Bespoke or Off-the-Rack Estate Planning

Some years back, Richard Susskind, a British legal scholar, wrote a book called The End of Lawyers?, in which he compared lawyering to making suits. Hundreds of years ago, all suits were made by hand. Now, most suits are mass produced. You can buy a suit off the rack or get one tailored to better fit your particular dimensions or, for a higher price, get a handmade suit.

In England, such handmade suits are called “bespoke.” Click here to read an excerpt from a book about one of London’s leading bespoke tailors co-written by Cullen Murphy, a friend and an editor at
The Atlantic.

Back to Susskind. He argues that up until recently, most lawyering was bespoke but that is changing rapidly due to computers and the internet. Traditionally, clients would meet with attorneys who would develop a unique solution for each client, whether that was a particular trust, a brief for litigation, or a business contract.

Certainly, attorneys relied on prior work and forms to be more efficient, often “cutting and pasting” parts of old documents together to create new ones. But, in general, lawyering has been a relatively inefficient, time-consuming process. It’s also been expensive, in part because it’s been practiced by highly trained and experienced professionals and partly because lawyers participate in a guild. They have been able to block non-lawyers from practicing law and, at least until recently, to limit the number of people becoming lawyers.

The almost universal system of billing by the hour encourages and rewards this type of lawyering and discourages efforts to increase efficiency. The more time it takes to complete a project, the more the attorney will be paid. Clients have never been happy with this arrangement. Fixed fees or fees that are tied to results make more sense in cases that are more predictable but can be unfair to attorneys in situations where they cannot control the amount of work involved in a matter.

But, as Susskind suggests, all of this is changing. Law schools are graduating record numbers of new lawyers, many of whom start their professional careers with huge debts and low job prospects. LegalZoom and other websites are offering do-it-yourself legal solutions at a small fraction of the price of hiring a lawyer. This might be considered off-the-rack lawyering. Clients are demanding fixed or adjustable fees.

Some attorneys are also offering more limited services, perhaps advising a couple about what forms they need and the process of getting a divorce, without actually representing them in court. Or they combine online forms with legal counselling. Sticking with the clothing metaphor, these approaches are akin to buying a suit off the rack and having it tailored to fit the particular client’s needs.

Many attorneys continue to provide bespoke services tailored to each client’s needs but do as much as possible to automate and systematize services within the office to increase efficiency and hold the lid on fees. This is our firm’s approach. We also charge flat fees in most cases, which allows clients to decide in advance whether the results sought justify the fee we charge. Flat fees also mean that we will be rewarded if we are efficient in our work and penalized if we are inefficient.

Yet, at least until now, I believe that for the most part the legal profession has avoided the commoditization predicted by Susskind. This is probably in large part due to the complexity of most legal issues and the unique situations of most clients.

What About AI?

But perhaps the streamlining of legal work was simply delayed and will now take place with the advent of AI. With the proper inputs, AI can write good first drafts of legal documents, letters, and other communications. But can it replace the need for lawyers entirely?

Not being sure, I asked Anthropic’s Claude. Here’s its response:

As an AI, I think this is a nuanced question that doesn’t have a simple yes or no answer.

AI is already transforming the legal profession, but complete replacement seems unlikely. Here’s why:

AI excels at tasks like document review, legal research, contract analysis, and due diligence – work that traditionally consumed significant time for junior lawyers and paralegals. These tools can process thousands of documents in hours instead of weeks.

However, many aspects of legal practice remain difficult to automate:

• Client counseling and relationship management
• Courtroom advocacy and negotiation
• Creative legal strategy development
• Navigating complex ethical considerations
• Exercising judgment in ambiguous situations

The likely outcome is a transformation rather than wholesale replacement. The legal profession will likely evolve where:

1. Routine legal tasks become increasingly automated
2. Lawyers who embrace technology extend their capabilities
3. Legal services become more accessible and affordable
4. The profession shifts toward higher-value advisory work

Law firms and legal departments that strategically integrate AI will likely thrive, while those that resist technological change may struggle to compete on cost and efficiency.