Bad News For Law Schools

[jiimbergin]

Re: Bad News For Law Schools

About 20 people have sent me this article. I found it highly hyperbolic -- almost fantastical.

The gist seems to be -- "We don't need lawyers to review every single document by hand anymore!"

Newsflash: the legal field has been using Google-like document searching for about a decade. The only time every doc gets reviewed by hand is when the matter is "bet the company." In which case, I suspect they will still want every doc reviewed by hand.

These technolgoies have not obviated the need to actually, you know, review and analyze the documents resulting from a search within the context of a particular matter, and apply the legal and factual context to determine what the document means.

In 15-20 years, the machines will probably be able to analyze a document for its content and how it relates to the facts and legal framework of the case-at-hand. At which point, lawyers will still be needed to draft the memorandums and motions that rely on these documents.

10-15 years after that, the machines will do it all. At which point, most other jobs will be gone as well. Hopefully, we will have the social programs in place so that this abundance will lead to a life of leisure for all of humanity, rather than abject poverty for all but the owners of the machines.

yes, Lexis has been around long before the world wide web was readily available to most people. Here is a link
http://www.lexisnexis.com/about-us/history.aspx