From: "Cortland D. Starrett" <cort@bioanalytical.com> Subject: cryptography eliminates lawyers?
As a follow-up to the article reference I posted, I pose the following question:
Will cryptographic technology and information (communication) technology reduce the need for legal services in the future? (especially regarding contracts, buying/selling, patent law, etc.) Will legal services just look different? Will they be more efficient (cheaper)?
Put bluntly, will cryptography put lawyers out of business? Any comments would be appreciated.
Cort.
How could crypto put lawyers out of business? People would still have disagreements; plans would still go wrong; cars would still crash. More important, transactions would still need to be structured to carry out the desires of the parties while minimizing risks. Good communications technology, including crypto, could make lawyering more efficient, but I suspect the savings would be minimal. Communications technology will no more put lawyers out of business than CASE put programmers out of business. Buford C. Terrell 1303 San Jacinto Street Professor of Law Houston, TX 77002 South Texas College of Law voice (713)646-1857 terrell@sam.neosoft.com fax (713)646-1766