When it comes to the intersection of technology with the practice of law, I think of the classic book, “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus,” which seeks to improve the way men and women communicate. In the book, author John Gray suggests that couples must acknowledge and accept the differences between them before they can develop happier relationships. Similarly, lawyers must recognize and understand that technology, like communication, is not a barrier to being productive, but the highway to doing so.
In a recent Pennsylvania Law Weekly column, one local attorney ruminated that the advent of technology has created a situation in which communication is constant, and that “if a lawyer chose to take a day off from the emails and text messages and other rapid forms of communication, the lawyer could easily have hundreds, if not thousands, of unanswered emails.” The lawyer concluded his commentary by saying that “law and technology have created a profession that’s becoming less desirable to practice because of the 24/7 constant demands,” and that a “lawyer used to be someone involved in many different matters and many different community activities and also someone who had a great interest and knowledge in continuing to learn. This modern world clearly prevents that from happening. Lawyers and judges don’t read like they used to, nor do they have the time to do so. It’s a real shame for any young lawyer.”
Allow me to present a contrary point of view—firsthand. And remember, when I graduated law school more than 30 years ago, we used typewriters, carbon paper and the Commodore 64 was a brand new item.