EP.7 — The Last Lawyer
New York | April 24, 2045
The nation’s largest law firm announced yesterday that it will close its final litigation department next month, ending more than 170 years of courtroom practice. Only one attorney remains on staff. His title is no longer trial lawyer. It is Historical Legal Consultant.
According to the firm’s announcement, AI legal systems now prepare contracts, negotiate settlements, analyze evidence, draft appeals, predict judicial outcomes, and represent clients in fully automated virtual hearings certified by the Ministry of Justice.
The remaining attorney’s primary responsibility is answering a question the system occasionally cannot.
“What did lawyers used to do?”
Law schools across the country have already adjusted their curricula. Courses on courtroom advocacy have been replaced by algorithm auditing, legal model supervision, and machine accountability. Moot court competitions have disappeared. Students now compete by identifying statistical bias in judicial engines rather than persuading juries.
Clients say legal services have become dramatically faster and less expensive. Most disputes are resolved within hours instead of months. Appeals rarely succeed because prediction models identify likely outcomes before cases are officially filed.
Critics argue that something essential has quietly disappeared. Law, they say, was never only about reaching the correct answer. It was also about persuasion, doubt, empathy, and the possibility that one extraordinary argument could change the direction of justice.
The consultant packed the last box from his office yesterday. Inside were handwritten notes, worn casebooks, and a fountain pen. None of them were required by the new system.
As the office lights turned off, he looked once more at the empty courtroom. It was perfectly efficient. It was perfectly silent.
— Joonghwa Byeon
