The impact of technology on the practice of law - 2010.

• Author: Georges, Richard M.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

-- Arthur C. Clarke

What does the future hold for the practicing lawyer in Florida? While predicting the future is always risky, it is extremely likely the lawyer of 2010 will use technology for many of the tasks now performed manually or by assistants. Some lawyers are using technology now in every aspect of their practices. This article will focus on the impact of technology and the Internet on communications, legal research, dispute resolution in cyberspace, electronic filing and digital signatures, and CyberNotaries because the most far-reaching and challenging changes are occurring in the way lawyers connect with clients and each other over the Internet.

It is a safe bet, however, that technology will bring, in the next 20 Years, far-reaching changes in the other areas of law practice. For instance, lawyers of the future will use technology to market their practices on the Internet, continue to use smaller and smaller computers to practice law, create documents using computers and document processing technology, and continue to automate the financial accounting and billing functions. What technology is doing to our profession, and how we will use technology to make ourselves better lawyers and have fun doing it, are subjects that can fill many volumes, and are as broad as the practice of law itself.

Internet and the World-Wide Web

The Internet is one of the most exciting innovations of the century, and it is amazing how it is revolutionizing the way lawyers practice law. One of the battles that will be fought over the next few years will be between the existing information providers, such as telephone companies and media conglomerates that now control the flow of information, and the many thousands of new, small companies who will use the access to Internet information to compete in the information distribution business.

The World-Wide Web (WWW) is a rapidly expanding area of the Internet, made up of thousands of electronic publishers who publish documents, graphics, and sound files on the Internet by the use of a hypertext language known as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Hypertext allows rapid movement between documents by the use of context-sensitive keywords or phrases, which are highlighted in an HTML document. Using a Web browser, of which there are many, the user can jump all over the world using a mouse.

The excitement of such easy access to graphics, sound, and information all over the world is difficult to describe to the uninitiated. Well-designed Web pages allow hypertext access to many other sources on the Internet. Programs are becoming available that will allow the use of the Internet for long-distance telephone access, without toll charges.

Law firms are starting to publish Web pages, with information about the firm and matters of interest to their clients and the general public. Businesses all over the globe are using the Web to market their products and services, and it is likely that in the future the Web, or its progeny, will be the principal contact for businesses all over the world.

The multimedia possibilities of the Web are rapidly eclipsing usage of the other Internet functions because of the graphics and sound capabilities that are possible.

The Web is like our late 20th century version of the transporter on Star Trek. We are able to jump about our universe, learn, and teach without leaving our current location, except in a virtual sense. For the lawyer today, access to many useful Internet databases is just a mouse click away. For the lawyer of 2010, access to the world of information will be as ubiquitous as turning on a television is today.

E-mail

E-mail is the most popular Internet application, and the most used by lawyers, because it enables rapid, efficient communication and file sharing with anyone in the world from the lawyer's desk. The practice of law is dependent upon the rapid transmission of information and documents over geographical space, and time deadlines and sensitive documents make e-mail and its associated applications the fastest growing form of communication for lawyers. The lawyer of 2010 will use electronic communication as often as the telephone or letter today. Some lawyers already are conducting much of their business over the Internet using e-mail.

Communication by e-mail is not as formal as written correspondence, nor as informal as speech. Often, the tone of a message writer's e-mail message is not apparent. Fortunately, the computer and techno-nerds have developed a vocabulary of "emotions" that allows the message writer to convey emotions that cannot be conveyed in normal words. Thus, :-) becomes the universal symbol for a happy face, or "smiley."

In addition, once an e-mail message is sent on its way, its travel is not predictable due to packet switching and the message may rest at another location for an indeterminate time before being sent to its destination.

As a general rule, the best way to understand e-mail is to assume that the same rules that apply to written business correspondence will apply to e-mail. However, because e-mail travels faster and more efficiently, the practical problems inherent with all lawyer communications are magnified.

Just as written or "snail" mail is protected by federal law from interception, and just as telephone voice messages or fax messages are protected from interception by the federal wiretap act, so too will e-mail messages be protected from interception by the criminal statutes. As a...