Okay, since (theoretically) I know more about law than computers and wireless networks, here are some assumptions about the legal field:
- The practice of law is basically "information processing"
- Computers facilitate the processing of information
- Information in digital form is easier to process (i.e. transmit, store, access etc.)
- Lawyers are generally not comfortable with technology
So, the bottleneck in the move towards making law more efficient is probably not caused by a flaw in the available technology. It's more likely that attorneys, judges and paralegals don't know how to use the technology, or have limited interest in learning how to use new tools for old jobs. And as for attorneys, this is more true of defense lawyers, sadly (I say "sadly" because I'm a defense lawyer). They bill by the hour so "efficiency through technology" is not exactly a siren song. I could be wrong, but that's what it seems like to me....
