"Law 2.0" and legal argument mapping

[Tim van Gelder]

 

The "Technolawyer" piece below doesn't, on the face of it, have anything to do with the topic of this Google group (legal argument mapping).  However there is a connection. 

 

As you may know, in March Austhink will be releasing a "Pro" version of its Rationale argument mapping tool.  This version, tentatively called ShowCase, will initially be oriented towards business decision making, i.e., deliberative decision making in business (broadly construed).  However we're building it so that it will be easily extendable to "case-making" in other domains such as the legal domain.  We expect this extension to appear in the 3-6 month time frame after inital release. 

 

In parallel, we are working on producing a browser-based argument mapping tool.  This will be a web version of ShowCase rather than Rationale; and it will provide many of the standard advantages of online (as opposed to desktop) tools, such as

- no installation, IT headaches

- work from anywhere

- easy collaboration

 

Now, we haven't yet planned the obvious next step, which would be to create an online or "Web 2.0" legal argument mapping tool/website.  But of course, I think that is in our future.

 

Such a resource would be very much in line with the vision being sketched in the Technolawyer article. 

 

Regards

 

Tim v.G.

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: TechnoLawyer <po...@technolawyer.com>
Date: 22 Jan 2008 16:55:46 -0500
Subject: TechnoFeature: The Law 2.0 Manifesto: Lawyers of the World, Unite

TECHNOFEATURE: THE LAW 2.0 MANIFESTO: LAWYERS OF THE WORLD,
UNITE
By Mazyar M. Hedayat, mailto: mmhed...@gmail.com
(This article is a TechnoLawyer Exclusive.)


SYNOPSIS

First came the store, then the mail order catalog, and then
online shopping. Lawyer and legal technology futurist Mazyar
Hedayat sees a similar path for law firms, especially small
firms. Specifically, he forecasts a shift from monolithic
software applications that require technical expertise to
integrate with one another to lightweight "Web 2.0"
applications that easily integrate. In other words, welcome
to "Law 2.0." Please pardon the dust and watch your step as
Mazyar shows you around and points out some of the most
promising Law 2.0 applications. This article contains 1,261
words.


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INTRODUCTION

First, congratulations on making it through another year. In
2007 we attorneys managed to come out underpaid,
sleep-deprived, overtaxed, and squeezed by everyone from
software vendors to clients as we enjoyed an ever-lower
standard of living. Luckily, there is something on the
horizon that may yet make practice a less taxing experience.
Let's call it "Law 2.0." This is a roadmap for anyone
interested in using the Web to make practice a more pleasant
experience (yeah, as if).


WHAT'S LAW 2.0 AGAIN?

Members of the blawgerati looking for a ticket on the Web
2.0 gravy train recently coined the term Law 2.0. Most
lawyers think of blogs when they think of Web 2.0 ... which
is fine, but that concept excludes a slew of other
developments such as wikis, podcasts, social networks,
resource-sharing sites, and of course RSS. While there is
never a consensus on what Web 2.0 actually is or whether it
it's socially beneficial, in this writer's opinion Law 2.0
is a good thing for embattled small firms and sole
practitioners ("SSPs").


THE LAW 2.0 IMPERATIVE

But what made Web 2.0 so popular in the first place, and why
is it worth emulating in the form of Law 2.0? To answer that
question we simply need to revisit the poster children of
the Web 2.0 era:

* Flickr (photo sharing)
http://www.flickr.com

* YouTube (video sharing)
http://www.youtube.com

* Digg (news sharing)
http://www.digg.com

* del.icio.us (bookmark sharing)
http://del.icio.us

* Google (search)
http://www.google.com

These Web sites have a number of characteristics in common,
but the most prominent are:

* Shared resources contributed by users.
* Simple interface and intuitive function.
* 1-click navigation to/from any page.
* Built-in social/collaboration features.

Are these features worth emulating? What lawyer wouldn't
benefit from applications that capitalize on shared
resources, are easy to use, respond to your preferences, and
foster collaboration? Still, being like their Web 2.0
cousins wouldn't be enough. Law 2.0 applications that don't
fill a user need will lose the interest of the already
overtaxed SSP population.

In my opinion, no higher purpose exists for an application
than to empower SSPs to compete with larger, better funded
firms by meeting these primary challenges:

* Time and space constraints.
* Inflated information costs.
* Inflated labor and material costs.
* Demanding, cost-conscious, fickle clients.
* More competition/lower real wages.

Applications that don't address these needs simply aren't
genuine solutions.


CROWDSOURCING: MOB RULES

We've seen some of what makes Web 2.0 applications useful,
but how did such Web sites pop up in just 2 or 3 years? To
begin with, for years now programmers have moved away from
complex, proprietary systems toward simple, open ones --
extremes characterized by giant software sweatshops versus
tiny creative communities. The explosive force of this clash
gave us the tools that are now household names, and the
winner of the battle has been the consumer.

One terrific example of this process is Firefox. Considered
by many the most advanced Web browser available, Firefox was
born when Netscape released its source code to its legions
of users (many of whom were still teenagers at the time).
Faster that you could say Dungeons & Dragons, users were
putting in countless hours for the privilege of being the
first on their block to score a new Firefox feature, or just
to stick it to Microsoft's Internet Explorer which was
notoriously crash-prone and bundled with every new computer.


Despite Microsoft's obvious financial superiority, Firefox
entered the market and has held onto a respectable market
share almost entirely by word of mouth. Even development
costs were miniscule by comparison, looking something like
this:

Year: 1996

Product/Event: Mozilla founded by Marc Andreessen: Netscape
Navigator ushers in the Web.

Cost: Millions

Year: 1997

Product/Event: Browser Wars: Internet Explorer overtakes
Navigator and never looks back.

Cost: Tens of Millions

Year: 1999

Product/Event: Netscape opens its source code to users and
Firefox is born soon thereafter.

Cost: Tens of Thousands

By 2004 this model of Internet-powered production came to be
known simply as crowdsourcing because of the way it drew
resources and participation from anywhere and everywhere
into the hands of those who needed it, instantly harnessing
the power of the 'net. Any member of the crowd could do the
same. It was capitalism at its sharpest.

The import of crowdsourcing cannot be overstated if Law 2.0
is to become reality. Unfortunately however, small and solo
firms almost never share resources, information, or anything
else. Ironically, this is what keeps most of them small;
while they outnumber large firms, buy and spend the most
from vendors, and represent the deepest knowledge base in
the profession, sole practitioners and small firms wield
little real power because they remain a fragmented mess
instead of a unified force.

Could simple resource sharing and communication tools change
this reality? What am I a fortune teller? Okay, the answer
is no. The change must be internal first. But developing the
right tools will go a long way towards making cooperation
not only possible but profitable.


CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED ... SORT OF

If Law 2.0 is to mean anything it must go beyond any single
software application and emanate from behavioral changes --
real changes. Because what good is software that promises to
unchain lawyers from their desks if it requires an IT staff
to configure (do you even have an IT staff?). Remember, the
whole point of Web 2.0 and hence Law 2.0 is to eliminate IT
mumbo-jumbo in favor of easily understood concepts like:

* Working anywhere.
* Finding anything.
* Collaborating with anyone.
* Keeping costs down (way down).

Granted, this piece suggests that you look beyond the sales
representatives who typically visit your office, venture
into unfamiliar territory, and risk landing on the pointy
end of modern technology, but how else were you planning to
lower your costs without sacrificing productivity or
service? The first steps are always the hardest, but I
guarantee a worthwhile journey. Trust me.

Besides, it turns out that every time you buy another piece
of hardware or software, enter into another lease or
financing agreement, or renew your subscription to whatever
research service, you're taking just as much of a chance --
in fact more -- than if you were to spend a little time
exploring the brave new world of Law 2.0.


BONUS: APPLICATIONS YOU CAN USE NOW

To prove I'm not just whistling Dixie, I've identified a
number of practice management functions and suggested free
or inexpensive Web 2.0/Law 2.0 applications you can use to
meet your goals. Enjoy.


OFFICE SUITES

Zoho
http://www.zoho.com

Star Office
http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/index.jsp

Google Apps
https://www.google.com/a/

ThinkFree
http://www.thinkfree.com


LEGAL RESEARCH

FastCase
https://www.fastcase.com

Loislaw
http://loislaw.com

Google (custom search)
http://www.google.com/coop/cse/

PowerSet and other semantic search tools
http://www.powerset.com

del.icio.us
http://del.icio.us

Diigo
http://www.diigo.com

ma.gnolia
http://ma.gnolia.com


TELEPHONY

Vonage
http://www.vonage.com

Jaxtr
http://www.jaxtr.com

Your local IP-enabled phone vendor


PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

Bill4Time
http://www.bill4time.com

Zimbra
http://www.zimbra.com

Zoho
http://www.zoho.com

37Signals (HighRise, BackPack, etc.)
http://www.37signals.com


LITIGATION REVIEW & DOCUMENT AUTOMATION

Lexbe
http://www.lexbe.com

ScanR
http://www.scanr.com

HotDocs Online
http://www.hotdocs.com

Ixio
http://www.ixio.com

Others in development


INSTANT MESSAGING

GTalk
http://www.google.com/talk/

AIM
http://www.aim.com

Messenger
http://webmessenger.msn.com


BLOGGING

WordPress
http://wordpress.org

Blogger
http://www.blogger.com

SquareSpace
http://www.squarespace.com

Tumblr
http://www.tumblr.com


SOCIAL NETWORKS (WORTH VISITING)

FaceBook
http://www.facebook.com

CollectiveX
http://www.collectivex.com

BrainKeeper
http://www.brainkeeper.com


BONUS: MASH-UPS

Yahoo Pipes
http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/

Google Gears
http://gears.google.com

Zillow (real estate)
http://www.zillow.com

Avvo (attorney portal)
http://www.avvo.com


BONUS: MICROBLOGS

HelloTxt
http://www.hellotxt.com

Twitter
http://twitter.com

Jaiku
http://www.jaiku.com

Pownce
http://www.pownce.com

Copyright 2008 Mazyar M. Hedayat. All rights reserved.

Respond to this TechnoFeature: mailto:po...@technolawyer.com


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

An avid user of technology, Mazy Hedayat has evangelized
fellow attorneys about the benefits of electronic practice
since the 90's. Nowadays he writes, speaks, and consults on
using Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 to kick-start efficiency
and profitability, as well as to solve problems. His
background includes stints at the University of Chicago, the
University of Michigan, U of M's Ross School of Business,
and DePaul College of Law. In addition to writing articles,
Mr. Hedayat maintains blogs regarding practice technology,
bankruptcy, and real estate. More information is available
at <http://www.mha-law.com>.

Contact Mazyar:
E: mailto:mmhed...@gmail.com
-----------------------------------------------------------

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