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Smart Legal Web Sites
Some Theory
Digital Legal Applications
Some Examples of
Digital Legal Applications
Web Sites That Think
Recommend a Smart Web Site
Smart Legal Web Sites
Our mission is to be a resource for law firms, corporate legal departments, and
other legal organizations who are interested in building smart legal web sites.
If "brochure" web sites were first generation; and 2nd generation web sites
actually provided some useful legal information to users, the next wave of law
firm web sites will be smart web sites that help clients solve their
legal problems, even if at first these legal problems are relatively simple.
A 3rd generation law web site is one that incorporates what we call "digital
legal applications". A "digital legal application" is a
web-enabled software application that enables a user
to resolve a legal problem or issue without the
assistance of an attorney. We call a web site that is built
around digital legal applications a "Smart Web Site." Digital
legal applications can be used by attorneys to deliver legal services more
efficiently; more often they are used by consumers directly to help them solve
their own legal problems and only purchasing the legal
services of an attorney just when they need it.
Some Theory
The theory behind our view of the way in which the Internet
will change the delivery of legal services in the future based on the
development of these digital legal applications, can be found in the work of
Richard
Susskind and his latest book,
The
Future of Law. In Susskind's view the most successful law firm's in the
future will be those which embrace disruptive technologies which are the focus
of this web site. Every managing partner or executive director of a law firm
should read Susskind's book. It is provides a blue print for creating "Smart Web
Sites"
What
Digital Legal Applications Are Not
This software category of Digital
legal applications excludes applications that are used by attorneys to
assist them in the practice of law such as case management, time keeping and
billing applications, litigation support applications, and other software
programs that support administrative functions.
Some
Examples of Digital Legal Applications
A "digital legal application" is intended to be a
more inclusive concept than what is known as an "expert legal system" in the
sense that it includes a variety of applications which are
not quite "expert systems" such as:
Web Sites That Think
Digital legal applications offer
important benefits to consumers of legal services by enabling self-help
approaches. We believe that these applications will continue to proliferate at
an accelerating rate as computer processing power continues to increase
exponentially. The reach of the Internet is a new factor which drives is driving
the development of these intelligent applications in ways that was not possible
previously when distribution of software applications was limited to the
desktop.
Recommend a Site
We hope that you will find this resource useful in your search for
information about this emerging category of digital legal applications.
We want to build a
catalog of web sites that incorporate the concept of digital legal
applications in some way. We call these web sites: smart web sites
If you would like to recommend a web site please use the
following form to make your recommendation.
Richard S. Granat, Esq.
04/28/2003
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