Professor Richard Susskind CBE KC (Hon), President, Society for Computers and Law • Special Envoy for Justice and AI (Commonwealth) • Global authority on the future of legal services, courts, and AI
Description
“Professor Richard Susskind stands at the forefront of legal transformation, illuminating how technology, artificial intelligence, and human judgment can converge to reshape justice for the modern world. His scholarship and public service have not only anticipated the evolution of courts and professional services, but have actively guided it, influencing governments, judiciaries, and practitioners across continents. Through vision, intellect, and principled leadership, he has helped ensure that innovation in law remains anchored in access, fairness, and the enduring responsibility to serve society.”
Fantastic Lawyers® Editorial 2026
Professor Richard Susskind CBE KC (Hon) is the world’s most cited author on the future of legal services and a leading expert on the impact of AI on society. He is President of the Society for Computers and Law and, from 1998 to 2023, he served as Technology Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. In 2024, Richard was appointed Special Envoy for Justice and AI to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.
Richard specialises in three fields: the future of professional services, the future of courts and dispute resolution, and the impact of AI on society, business, and humanity. He advises leading professional firms, in-house legal departments, and governments and judiciaries around the world. In the 1980s, he wrote his doctorate on AI and the law at Balliol College, Oxford.
Books, writing and speaking
Richard’s work has been translated into 18 languages and he has been invited to speak in over 60 countries. He has written eleven books, including The Future of Law (1996), Tomorrow’s Lawyers (2013, 2017, 2023), The Future of the Professions (with D Susskind, 2015, 2022), Online Courts and the Future of Justice (2019, 2021) and How to Think About AI (2025). He has also contributed more than 150 columns to The Times.
Public policy and justice modernisation
From the early 1990s, in the UK, Richard has advised numerous Ministers and Lord Chancellors on modernisation of the court system. He has been a member of more than 25 related government committees, and was chair of the Online Dispute Resolution Advisory Group, whose work in 2014 and 2015 heavily influenced government and judicial policy. He is a member of the LawtechUK Panel and of LegalUK, and he chairs the Futures Group of the Civil Justice Council.
Academic leadership
Richard was a founding member and later (2011 to 2022) Chair of the Advisory Board of the Oxford Internet Institute where he remains as a Visiting Professor. He also holds professorships at Gresham College, London and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
Honours and professional recognition
In 2000, Richard was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen. In 2023, Richard was appointed an Honorary King’s Counsel. He was promoted to CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the King’s New Year Honours List 2025.
Richard has a first class honours degree in law from the University of Glasgow. He has received numerous legal industry awards and is an Honorary Bencher of Gray’s Inn. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the British Computer Society.
Contact Information
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