Upgrades and Training Marginally Improve Legal Technology

Stuart Kay, director of global business systems at Baker & McKenzie, documented the firm's roll-out and training for the new Office suite in "Baker & McKenzie Jumps to Office 2010 and Embraces Templates." Casey Flaherty followed with a humorous and provocative, " Could Baker & McKenzie Have Saved $150 Million Last Year?" While congratulating them, Casey suggested that lack of competence with technology is the key barrier to efficiency. Following him, I suggest that upgrades to software and better training on it will only marginally improve results. The current technology stack, though deeply embedded in the profession, is almost totally inappropriate for our work. This explains why each round of technology requires more technology and generates ever-greater masses of data that must be handled with … more technology. It also helps explain why lawyers are reluctant to really learn it.

Contrast two other great professions of letters (by "letters," I mean characters, a, b, c, etc.). Journalism has been rocked by competition from free and fast (Craigslist, news sites, blogs, Twitter). Software engineers work ever-greater wonders, much of it free.