Basic legal technology skills are “foundational” for today’s legal market — from hlrecord.org by Shannon Bales
Legal technology is often an afterthought for many lawyers in the practice of law and that is a mistake. In the coming years legal tech literacy (or lack thereof) will produce a sea change in the fortunes and careers of lawyers and firms. Firms that can couple legal services with efficient process, workflow and legal tech skills will win the business while those who don’t will wither.
Desperate times call for innovation — from abovethelaw.com by Cori Robinson
New York expands standby guardian statute and permits video witnessing of estate planning documents.
Excerpt:
First online notarization, then the legalization of surrogacy, now an expansion of the standby guardian law and authorization of video witnessing of estate planning documents. Governor Andrew Cuomo of COVID-19-stricken New York is a gift not only to trusts and estates attorneys, but to all citizens.
From DSC:
As the ripples move outward from this time of the Coronavirus, we need to be very careful with #EmergingTechnologies. For example, where might the use of (police dept) drones equipped with #AI & #FacialRecognition flying overhead take us? What if you’re of the “wrong religion” in a country? Hmm…
Social Distancing Enforcement Drones Arrive in the U.S. — from nymag.com by Adam Raymond
Excerpts:
In late January, a viral video from China showed people who’d wandered outside in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak getting scolded by a disembodied voice from a drone flying overhead. Last month, similar campaigns began in France, where locals flouting travel restrictions were gently reminded to “respectez les distances de sécurité s’il vous plaît.”
Now, self-righteous flying robots have made their way to the U.S., with at least two American police departments deploying drones to tell people to disperse, go home, and stay there.
“These drones will be around the City with an automated message from the Mayor telling you to STOP gathering, disperse and go home,” the police department wrote on Facebook. “Summonses HAVE AND WILL CONTINUE to be issued to those found in violation. Fines are up to $1000. You have been advised.”
Pandemic II: Justice system down — from law21.ca by Jordan Furlong
Excerpt:
We need to recognize a couple of things about our justice system, in order to fully appreciate the fate that awaits it in the COVID-19 era and the tasks that now lie in front of us.
The first is that the system has nowhere near the capacity or resilience required to handle an emergency of this magnitude. Like our hospitals, which are about to be overrun with virus patients, our courts are perpetually underfunded, technologically handicapped, and already overloaded.
Case backlogs are common, hearings are routinely adjourned, and even straightforward cases stretch out over months and years. There is an entire body of constitutional law that addresses how long you can delay a person’s trial before their rights are violated, and it should tell us something that we don’t even find that remarkable anymore.
What this crisis has revealed is the central operating assumption of our justice institutions, which has now become our stumbling block: Everybody comes to the courthouse.
…
Richard Susskind has made many insightful observations over the course of his career, but I suspect one will outlast all the others: “We have to decide if court is a place or a service.” For hundreds of years — right up until last month, in fact — court has been a place. By the time this pandemic has truly run its course, court will be a service.
“Some healthcare providers had dabbled in this before COVID-19, but the interest has increased now that social distancing is mandated in many areas.”
DC: And, hopefully, #telelegal won’t be too far behind #telemedicine / #virtualhealth https://t.co/1Wv9uvv7Kj
— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) April 7, 2020
5. Telemedicine
Have you received the emails from your healthcare professionals that they are open for telemedicine or virtual consultations? To curb traffic at hospitals and other healthcare practitioners’ offices, many are implementing or reminding their patients that consultations can be done through video. Rather than rush to the doctor or healthcare center, remote care enables clinical services without an in-person visit. Some healthcare providers had dabbled in this before COVID-19, but the interest has increased now that social distancing is mandated in many areas.
Trial by video conference? Not yet, but coronavirus forces Bay Area courts to embrace more virtual proceedings — from sfchronicle.com by Bob Egelko
Also see:
8 technologies you should be using in your depositions and trials in 2020 — from jdsupra.com
From virtual proceedings and paperless depositions to real-time technologies and mobile capabilities, technology has become an integral part of practicing law today.
Excerpt:
As legal technology continues to advance and evolve, trials and depositions bear little resemblance to the paper-centric proceedings they used to be in decades past. The days when litigation meant being buried in boxes and boxes of documents and exhibits are long gone.
From virtual proceedings and paperless depositions to real-time technologies and mobile capabilities, technology has become an integral part of practicing law today. If you want to get the most out of your next deposition or trial, you need to be familiar with the top technologies that are changing the game in 2020.
DC: Hmmm…regarding #telelegal, I keep wondering how it will be impacted by what’s occurring with #telemedicine …?
“The FCC has developed/approved a $200 million program to fund telehealth services and devices for medical providers…”https://t.co/J8U858rXYU#legal
— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) April 3, 2020
FCC enacts $200M telehealth initiative to ease COVID-19 burden on hospitals — from techcrunch.com by Devin Coldewey
Excerpt:
The FCC has developed and approved a $200 million program to fund telehealth services and devices for medical providers, just a week or so after the funding was announced. Hospitals and other health centers will be able to apply for up to $1 million to cover the cost of new devices, services and personnel.
The unprecedented $2 trillion CARES Act includes heavy spending on all kinds of things, from direct payments to out-of-work citizens to bailouts for airlines and other big businesses. Among the many, many funding items was a $200 million earmarked for the FCC with which it was instructed to improve and subsidize telehealth services around the country.
Also see:
#telehealth | #telemedicine | #telelegal
Law by Design — a book by Margaret Hagan
Excerpt:
Why combine law with design? Even if these two fields have traditionally not intersected, I see three main points of value in bringing them together.
Also see:
From DSC:
Given the attached graphic…what do you suppose, how might this type of thing impact #telelegal (i.e., akin to what’s currently building with #telemedicine for the healthcare industry)?
If things blow over in 3 weeks, not much will likely change within the legal realm. But if the impacts from the Coronavirus go on for 6 months or more (like we still have with tighter airport security resulting from what occurred on 9/11/2001), I’d say we’ll see more lawyers strike out on their own and/or join firms that support telelegal. Or, we’ll see fewer people go into law…which is NOT what our society needs given our current Access to Justice (#A2J) crisis involving civil law cases.
Another possibility could be an explosive growth in legaltech / cloud-based apps for providing legal services.
Regardless…this is what a wave looks like when it starts to build. Firms, individual lawyers, and even law schools can ride it or be crushed by it.
Addendum on 4/1 and this is NOT an April Fool’s joke:
Dam breaking on law firm layoffs. Many more to come. Also cuts to partner draws, cancelation of summer programs and other measures underway.
— Kent M. Zimmermann (@kentzimmermann) March 30, 2020
DC: Hmmm…can’t help but wonder if online-based courts would help mightily in this situation? #legal #law #courts #lawschool #innovation #change #A2J https://t.co/lIxFg1X7Rb pic.twitter.com/88wWStlb10
— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) March 23, 2020
COVID-19 Leaves Backlogged Courts With A Justice Pile-Up — from law360.com by Cara Bayles
