Mcle Self-study Article Lawyers and Legal Technology: Savvy or Safety
| Publication year | 2014 |
| Author | By Richard Wagner, Esq. |
By Richard Wagner, Esq.
This article is posted in our self-study catalog.
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Joe Patrice of Above The Law wrote, “as savvy hackers look to steal financial and intellectual assets from computer systems, the smartest cyber criminals have even figured out the best way to get what they want is to avoid the target corporation entirely and aim straight for their law firm.” Mr. Patrice goes on to say, “Let’s face it, lawyers aren’t the most technologically savvy bunch. It’s not uncommon for firm leadership to harbor one or two partners who still have their emails printed out for them and then dictate their responses to a secretary.”
Where does this perception of lack of technological savvy come from? Could it be that lawyers as compared to other professions, vocations or occupations are just as tech savvy? Could it be that lawyers’ reluctance to keep up with the speed of technological advances is not a question of being savvy, but comes from the fundamental way lawyers think?
As John Houseman’s law professor character in The Paper Chase warned his law students: “You come in here with a skull full of mush; you leave thinking like a lawyer.”
The way lawyers think, and what influences this thinking, contributes to lawyers’ so-called reluctance to keep pace with the speed of technological advancement.
For legal professionals and law firms, the way lawyers have been trained to think influences their thought processes when it comes to the acquisition of legal IT.
Similar to law, technology has its own language or jargon. As a judge from the 1970’s noted:
| “Lawyers and courts need no longer feel ashamed or even sensitive about the charge, often made, that they confuse the issue by resort to legal “jargon” … By comparison, the misnomers and industrial shorthand of the computer world make the most esoteric legal writing seem as clear and lucid as the Ten Commandments or the Gettysburg Address.” Honeywell, Inc. v. Lithonia Lighting, Inc., 317 F. Supp. 406, 408 (N.D. Ga. 1970). |
For example, law firms are presented opportunities by software vendors on a regular basis. Common sense says there would be a straightforward legal definition of the term “software” in case any dispute ever arose concerning it. However, a bit of legal research shows courts nationwide have failed to consistently define the term "software." In West Virginia, the Supreme...
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