The past 30 years have seen tremendous change in the legal profession--starting when and how business is conducted.

By W.H. Bates

The last 30 years has seen a wonderful response by the Bar to the need of the public for free or inex-pensive basic legal services. Pro-bono service by most lawyers is almost commonplace. Certainly the profession's response to this need has been more exemplary than the public's-- acting through the legislature-- in the form of funding for legal aid to the indigent.

The practice of law is an ancient profession, but the period of time from the founding of Ingram's Magazine to the present may have marked more significant change than any other comparable period. While legal changes were important, technological advances from the first copy machines, to fax and e-mail changed nearly every aspect of law-office operation. None, however, exceeded an earlier advance: the advent of air conditioning. All of these brought a revolutionary transformation for those in the legal profession.

Other significant changes since 1970 are almost endless. Consider the importance of the adoption and usage of Missouri Approved Instructions in jury trials, lessening the risk of reversible error. The Federal Environmental Protection Act creating the Environmental Protection Agency spawned a new area of law bringing about thousands of lawsuits, including superfund cases, involving thousands of lawyers in a new specialized career. Congressional creation of the Equal Employ-ment Opportunity Commission and related laws stimulated a huge development of careers for lawyers in the employment law arena. New provisions in tax laws have required greater specialization. Accountants and corporate entrepreneurial specialists have taken over the tax return business. The explosion of technology has converted a relatively small "patent and copyright bar" into an ever-expanding group of specialists into the "Intellectual Property Law" field.

Mandatory Continuing Legal Education requirements have caused lawyers to be more responsive and resilient with respect to changing features in our society. The significant increase in class-action suits and consolidation of cases in major disaster and mass tort occurrences has changed the entire landscape. The consumer protection (tobacco type) cases have mushroomed. Expansion of the pro- hibited types of discrimination has spawned a plethora of cases. The adoption of the "no-fault" divorce laws and the "comparative fault" concepts dramatically changed the handling of cases in those areas. The exponential increase in the size of jury awards has changed the way defendants view potentially dangerous cases. Arbitration and mediation and early assessment have become almost the norms in today's practice. Marketing and advertising (within limits) are accepted activities.

One must also note the significant trend toward consolidation and merger of practices far greater than could be identified prior to the 1970s. There are numerous examples which have received considerable publicity. It is probably correct that the larger firms can specialize to a greater degree and handle many of the large transactions and lawsuits more capably. Sadly, the same developments have caused personal relationships with fellow firm members to diminish because of size and the pace of practice. This has helped bring about the smaller "boutique" firms, each practicing in a selected specialized area. One could make a good case that the continuing specialization resulting from all of this serves the public well.

The last 30 years has seen a wonderful response by the Bar to the need of the public for free or inexpensive basic legal services. Pro-bono service by most lawyers is almost commonplace. Certainly the profession's response to this need has been more exemplary than the public's--acting through the legislature--in the form of funding for legal aid to the indigent.

Another development not readily apparent is the increasing use by major corporations of specialized attorneys as employees of the company. Frequently a company had a single general counsel or perhaps a two or three person staff. Increasingly in the last 30 years, and accelerating in the last 10, has been development of legal staffs by major business entities with specialists in the area of law important to that particular business. The "in-house" counsel invariably is quite competent and quickly become experts in the area assigned to their responsibility. They are adept in the use of electronic technology and are in a position to direct outside retained counsel in a very efficient and effective manner. It is my judgment that the number of "in-house" counsel is at least triple what it was 30 years ago.

Change is inevitable, inventions and im-provements will continue, and 30 years from now someone will probably find it humorous that the things we find so different today are very ho-hum to them. I'm confident the legal profession will respond appropriately to the changes and challenges of the future.

W. H. (Bert) Bates is a partner of the Lathrop & Gage law firm. He may be reached at 816.292.2000.