“The role of humans as the most important factor of production is bound to diminish in the same way that the role of the horses in agricultural production was first diminished and then eliminated by the introduction of tractors.”
“The greatest task before civilisation at present is to make machines what they ought to be, the slaves, instead of the masters of men.”
Many lawyers lack the time to learn about technology in legal practice. But those same lawyers must make professional decisions about technology right now.
Those decisions must be sensible, reasonable, and defensible.
The idea for the book started several years ago when a crop of new lawyers (and some not so new) began asking me: Is it ethical to use Email? Smartphones? iPads? Dropbox? Evernote? iCloud? Facebook?
Over many sandwiches and lots of coffee, I asked my colleagues to imagine explaining why their use of technology caused their client harm. Then I asked them to imagine an angry client testifying against them at a disciplinary tribunal or court.
What are you going to say?
What evidence are you going to tender?
Sensible, reasonable, and defensible decisions must withstand a trial.
Patterns appeared from those discussions, other conversations with several dozen colleagues around the world interested in technology, and talks with computer scientists who worked with judges and lawyers every day. I started writing all this down, taught it, tested it, published it, listened to feedback, refined it—and, several years later, we now have a book: The pillars of digital security. How to ethically use technology in legal practice. Drawing on international sources in common law countries, it's been used by lawyers and judges across the USA and Canada, in the United Kingdom, throughout New Zealand, and around Australia.
Written by a busy lawyer for other busy lawyers, I hope I have made a practical guide to using—and overseeing others using—technology in legal practice.
The Law Society of New South Wales established the Future Committee in 2016 and, in turn, the Future of Law and Innovation in the Profession (flip) Commission of Inquiry to better understand the changes taking place in and around the legal profession and to provide the profession with recommendations that will enable lawyers to better accommodate new concepts and ideas, and adapt to changes that are taking place and will inevitably continue to do so.
I was the only barrister invited by the President of the Law Society to testify before the inquiry (14 September 2018).
Click on the video to see my testimony, and visit the FLIP Conference website for more information.
Evernote is a digital extension of your biological memory. For years I have used Evernote in my personal and professional life, and have lectured about its use many times.
In 2014, when I was invited to the teaching faculty of ABA Techshow 2014 I presented a multimedia presentation titled "How to optimize your use of Evernote."
In 2015, I returned and presented a joint paper with my American colleague and criminal defense lawyer Robert "Bob" Sisson about how we each used Evernote in our criminal and civil practices, delivering another multimedia presentation titled "How to Never Forget Anything—Incorporating Evernote into your practice."
Click on the links below to access resources.
