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Cited by 19Digital Economy and Work TransformationLabor market dynamics and wage inequalityManagement and Organizational Studies

Future of professional work: evidence from legal jobs in Britain and the United States

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Sako, Mari, Qian, Matthias, Attolini, Jacopo·2022·Journal of Professions and Organization
DOI 10.1093/jpo/joac011
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Abstract

What is the impact of digital technology on professional work? This paper addresses this question by developing a theory on professional jurisdictional control, which we define as a profession’s power to maintain or shift from existing jurisdictional settlements in the face of external disturbances. Digital technology is a disturbance, and who ends up undertaking digital tasks depends on the nature of professional jurisdictional control. With protective jurisdictional control, the profession engages in full or subordinate jurisdiction, delegating new tasks to subordinate semiprofessionals. By contrast, with connective jurisdictional control, the profession prefers settlements by division of labor or advisory links, enabling equal-status professions to work together. Using a large and representative database of online job postings, we find evidence for this hypothesis. Empirically, we deploy three ways to gauge the nature of professional jurisdictional control: first, by comparing traditional law firms and alternative business structure firms in the UK; second, by contrasting the US (with protective jurisdictional control) and the UK; and third, by examining the legal sector (in which the legal profession dominates) and non-legal sectors. We also find that protective (connective) jurisdictional control is associated with lower (higher) pay premia for digital skills, consistent with theory. Our findings highlight the mediating role of professional jurisdictional control to inform the future of work debate.

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  • Early work on jurisdictional contestation viewed it primarily as a struggle for territory, a 'turf war', among different professional groups.

    “Early work on jurisdictional contestation viewed it primarily as a struggle for territory, a 'turf war', among different professional groups (Sako et al., 2022).”

    From The AI of the Beholder: Intra‐Professional Sensemaking of an Epistemic Technology (2025) · cites this paper as Sako et al., 2022

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Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. The full list of words used is provided below:artificial intelligence, ai, machine learning, deep learning, data science, data scientist, account- ant engineer, accountancy engineering, accountancy tech, accountan- cytech, natural language processing, nlp, semantic analysis, decision tree, document analysis, document review, contract intelligence, case prediction, neural networks, neural nets, full stack, developer, auto- mate, api, data architecture, micro-services architecture, technology stack, devops, net core, docker, kubernetes, azure cloud, chef, java, python, angular, coding, testing, deployment, agile kanban, restful api, soa,.net, javascript, c#, sql, continuous integration, test automation, automated configuration, relational database, non-relational database, soap, rest, software design, data extraction, data visualization, data visualization, workflow, rules based analysis, margin matrix, technol- ogy, technologies, tech, material efficiencies, document management system, 3e, epic, peoplesoft, data mining, data modeling, artificial intelligence technologies, data collection plan, structured data, struc- tured sources, unstructured data, unstructured sources, data explora- tion, hypothesis testing, statistical modeling, data analysis, pocs, data cleaning, statistical analysis, algorithm, algorithms, algorithm develop- ment, tableau, sas, big data, sql server reporting services (ssrs), data warehousing, teradata dba, transact-sql, microsoft sql server integra- tion services (ssis), microsoft sql, microsoft c#,.net, asp.net, asp.net mvc, active server pages (asp), statistical analysis, statistics, statistical reporting, microsoft powershell, data verification, relational databases, software engineering, software development, system design, hypertext preprocessor (php), sap, web application development, nunit, kanban, scrum, c++, linux, sql server, hardware and software installation, enter- prise resource planning (erp), cognos impromptu, microsoft share- point, visual studio, microsoft active directory, data manipulation, data management, data quality, metadata, database design, data collection, extensible markup language (xml), object-oriented analysis and design (ooad)
  2. The full list of required skills for this job is: basic internet skills, build- ing effective relationships, computer literacy, copying, detail-orientated, document management, document review, due diligence, english, legal document composition, legal documentation, legal research, legal solutions, meeting deadlines, microsoft excel, microsoft office, online research, proofreading, scheduling, version control, lexisnexis.
  3. Armour, J., Parnham, R., and Sako, M. (2022) ' Augmented Law- yering', University of Illinois Law Review, 2022/1: 71-138.
  4. Brynjolfsson, E., Mitchell, T., and Rock, D. (2018) What Can Machines Learn, and What Does it Mean for Occupations and the Economy? Paper presented at the AEA Papers and Proceedings.
  5. Carr-Saunders, A. M., and Wilson, P. A. (1933) Professions (The). Oxford: Clarenden Press.
  6. Davenport, T. H., and Patil, D. (2012) 'Data Scientist: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century', Harvard Business Review, 90/5: 70-6.
  7. Sako, M., Armour, J., and Parnham, R. (2020) Lawtech Adoption and Training: Findings from a Survey of Solicitors in England and Wales. Oxford: University of Oxford.
  8. Sako, M., and Parnham, R. (2021) Technology and Innovation in Legal Services: Final Report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. University of Oxford. https://www.sra.org.uk/ globalassets/documents/sra/research/full-report-technolo- gy-and-innovation-in-legal-services.pdf?version=4a1bfe.

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Authors
Sako, M., Qian, M., & Attolini, J.
Affiliations
University of Oxford (GB)
Corresponding author
Sako, Mari
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Professions and Organization
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2022-06-01
Volume
9
Issue
2
Pages
143-169
ISSN
  • 2051-8803 (ISSN-L)
  • 2051-8811
DOI
10.1093/jpo/joac011
OpenAlex
W4285136700
Cited by
19
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 3
FWCI
5.04
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Professions and Organization (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
Funders
UK Research and Innovation
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Economy and Work Transformation
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
Keywords
digital technologies, future of work, legal profession, law firms, alternative business structures, division of labor, online job postings, professional activity, United Kingdom, United States

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