Technology is rapidly changing the practice of law. At last year's Legal Administrators' annual conference, Arthur R. Miller, Harvard Law professor, moderated a panel of experts who agreed that the rate of change was so fast the legal community was not keeping up. The "Brave New Law" panel members observed that the practice of law, which had previously been based on land, labor and capital was quickly moving to an information and knowledge-based industry. One indicator is the global growth in intellectual property. There are other indicators of change:

LARGER FIRMS: An OF COUNSEL survey noted rapid growth in the use of the Internet by larger firms, rising from only 5% in 1991 to over 90% by the close of 1997. The main reason given for this growth was legal research (97%), followed closely by client communication (91%) and communication with colleagues (88%). At least 78% of attorneys utilize the Internet to gain access to court records. Lawyers are also making greater use of laptops. Half of attorneys in law firms have access to a portable computer, while 40% use one as their primary PC. Increasingly, litigators use high-powered notebooks to incorporate sound, animation and video into courtroom presentations.

IN-HOUSE COUNSEL: The use of computers by corporate attorneys approaches 100%. The 1998 Corporate Law Department Technology Survey, conducted by the American Bar Association's Legal Technology Resource Center, reported that all responding law departments reported using computers and that 96% reported all or most attorneys use them. Law departments are increasingly utilizing the Internet for research (89% for legal research, 75% for business news & information), marketing and communicating (64% with outside counsel and 34% to access court documents). Lawyers still rely on printed legal research materials: 52% preferred printed materials; 15% CD-ROM; 17% Internet; and 22% online services. Sixty-six companies reported utilizing an intranet, with 49% of law departments having a site on it. Image scanning is used by forty-two % of departments and 19% use personal digital assistants.

COURTS: In some courts, judges use software, such as TrialBook 32 (Gigatron Software Corp) to search for and read everything any witness or attorney has said during a trial -- even what was said only a second ago. They rule on points of order with all the facts at their fingertips. With a single keystroke, attorneys can mark points of possible witness inconsistencies and then review the material to identify them and confront the witness. In addition, they can retrieve all references to a particular item, such as "the bloody glove" and send them over the Internet for expert analysis. Before completing the cross-examination, the attorney knows what probing questions to ask next. In addition, Courts are experimenting with electronic filing. Some courts contract with Lexis-Nexis and West Group; others are utilizing smaller firms; a few are considering Microsoft; and, still others are providing access through the Internet. West Group is developing an electronic filing service at www.westfile.com. UPS is considering joining the market. Last March, Utah became the first court to use e-filing with digital signatures giving access in its pilot program to prosecutors.

(See: http://courtlink.utcourts.gov/ecabinets and click on "XChange.")

'E-LAW': According to Legal Times, "clever lawyers and entrepreneurs are taking advantage of an emerging market by experimenting with the delivery of legal services online, a development that can be called e-law and that would radically change the practice of law." Several interactive programs, such as Turbotax and WillMaker have already revolutionized tax and will preparation. Federal agencies, such as the Trademark Office and the Federal Communications Commission, offer interactive application forms through their internet sites. The current use of online delivery of legal services is just beginning but provides an insight as to how they may be provided through the Internet in the future. In the United Kingdom, DirectLaw is working on providing a true online legal practice by computer-generating such things as wills, contracts, government applications and filings, negotiable instruments and wills. E-law also may be the mechanism to offer legal services to the underserved.

LEGAL NEGOTIATIONS: According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, lawyers are beginning to use websites to settle claims involving such things as slip-and-fall injuries, items broken in shipment, and fender-benders instead of spending months queued in court dockets. One service, Cybersettle.com, designed by a former plaintiff's lawyer and aimed at the insurance industry, provides a means by which disputing parties enter confidential offers. The computer compares them, automatically settling the case when and if the offers are within 30% or $5,000 of each other. If no settlement occurs, the services of a human referee is offered. After nine months, close to 3,000 claims adjusters were using Cybersettle.com. In Canada, One Accord Technology is piloting a system which would allow multiple parties to exchange settlement proposals over the internet in more complex situations.

ASSISTANTS' ROLES: A recent survey of top executives developed by Office Team indicates that technology is changing the job skill requirements of administrative support professionals. According to 92% of the respondents, proficiency in navigating the Internet is important. (Office Team is a major staffing service that specializes in highly skilled temporary office and administrative professionals.)

"ONE STOP SHOPPING" FOR LEGAL AND OTHER BUSINESS SERVICES: The ABA House of Delegates considered and delayed removing a ban that prevents lawyers and non-lawyers from forming partnerships. In Europe these partnerships already exist and many feel that the ban does not allow U.S. business to compete. U.S. firms are already feeling pressure from large, international, multi-service firms that provide legal, accounting, insurance, and other business services.

CLE: Lawyers have been using the internet to make airline and hotel reservations for travel to CLE seminars for some time now. Recently, they have also been able to just log in from their workstations. Tennessee is among the states that offers a growing list of online courses for CLE credit (http://www.tba.org/TennBarU.com).

LAW SCHOOLS: In the spring of 1998, Harvard Law School began offering a free online coursed entitled "Privacy in Cyberspace"(http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/online). This class, taught by Arthur R. Miller, a renowned law professor, was the first time Harvard Law School offered a free, noncredit course to the general public. The 1999 series includes "Jury Trials in Cyberspace," "Homer's Poetic Justice," "Intellectual Property in Cyberspace," and "Privacy in Cyberspace." In addition, many law schools have developed Websites of useful legal information. For example, Cornell Law School at http://www.law.cornell.edu/ covers the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Code, Code of Federal Regulations, and U.S. Courts of Appeals. Northwestern University "Oyez Project" is a U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia database. Potential law students can access the Law School Admission Council for LSAT registration and other materials on line. In addition, students can utilize computerized application forms for 181 ABA-approved U.S. law schools.

LEGAL PUBLISHERS: Legal publishers are moving to CD formats and on-line access. Some firms have virtually eliminated their paper libraries, replacing books with CDs and on-line research. Lexis and West Group each offer automated citation-checking services. As legal publishers become more technologically sophisticated, they are receiving notice by the information industry. For example, West Legal Directory, available at http://www.lawoffice.com, was named in Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine's "Top 50 Most Incredibly Useful Web Sites" list in the June 1998 issue of Internet Life Magazine .

LEGAL SEARCH ENGINES AND SITES: Online legal information has developed to the point that it includes several legal search engines, such as FindLaw (http://www.findlaw.com/index.html), The-Legal-Link (http://www.world.std.com/~plawler/the-legal-link.htm), Thomas (http://thomas.loc.gov/) and Law Research (http://www.lawresearch.com/). The-Legal-Link provides links to many Websites, not all of which are kept up to date, but it is a good starting point for the legal researcher. Although the most thorough coverage is Federal, states are adding information daily. Look for Tennessee material under FindLaw (http://www.findlaw.com/11stategov/tn/laws.html).

OTHER TRENDS: The U.S. Postal Services is offering its stamps online. FedEx customers can fill out mailing forms and track packages on the Net. A recent Atlanta poll indicates that 77% of residents have a computer and connect to the Internet and 74% live in a home where someone uses a cell phone. There are indications that more and more individuals are utilizing cellular phones more than their standard connected phones and communication providers are preparing for a future where each individual will have a unique phone number that will travel to work, school, etc.

The legal community must adapt. One panelist felt that technology was changing legal practice to the point that the generations of attorneys who were not utilizing technology "must either embrace technology or be forced into early retirement…they will die out because they cannot adjust to the fact that they cannot hold the Internet or technology in their hands, so therefore it doesn't exist. But the on-line world is real!"

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