12 Nov 2011 Article courtesy of MATTHEW BENNS – Sydney Morning Herald
Photo courtesy of FIONA MORRIS – Sydney Morning Herald
12 November, 2011
Switched on… Ben Stack says technological advances are saving lawyers
time and reducing costs.
Young lawyers who have good technical computer skills are likely to be snapped up by law firms looking for staff who can help them keep up with IT developments. Ben Stack, the chief executive of one of the state’s leading law firms, says: “Technology is already revolutionising the way lawyers work and it is vital that lawyers keep up with future developments to take advantage of the enormous opportunities technology offers.”
Stack, 32, is the chief executive at Stacks Law Firm, which has three offices in Sydney as well as offices in regional centres across NSW, Queensland and the ACT, employing more than 70 lawyers and legal professionals and 200 support staff.
Stack studied commerce and law at the University of NSW with a major in information systems, which has given him a head start in adapting the latest technology to benefits the company’s regional offices.
At a recent biennial summit near Forster of more than 50 Stacks lawyers, he gave an address in which he said developments in digital technology and communications will fundamentally change the way lawyers work, the type of work they do and where they will do it.
“The speed of technological change is accelerating exponentially,” he says. “One US military study predicts the world that will exist in 2030 would be as strange to us today as today’s world would have appeared to someone who had lived in 1900.” Developments in computer technology provide lawyers with huge efficiencies in cost and time. Video conferencing is already saving time and money in travel costs and in the future, he predicts lawyers will be able to work from devices no bigger than a wristwatch, with video conferencing via holographic projection.
“Lawyers with the technical know-how will be streets ahead of the others. Any young lawyer with advanced IT skills will be much sought after by law firms as they move to take advantage of these developments.
“Technology will allow lawyers to be far more flexible in their work practice. We have a large number of lawyers living in regional centres and coastal town doing business with clients in Sydney and all over the country thanks to advances in communication technology.
“Being tech savvy will no doubt increase the chances of young law graduates getting a job and it will be an asset throughout their career.”
