Behind stables and saloons: the legal profession's race to the back of the technological pack.

• Author: Britton, Mark
• Position: Special Issue: Technology & the Practice of Law

Lawyers have not traditionally been known as technological vanguards. Still, the sluggishness with which they embrace new technology might surprise even the most extreme technophobes. For example, email was commercially introduced in 1983, but it didn't receive formal approval by greater bar associations or the American Bar Association until 1999. Likewise, law firm websites received a similarly chilly reception, with formal blessing by legal regulatory authorities not taking place until 2010. Even now, the ethics of cloud storage remains unsettled, as the ABA hasn't weighed in with formal guidance or a model rule, and fewer than half of the states have adopted any rules or guidance on the ethics of cloud computing.

This isn't a recent phenomenon. Even back in the 19th century, lawyers were failing to adopt the newest technology--the telephone. In 1891, 7,000 businesses in the New York/New Jersey area had telephones. Among those, there were 937 doctors, 363 saloons, 315 stables, and last were 146 lawyers. Lawyers' biggest technological challenge, then, has nothing to do with a specific technology; the hesitation and reticence with which they adopt any technology is the primary obstacle they must overcome. And, while slow adoption of the telephone may have had only minor adverse implications on the legal profession, in today's information age, luddite professions or businesses don't eventually catch up. Like buggy whip makers, music stores, video rentals, and, soon, maybe even taxis, those businesses become extinct.

But it doesn't have to be this way for lawyers. Today, there are tremendous opportunities for individual lawyers and the legal profession to embrace technology. Here are three suggestions to help lawyers adapt to the information age and avoid extinction.

Consider the Consumer Point of View

Lawyers have spent very little time considering how to deliver legal services that are responsive to consumer needs and demands. Legal services feel like a black box to consumers: They have little visibility into, or control over, what a lawyer does; they just know that they'll pay a lot for whatever comes out the other end. It's not only that lawyers don't know what consumers want --lawyers are regularly dismissive of or even hostile to innovations that respond to consumer demand for legal services. For example, Avvo's question and answer forum and the Avvo Advisor product have faced resistance from lawyers. Even though Avvo's question and...