ABA Techshow '96 Update

By Alan Gahtan - April 1996

The ABA Techshow, held in Chicago March 21-23, recently marked its tenth anniversary. This year the annual event attracted over 3,000 legal professionals from across the US and Canada including a large contingent from Ontario. They gathered to learn how technology can be used to assist lawyers in performing their jobs more efficiently and effectively.

The use of computers in the legal profession have come a long way. Ten years ago, personal computers were found only in the law offices of a few pioneers. Microsoft had just released the first version of its widely under used Windows software. At that time, most lawyers associated technology with a better way of word processing. But times have changed. Now the personal computer is the standard in the law office. Legal technology is a pervasive part of most lawyers' and their clients' lives.

Use of technology in the law office once meant productivity enhancements for the support staff. The focus is now on technology's benefits for serving clients, creating better legal services, increasing organizational efficiency, meeting ethical responsibilities and fostering quality. Many practitioners are beginning to regard the use of technology as a strategic tool or weapon.

This year's theme was the "convergence of technology and the legal profession". Attendees mixed and matched programs from seven different program tracks comprising almost 100 sessions. This year's show included an on-site Internet lab at the nearby University of Chicago. The Conference also included an exhibit hall with more than 150 vendor booths show casing their basic to cutting-edge technology products.

The Conference's keynote address was delivered by ABA President Roberta Cooper Ramo. According to Cooper Ramo, a great deal of legal information is becoming increasingly easy to access - both by lawyers and by the clients themselves. Lay people with problems can increasingly find self-help information.

How will lawyers add value? Lawyers are skilled in selecting relevant information and then analysing and interpreting the information. Lawyers can also provide creative solutions to problems.

What will the lawyer's desktop look like in ten years time? Cooper Ramo predicted that within the next five to ten years, most lawyers will have video conferencing capabilities at the desktop along with document sharing facilities. Usage of fax machines will gradually decline because of more secure and efficient computer-to-computer communications. Finally, the role of the librarian will transform into that of an information specialist.

One interesting idea discussed at the Conference was the possible use of document assembly through a firm's Web site. Clients can fill out questions on a Web form that is then used to generate the first draft of a document. The document is routed to the appropriate lawyer in the firm for revision.

The Internet, and especially security issues surrounding the Internet, were an important theme at the Conference. David Vandagriff, a Techshow speaker and manager of product development for Lexis/Nexis suggested that firms planning to connect their internal networks to the Internet should hire a professional security specialist to set up a firewall. The purpose of a firewall is to protect the law office network from intruders attempting to gain access from the Internet. In addition, Vandagriff recommended that a separate consultant should be hired to "crack" the firewall on an on-going basis.

Phil Zimmerman, the now legendary developer of PGP encryption software, served on a panel dealing with encryption and data security. The US Justice Department had recently dropped its investigation of Mr. Zimmerman for his role in the export of PGP outside the US. Encryption products in Canada and the US are subject to export controls.

According to Zimmerman, we may be giving up our privacy through the seduction of the information age. More and more of our lives are being exposed. The Web is replacing our libraries and newsstands. Technology is available to monitor what we read online. Cryptography can be powerful tool in the protection of our privacy.

PGP has become the most widely used software in the world for e-mail encryption. However, it is still difficult to integrate into many corporate e-mail systems. According to Zimmerman, he is currently involved in the development of a new version of PGP that will be more easily integrated into popular e-mail programs such as Microsoft Mail and ccMail.

Zimmerman also announced that work on a new product called PGPfone is underway. PGPfone is an Internet telephony product that utilizes high level encryption to prevent conversations from being intercepted. Beta versions of PGPfone for Macintosh and Windows 95 are now available from M.I.T. The solution to the problem of secure lawyer-client communications may not be far away.

© 2005 Alan M. Gahtan. All Rights Reserved | Use is subject to these Legal Terms
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