In an op-ed published in New York Law Journal, Dean Matthew Diller and Professor Joseph Landau examine the meaningful changes that can be made to legal education and practice in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, advances in technology had begun to filter into the practice of law. Libraries lined with rows of books were already an endangered species. The pandemic has significantly accelerated these changes, compelling legal institutions not always known to be on the technological cutting-edge to rapidly embrace a suite of new changes. While certain aspects of legal practice will eventually return to pre-pandemic norms, many will not. Some of the changes that already seem likely to outlast the pandemic include virtual litigation tools, remote networking and recruiting, remote collaboration, and the increasing role of artificial intelligence.
…
As remote interactions become normalized and incorporated in a wide range of the interactions that comprise so much of the practice of law, it is important to focus on the big-picture questions about our justice system: What opportunities do remote lawyering and remote proceedings have to expand access to justice in our society? Do the advantages of remote environments also pose risks that individuals and clients will just be processed through an online bureaucratic mill?