Monday, March 14, 2011

Does it compute?

Last week, the Business Law Prof Blog posted a review of three trends affecting future practice: outsourcing, automation and Internet resources. Reaction was typified by statements to the effect that less than 1% of legal services could be served by outsourcing, automation, or internet resources.

In the context of automation, two areas of expertise are required to make such a statement: (a) knowledge of the practice of law; and (b) knowledge of the capabilities of technology.

And, herein is the difference between silicone and carbon. A computer requires at least some data to compute; a human can opine based on incomplete information.