Summer is a time to relax, enjoy outdoor activities with family and friends, and prepare for the future. The immediate short term future may be getting your children back to school, taking one more vacation before Winter sets in, or working on that case that has been postponed into the Fall. The long term, on the other hand, may hold a few more surprises, especially for those who practice law.   

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a seminar given by Thomas L. Friedman, author of The World is Flat. In his book, Friedman describes how, in the seeming blink of an eye, technology has dramatically changed how business, the practice of law, and our personal lives are conducted. For example, we speak to customer service representatives for Dell, who are sitting in Bangalore, India, who e-mail our purchase confirmations and assure us that the computer we just ordered is being assembled in China and will arrive within 72 hours. Just a little over 10 years ago, fax machines were still using thermal paper that curled and faded within days. We carried our cell phones in satchels that often required shoulder straps. Discovery, which now arrives at our office on CD/DVD formatted discs, arrived at our office in boxes. The desktop/laptop computer, as well as that PDA smartphone, have become an ubiquitous part of our practices. We now receive e-mails, sometimes with attachments, from attorneys who are pecking away on their Blackberrys while sitting in court. Whether all of this is a good thing is not for me decide. The fact of the matter is that all of this is likely to be just the beginning.
Mr. Friedman discussed two recent developments that will likely impact all of us. The first is the outsourcing of legal work as a means of enhancing one’s practice. Consider that there are one million lawyers in India, most of whom earn $6-12 per hour. As many as 20% of these attorneys have been trained in the United States. They came to the United States to attend the best law schools and to network with others who will be entering the legal workforce. The plan is for these fledgling lawyers to attend not only Ivy League schools but also top ranked State law schools. There, they become proficient in the laws and practices of a particular state. Upon their return to India, an internet marketing campaign puts them in contact with law firms in the U.S. which require immediate legal services. These attorneys will work for $30.00 per hour, as opposed to a $250 or more per hour rate, and through the use of the internet and e-mail, the turnaround can be overnight. The law firms, in turn, are able to provide services to clients more quickly, and at a reduced rate. An ABA research survey of attorneys revealed that when questioned about outsourcing,  most lawyers believed that it would have no effect on them, and that they were not concerned with outsourcing. Essentially, they were taking the “head in the sand approach.” When potential clients were polled, however, over 40% indicated that they wanted their attorneys to provide prompt legal services at a lower cost to them. If Dell can make it work in the business environment, the law profession cannot be far behind.

The second, and more disturbing trend, is the proliferation of legal websites which offer the public everything from simple advice to legal forms to assistance settling person injury cases, all without once speaking with an attorney. One such site is Legalzoom.com®, created by Robert Shapiro of O. J. Simpson fame. For a fee of about one tenth what a law firm would charge, one can form an LLC, obtain a lease, get a pleading, or write a will, to name a few, all State specific. At another site, Cybersettle.com®, which has partnered with AAA, a person can obtain an insurance settlement merely by entering figures on the website. Another is Smartsettle.com®, which is geared specifically to personal injury cases. Again, no attorney is involved. Should we be concerned? There are issues involving the unauthorized practice of law, multi-jurisdictional practices, and liability concern. Food for thought. The future may be coming much quicker than we suspect, and it may be affecting our practices in ways we never anticipated.

I leave you with this account of how one problem solver dealt with a problem. Hopefully, we can do better. After the Duke lacrosse incident, the President of Duke University promptly fired the lacrosse coach, without even conducting an investigation. Later, when asked whether he would have done the same thing if it had been the basketball team instead of the lacrosse team, the President said he would have handled it the same way - he would have fired the lacrosse coach!