The Chancellor of the High Court has urged commercial lawyers to prepare for the disruptive impact of technology on the law, the legal system and legal profession before others "steal a march" on them. Sir Geoffrey Vos said the profession needed "to turn its incredible intellectual fire-power towards the development of the English common law, so that it can effectively tackle the problems thrown up by the use of big data, cryptoassets, on-chain smart contracts, and artificial intelligence". Expressing confidence that the English common law could adapt to these challenges, he added: "My plea is that you do not leave it too late, because there are many other brilliant lawyers in other jurisdictions who are motivated to steal a march on their common law colleagues in the UK." Giving the Commercial Bar Association's annual lecture this week, Sir Geoffrey warned commercial lawyers that it was too late to hope to retire before any of this became a reality. "It is already reality," he said. Rather, he encouraged lawyers "to think imaginatively about the world in which the commercial legal services of the future will be required".