Emily Windsor on the New Age of Digital Law for Barristers

The bar, historically synonymous with ink-stained tomes and hushed chambers, has been quietly but profoundly reshaped by the forces of digital evolution.

Emily Windsor, a barrister with experience in agricultural holdings and property law, works at the intersection of tradition and progress, drawing on both legal history and contemporary needs.

The transformation, as she points out, is not simply about technological conveniences, but about fundamental shifts in accessibility, efficiency, and adaptability.

Legal Knowledge in the Digital Realm

The bedrock of any barrister’s craft, long embedded in the mastery of bound case law and commentary, has been fundamentally redefined by the migration of legal resources into the digital sphere, forever altering how barristers access, engage with, and exchange knowledge.

Services such as online resources like Westlaw and LexisNexis have bundled specialist texts into vast online libraries, making the once-rarefied corners of legal scholarship available at the “click of a switch.” Barristers can now consult entire bodies of case law, statutes, and commentary without moving beyond their chambers or home offices.

“What it has done,” Emily Windsor explains, “is breathe a new lease of life into textbooks that perhaps were underused 20 years ago.” The immediacy of online data enables practitioners to explore areas of law that might not previously have warranted investment in printed materials. A high street solicitor, for instance, can now address a niche agricultural tenancy query without needing to step into a library or purchase an obscure volume.

Beyond mere convenience, the digitisation of legal literature has shifted the expectations placed on lawyers. Windsor describes the modern pace of practice as markedly accelerated compared to the era of postal correspondence and handwritten opinions. The contemporary lawyer is expected to respond to queries with near-instantaneous precision, enabled and necessitated by the immediacy of digital tools. This accelerated pace, while a double-edged sword, underpins the modern lawyer’s need to adapt.

Such reforms necessitate a constant recalibration of knowledge and approach. Windsor remarks that her work on updating Muir Watt & Moss on Agricultural Holdings has, in this regard, been particularly rewarding: “You really have to research everything in great detail. It makes sure that you’re on top of your game.”

The Digital and Hybrid Revolution

Another cornerstone of the bar that has undergone an undeniable transformation is the courtroom itself. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for remote and hybrid proceedings, a model that has persisted in specific legal contexts. Emily Windsor observes that the limitations of digital hearings are self-evident — “anything where the credibility of a witness is in issue … the courts have tended to return those to live” — however, she’s equally clear that digital hearings represent an invaluable tool in certain circumstances.

Case management hearings, interim applications, and hearings relating to shorter procedural matters have thrived in the virtual space, saving practitioners and clients significant costs and time. What was once a logistical ordeal involving lengthy journeys and wasted hours is now a matter of logging on to a virtual hearing. Windsor’s pragmatic assessment manifests a balance: Technology has not usurped the courtroom but has refined it, creating a more flexible and efficient model where appropriate.

The shift has been transformational, particularly for barristers with responsibilities outside of work. Emily Windsor expounds on the role technology has played in improving work-life balance — particularly for women at the bar. “Thirty years ago, to access cases and textbooks, you actually needed to be physically in the library … Now it’s perfectly possible to work from home for a week at a time,” she says. Such flexibility would have been unimaginable in earlier decades and has, she suggests, helped to address barriers to retention within the profession.

However, Windsor is careful to elucidate that the self-employed nature of a barrister’s work demands discipline and dedication, regardless of technological advances. “You do need to be quite strict with yourself, and it can be a bit lonely,” she conveys. Digital tools may enable a barrister to work from anywhere, but they do not alter the fundamentally solitary nature of the practice.

Generally speaking, however, Windsor is very positive about the progress facilitated by technological strides of the last ten years, and notes that the strides being made with artificial intelligence may prove even more transformative in the years to come.