Re: The Power of the Internet

In response to Stuart Levine's post concerning the availability of information on the internet, especially Supreme Court decisions, I note the same power of the internet extends to state court decisions.

I couple of years ago, I was defending against a motion for summary disposition scheduled for hearing in the circuit court.  The morning of the hearing, I read the summary of a decision from the Michigan Court of Appeals in an onlinejournal published by the Michigan State Bar called "The e-journal."  I clicked on the link to the decision, read it, found that it that was exactly on point and was binding precedent applicable to defeat my opponent's motion.  I printed out the decision and called opposing counsel and asked if he had seen the opinion.  He had not.  My recollection is that he told me he did not subscribe to the e-journal, which is free to members and all lawyers in Michigan must be members.  I faxed the decision over to him and he called me back, conceding that he was not entitled to summary disposition and would withdraw his motion.  Thanks to the power of the internet, the c
 ircuit court judge did not have to hear or decide the motion.  My client was spared some !
 expense because I did not have to appear or argue the motion.

Stuart Levine wrote:  I would be interested in receiving comments from others 
on this list as to what this trend means for the business 
of the practice of law. My sense is that the field will grow 
more narrow, with non-lawyers researching the 
questions that they formerly directed to their attorneys. 

My take on this question is that it is similar to the question of whether a lawyer should retain the services of a computer or technology consultant or try to do the work himself or herself.  Some argue that the lawyer should stick to lawyering because he or she can earn more money than it would cost to have the consultant do the work.  Other lawyers do the work, or some of it, because they enjoy it or for some other reason. 

Another factor to consider in Mr. Levine's question is all of the contextual knowledge that lawyers use and apply when reading court decisions or when doing other legal work.  A couple examples of what I mean by contextual knowledge are the ability to see whether a decision is controlling in a given context and the ability to spot a flaw or weakness in a decision because of the lawyer's extensive knowledge of other decisions or of the statutory construct.  Basic knowledge of procedure and the court rules are also significant part of contextual knowledge.  

While a nonlawyer can develop that knowledge, it takes time and considerable study.  Many lawyers will immediately identify with this point, especially if they have read an incomprehensible brief or two written by individuals representing themselves.  To be fair, some individuals representing themselves can do a fine job writing intelligible briefs or making good arguments.  Those individuals have taken the time and studied enough to be effective.  For those people, the power of the internet will make their job somewhat easier and somewhat less time consuming.  For those unwilling to make the investment in time and study, the power of the internet will make no difference.  For both groups, the decision to hire a lawyer may still be a good idea because it is cost effective or for some other reason.

In the end, I think the power of the internet within the context of Mr. Levine's question inures to the advantage of the lawyer or the nonlawyer who continues to invest time and effort in keeping up with the development of the law.  The costs to do so are reduced compared to what they were before the internet.  The time it takes to find and acquire the information may be reduced compared to what it took before the internet.  The time it takes to do the studying probably remains the same.  The benefits are probably what they were for those who did it before the internet existed:  A better lawyer armed with more knowledge that can be used for the client's benefit as appropriate.  

Ann Byrne


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/dpFolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

-/-/-/-/-/

There is a read/write Web page with resources that will be linked there and used during the Seminar on PDFs for lawyers and legal applications:

http://Network-Lawyers.org/PDFLinks

-/-/-/-/-/


 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Network-Lawyers/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     Network-Lawyers-unsubscribe-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/