Lord Sumption reflects on over-specialisation in law

In an address conference on family law held in London, Supreme Court Justice Lord Sumption reflects on the problems caused by over specialisation in the legal profession, and the importance of cross-fertilisation between different areas of practice.

On avoiding over-specialisation, he said: “There is, however, a more fundamental reason for deprecating an excessively specialised approach. Law is, or at least should be, a coherent system. Of course, different human problems pose their own peculiar challenges, which the law must accommodate. But these challenges are not always as peculiar as people think. The practice of law, whether by judges or advocates, involves applying a range of common techniques and common instincts to a variety of legal problems.”

He added: “The late Ronald Dworkin, in the last book that he wrote before his death, observed that truth is not only coherent but mutually supporting. What we think about any moral or legal issue must be able to stand up to any argument we find compelling about any other. The erection of impenetrable partitions between different areas of law obstructs this process. It is the fastest route to incoherence that I know.”

The speech is available in full on the Supreme Court website.