Technology Won't Make You A Better Lawyer
If lawyers haven't mastered 19th century technology, can they really handle the 21st?
Dogs bark. Toddlers whine. Toilets flush. The Court has heard all of these during telephonic status hearings. The Court has also head Metra conductors announcing the next stop, Starbucks’ baristas calling out orders, and clerks shouting out case numbers. This is a problem.
So begins a “Standing Order Regarding Telephonic Status Hearings” forwarded to me a couple of days ago. It’s a preemptive, buckshot benchslap aimed at every lawyer in the district.
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Apparently, some lawyers are having problems with proper decorum, etiquette and duty while on a telephonic conference call with the Court. It’s not too surprising really. We live in an era of multi-tasking. Check Twitter, get coffee, walk dog, reply to email, call office. If you’re not juggling at least 4 tasks at any given time, are you really trying?
Isn’t that the beauty and wonder of technology? To be able to simplify and optimize tasks, enabling you to do more?
Technology continues to be a hot topic here on Above The Law. This past week saw a rash of coverage about #legaltech!™ in the wake of LTNY. Some of what was on display likely provides tangible benefits to law firms. Some of it was just a slightly better mousetrap. Some was total bullshit. (FYI — if you’re relying on swag to get people to talk about your product, on the spectrum of useful to bullshit, you’re closer to the latter.)
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Technology is just a tool. It can be useful, it can be useless. There are amateurs who can take a tool and build something vaguely resembling a table, and there are craftsmen who can take a tool and build something you’d find at Horchow. The tools are the same, the difference is in the skill of the person wielding it.
A telephonic status hearing should not be viewed as an opportunity to pick up dry-cleaning or play Tetris. Oftentimes, counsel will call into status hearings while driving. On those occasions, the Court wonders about the safety of those around counsel, counsel’s ability to focus on both tasks, and the quality of legal representation counsel is providing to their clients.
Ouch.
Look, lawyers are screwing up telephone calls. We’re talking about 19th century technology. What the hell do you expect them to do with a cloud-based, multi-encrypted, blockchain-oriented contract software?
People on the cheerleader side of things would have you believe that technology is a panacea to all that ails you, whether you be client or lawyer. But it’s not. Technology all by itself is a siren’s song. It’s just a tool. And tools can’t use themselves.
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I’m all for better tools, process improvements, and advancements if they can help lawyers do more effective and efficient work for clients.
But before we get to all that, we need to make sure we’re being better lawyers.
If a lawyer can’t provide the duty and care to their clients for a simple telephonic conference, do you think they are going to put forth the effort and due diligence to understand bleeding edge technology? I don’t.
Lawyers’ primary duty is not to the shiniest widget or the newest BLEEP BOOP, it’s to their clients. That means being the best lawyer they can be. Taking the time to give each client’s matter their 100% attention. Not using technology to multi-task, but using technology to enable more time for each client.
Sometimes technology can help lawyers with their job, sometimes it can’t. I imagine most lawyers are largely indifferent.
Lawyers, good lawyers anyway, are focused on solving their client’s problems, not worrying about what’s coming out of Silicon Valley. And good lawyers will view and evaluate technology with the same eye they view most new problems and situations — with skepticism.
Should a good lawyer stay abreast of technology? Sure. But not because it’s cool, shiny, or new. Good lawyers should stay abreast of technology because it can help them be a better lawyer and provide better service to their clients. That’s it. Anything else is superfluous.
Read the whole benchslap on the following page.
Keith Lee practices law at Hamer Law Group, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama. He writes about professional development, the law, the universe, and everything at Associate’s Mind. He is also the author of The Marble and The Sculptor: From Law School To Law Practice (affiliate link), published by the ABA. You can reach him at keith.lee@hamerlawgroup.com or on Twitter at @associatesmind.