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The Internet & The Practice of Law |
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by Jerry Lawson |
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http://www.netlawtools.com |
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GM & Ford have begun preparations to sell
cars to consumers directly over the Internet. The biggest obstacle? Most
states have laws that give licensed local dealerships a monopoly on new car
sales. |
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Before beginning the meat of the presentation,
two questions to ponder: |
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How likely is it that GM and Ford will be
selling cars over the Internet 10 years from now? |
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Why is this relevant to the legal profession? |
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New
Ways To Deliver Legal Services |
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New
Competition for Lawyers |
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Nolo Press |
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Quicken Family Lawyer (Parsons Technology) |
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“Harvard Law Professor Arthur Miller gives you
answers to some of the most commonly asked legal questions.” Interactive CD features Prof. Miller. |
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Link to FreeAdvice.com |
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Link to LegalWise Online (Online legal library) |
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Estate Planner |
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U.S. District Court Judge Barefoot Sanders ruled
that “Quicken Family Lawyer” constituted the unauthorized practice of law. |
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The Texas legislature promptly amended the
definition of unauthorized practice of law so that it excludes legal advice
delivered by computerized means. |
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“Hands Off The Net” Attitude Prevails In Both
Major Political Parties |
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Net Alternatives Have Appeal |
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Lower Cost |
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More Convenience |
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The Kicker – Quality |
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For many consumers and for many types of
problems, web-based delivery will be not just cheaper, but better. |
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Public
Dislike of Lawyers |
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Anti-Lawyer Jokes |
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Political Attacks |
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Ten Years From Now? |
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Five years? One year? How about now? Ford has
already started such sales in at least one state, despite a local statute. |
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Why are GM & Ford likely to succeed? |
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Local statutes arguably violate Commerce Clause |
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More important: Consumer demand for choices,
convenience and lower cost. |
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Don’t count on the continued existence of a
state-granted monopoly on the sale of legal services to prevent the arrival
of new types of competitors for lawyers. |
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For example, Arizona already has a very narrowly
defined definition of unauthorized practice. |
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What other factors are behind this change in the
landscape? |
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Better educated
& willing to try self-help |
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Willingness to shop around looking for value |
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Little law firm loyalty |
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Desire for different fee structures |
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Dislike of hourly rates |
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Alternative fee structures -- e.g., Priceline |
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Consumers Willing to Sub-Optimize |
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Compare using Net for medical diagnosis |
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Coming ubiquity of Net access |
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A Wired World |
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Net Appliances, Convergence (Web TV, Sony
Playstation), etc. |
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Even refrigerators & cars will be on the Net |
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Consumers will first visit a legal web when they
have a legal problem |
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Consumers will see if they can get an answer for
free |
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Or a legal document at low cost |
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Buy discrete legal advice or legal service when
required. |
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Help in finding a lawyer at your price point. -
informed decision-making |
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Legal Information About Common Subjects |
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Frequently Asked Questions Data Base |
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Search Engines |
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Diagnostic Analysis |
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Document Assembly Services |
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Automatic Calculators - e.g. child support |
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Digital Solutions |
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Infomediary Models |
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Auction Models |
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Reverse Auctions |
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New Types of Legal Insurance |
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Alternative Dispute Settlement On-Line |
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Electronic Filing - Productivity Solutions |
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Highly fragmented |
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Under-capitalized |
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Low level use of technology |
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Mainly word processing and billing |
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Not truly web-enabled |
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One-to-one relationship model |
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Limited “reach” |
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Limited “leverage” |
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Lawyers Serving Society |
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Through Technology |
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The mission of the Tech 2000 Committee is to
assist attorneys and the organized bar to identify and use technology to
meet the needs of moderate income individuals and families. |
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Help Consumers |
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Help Solos/Small Firms Meet New Challenges |
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50% of moderate income households in the US have
at least one legal problem per year |
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Only 20% seek legal assistance |
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26% do nothing |
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Alternatives such as self-help |
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Ethics and Rules |
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Technology and Standards |
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Lawyer Competency |
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The ABA should fund an entity to review existing
ethics rules to identify those that impede the use of Internet technology
to deliver legal services to low and moderate income Americans, and, on an
accelerated basis, to submit appropriate recommend-ations, consistent with
the core values of the profession, to the appropriate rule-making
authorities. |
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The President of the ABA should designate an
appropriate entity to engage state rule making and rule enforcement
authorities so that interpretations and enforcement do not needlessly
inhibit innovation. To that end,
convene a multistate (virtual and live) conference of state bar ethics
policy makers and disciplinary officers, NOBC, NCBP to encourage Internet
delivery of legal services and information. |
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The President of the ABA should designate an
appropriate entity to facilitate the immediate creation of Safe Harbor
rules to facilitate technical and practice innovation, while protecting
consumers, lawyers and providers. |
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The President of the ABA should delegate to an
appropriate entity the responsibility to develop collaborative
relationships between non-profit organizations and entities engaged in
electronic commerce and services, with a particular focus on those engaged
in the delivery of legal services over the Internet. |
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The President of the ABA should designate an
appropriate entity to play an active role in developing and sponsoring the
Legal XML Standard. In that role, the ABA will encourage the use of the
Standard among its members, private industry, courts, and government
agencies. The ABA will adopt this Standard for all ABA publications. |
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To improve law practice efficiency and enable
lawyers to provide better legal services, the President of the ABA should
designate an appropriate entity to facilitate private sector development of
low-cost, comprehensive Internet practice tools for lawyers. These tools
should be especially targeted at small and solo practitioners. |
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The President of the ABA should delegate to an
appropriate entity the responsibility to establish standards and policies for e-law sites
and provide ABA stamp of approval for e-law sites. Such standards should
include, but not limited to, privacy standards, disclosures, disclaimers,
confidentiality, due diligence, security, consumer information, and
consistency of business models with professional norms. |
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The President of the ABA should designate an
appropriate entity to revise the MacCrate Report’s Statement of Fundamental
Lawyering Skills and Values, to reflect new technological advances and
interdisciplinary developments as standards of lawyer competency. |
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Chaos Dot Com |
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Met on April 15, San Francisco |
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Ethics 2000 |
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Draft Model Rule Revisions Posted March 23, 1999 |
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Notes