates and Lawyers

The event was organized by the French National Bar Council. Ranco Pelicarić, President of the CCBE; Louis-Bernard Buchman, President of the International and European Affairs Commission of the French National Bar Council; Olivier Cousi, President of the Paris Bar; Melissa Pang, President of the Law Society of Hong Kong; David Greene, Vice-President and President-Elect of the Law Society of England and Wales; Patrick Goudreau, President of the International Committee of the Montreal Bar, were among the speakers.

The Russian Federal Bar Association (RFBA) was represented by Elena Avakyan, Council Member.

Transformation of the legal profession, the impact of the technological revolution and pandemic on the core values of the legal profession, digitalization of the justice system, procedural guarantees and the role of bars were discussed at the conference.

According to Ranko Pelicarić, President of the CCBE, the implementation of digital technologies has allowed to keep access to justice during the pandemic but new risks related to the quality of the online hearings have occurred. One of the main challenges for the legal profession under the new circumstances is to enjoy advantages of digitalization and minimize negative impacts and risks.

Mr. Pelicarić also told about the project AI4Lawyers which has started on April 1 2020 and will run for two years. Among the main objectives of the project are the creation of an overview of the average level of the IT capabilities of lawyers and law firms in the EU and promotion of the guide on the use of AI for EU lawyers and law firms by using the various partners’ communication tools.

Melissa Pang, President of the Law Society of Hong Kong, noticed the rapid technological development in the law field and the need for the law firms to implement them in their work. New technologies should help lawyers to promote one of the core values of the profession: the defense of the Rule of Law.

Elena Avakyan, Council Member of the RFBA, told about the digitalization process in the legal field in Russia. Complex information system entitled Legal Profession of Russia developed by the RFBA should improve the interaction between advocates and courts, the project of the Russian Unified Legal Platform is aimed to organize a sustainable and safe interaction between advocates and clients, and the Unified Federal Registry may contain comprehensive information about advocates and law firms.

David Green, Vice-President and President-Elect of the Law Society of England and Wales, mentioned about a special role of the bars which interact both with advocates and public authorities. According to him, the collecting information about the work of courts under the new conditions and about problems which the advocates are facing with, should be among the main tasks for the bars and will allow to solve the issues promptly.