The inaugural director of Griffith University's Legal Futures Centre, Professor Flood said the problems were systemic and stretched beyond education.

"What is holding the industry back is the traditional form of organisation, barrister chambers, law firms and so on," he said.

Bond University executive dean of law Nick James said law schools were starting to better prepare students for the impacts of technology, but efforts were constrained by the regulatory requirement to cover the "Priestley 11".

Professor James said a "reconsideration and reimagining" of the structure of academic legal education would ensure it remained relevant as the legal services sector continued to change.

"[But] the attributes of good lawyers are unlikely to be replaced by technology any time soon," he said.

"Law schools need to ensure that legal education prepares students for technology-enhanced legal practice and also teaches interpersonal skills."

Fundamental knowledge

Sydney University dean of law Joellen Riley said traditional legal knowledge would always be relevant and universities had been doing enough to assist students.


"Students will still need fundamental knowledge even if they're working online," Professor Riley said.

"Universities are aware of a greater need to provide more career services and we help students explore different avenues of their legal career."

Record numbers of postgraduates are completing law degrees and flooding the employment market. Professor Riley said the resulting anxiety was understandable but things "haven't changed that much".

"It has always been challenging, people need to think optimistically and creatively," she said.

Next week, the University of New South Wales will host a legal education conference, including a panel session on regulation.

About 15,000 students graduate from law degrees across Australia each year in an industry of 66,000 solicitors. According to Graduate Careers Australia, the employment rate for law graduates is 73 per cent, slightly above the average for all areas of 71 per cent.

LegalVision head of growth and innovation Thomas Kaldor said the surplus of graduates allows firms to be more selective, requiring students who want to crack the top firms to have skills beyond legal knowledge.

"There's a huge number of candidates out there for not a lot of roles," he said.


Adapt or perish

Andrew Mellett, managing director of web-based adviser Plexus, said education had remained stagnant despite the disrupted industry and universities might "struggle to adapt their curriculum to a rapidly changing labour market".

"A lot of work graduates had been doing is now automated or in the process of being automated," he said.

The legal industry and its regulators would have to "adapt to a new reality or perish", he added.

Online services allow quicker and easier access to justice, he said, and there there were fewer opportunities for interns in the current market.

Legal commissioners in various states were contacted but declined to comment.