Not so, Todd told me. "I still see myself as a barrister, with a primary duty to the court and with an independence from the client that is in the client's best interests."

But so do solicitors. And so, perhaps, do the so-called alternative business structures that are now being licensed to provide legal services. These range from organisations such as the Co-op, offering consumers the "Tesco law" service that Tesco was never interested in offering-to business lawyers such as Riverview Law, which have replaced the billable hour and city-centre offices with fixed prices and remote working.

It's changes such as these that have kept Professor Richard Susskind in business. For the past 30 years, he has been predicting how technology will transform the way that lawyers work. He now has the satisfaction of seeing himself proved right. 

Susskind's presentations often include a picture of a gleaming new power-drill. The sales team are asked if this is what they will be selling. It is not. The next slide shows a neatly-drilled hole. "This is what our customers want," they are told. It's the outcome that matters, not the way it is delivered.

In January, Susskind publishes his latest book, Tomorrow's Lawyers (OUP, £9.99). Aimed at students, it predicts disappointment for those who hoped to have a career akin to that enjoyed by lawyers of their parents' generation. But "for those who seek new opportunities and wish to participate in bringing about the advances I predict in this book, there has never been a more exciting time". I hope he's right.