Future of Legal Services Commission

Tuesday 7 May 2024

Formerly known as the IBA Task Force on the Future of Legal Services, the IBA Management Board agreed to formally establish a commission to coordinate the IBA’s activities and projects around the future of legal services – one of the key areas of focus for the whole organisation.

The aim of the Future of Legal Services Commission will be to analyse and report on the state of the legal profession, specifically looking at changing client demands, new entrants to the legal industry, regulatory changes and education, and digitisation/technology. Once this step has been completed, the Commission will recommend how to respond to these challenges affecting the profession, and design projects and programmes to prepare the legal profession for the future.

For any questions to the Commission, to make suggestions or inquiries, please contact divisions@int-bar.org

Global Heatmap Survey

The Future of Legal Services Commission of the IBA has launched the second edition of its annual survey, the heatmap of legal services. A 2024 report will be produced based on the responses to the survey below, which asks for participants' views on the impact of various global issues affecting the legal market.

This survey asks your views on the principal developments identified so far. We will use the data collected (on a strictly anonymous basis) to produce the Heatmap report. This will inform how the IBA prioritises its work, and enable us to influence and prepare for developments coming down the line.

We want to hear the views of as many people as possible, including lawyers, legal academics, law students, business services professionals and legal technologists. Please pass on this survey to anyone you think might want to complete it. The more people we can reach, the better the data will be.

By contributing to our Heatmap you will be helping the IBA to forge the Future of Legal Services. The results of this project will be presented at the IBA Annual Conference in Paris.

The survey should take around 5-10 minutes to complete. Please submit your responses by 5 July 2024.

Click here to complete the survey

The leadership of the Commission consists of the following IBA members:

Officer list

Soledad Atienza Becerril

Co-Chair

Firm Address

IE Law School Paseo de la Castellana, 259 E
Madrid
Spain
28046

Stephen Bowman

Co-Chair

Firm Address

Bennett Jones 3400 One First Canadian Place
100 King Street West
Toronto
Canada
M5X 1A4

See all Officers

Completed projects

Future of Legal Services – White Paper

This heatmap identifies the key issues affecting the legal profession and then assesses the likely impact of those issues and how ready the profession is to respond to them.

It presents data supplied by respondents from across the profession and our intention is to re-run the survey every year, so that we can track emerging issues and the profession’s response.

Issues shaping the global legal ecosystem: Drivers for change in legal services - Part Two

Download part two

Drivers of change in legal services - Part One

Blueprint on Global Legal Education

The Blueprint on Global Legal Education was the first project undertaken as part of the Commission’s remit.

Download the Blueprint

International Bar Association is incorporated as a Not-for-Profit Corporation under the laws of the State of New York in the United States of America and is registered with the Department of State of the State of New York with registration number 071114000655 - and the liability of its members is limited. Its registered address in New York is c/o Capitol Services Inc, 1218 Central Avenue, Suite 100, Albany, New York 12205.

The London office of International Bar Association is registered in England and Wales as a branch with registration number FC028342.