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The Attorney as Knowledge Worker
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BY JASON COOMER, WILLIE BUEHLER, AND BOB BINDER
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"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never
regains its original dimension."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
The practice of law, once stretched by new
technology, will never be the same. Like it or not,
advances in Information Technology (IT) have changed
the way lawyers and other knowledge workers collect,
process, and produce information. Lawyers unable or
unwilling to use new technology tools to collect and
manage the vast amounts of information available and
needed to practice law in the 21st Century will be
at a competitive disadvantage that may put them out
of business.
The Rise of the Knowledge Worker
The term "knowledge worker" was coined by Peter
Drucker to describe someone who adds value by
processing existing information to create new
information that could be used to define and solve
problems. Knowledge workers include lawyers,
doctors, diplomats, lawmakers, software developers,
managers, and bankers.2 Lawyers have specialized
knowledge through their training in the law that
they apply to their practice; and few, if any,
create a physical product other than paper or
documents.
As humankind developed from bands, to tribes, to
chiefdoms, to states, specialization of labor
created economic benefits that allowed workers who
were not needed for survival to gather specialized
knowledge for the betterment of society and their
own advancement. These early knowledge workers were
leaders, rulemakers, and healers.
From early man until the middle of 20th Century,
there were relatively few knowledge workers in most
economies, because most of the workforce was needed
for survival. Before 1900, about 90 percent of the
U.S. population worked in agriculture. Around the
beginning of the 20th Century in the United States
and other developing nations, the Industrial
Revolution began to pull people off the farm and
into factories. In many of these developing
countries, including the United States, the economic
benefits of the Industrial Revolution created what
Marx termed industrial surplus. This industrial
surplus, instead of being used to keep the working
class down as Marx had predicted, was invested in
research and development, education, and
organization leading to an explosion in information
and technology which in turn created a demand for a
large number of specialized knowledge workers.
These knowledge workers have created advances in
technology allowing greater productivity and
efficiency, but with a side effect of fewer and
fewer workers being needed to perform the essentials
that make society run. These advances have caused
major shifts in the work force that have in turn
caused a profound impact in the way we practice.
With the explosion of knowledge workers has come an
explosion of specialized information. The large
variety and vast amounts of specialized knowledge in
our society has forced lawyers to become more
specialized. Further, advances in mass production,
communication, transportation, and distribution have
expanded trade and communications between businesses
all over the world.
This new global economy has created multinational
corporations and increased international trade,
creating a demand for large law firms and litigation
groups that can handle larger and more complex
litigation disputes and business relations. In fact,
the general solo practitioner who handles all types
of law is being supplanted by teams of lawyers who
handle specialized areas of law.
Lawyers and Resistance to Change
Though many lawyers use new technology in their
practices, many more are resistant to change until
absolutely necessary. One reason for this is that
the practice of law in the United States and England
is based on tradition and stare decisis. Another
reason is the large initial investment it takes to
practice law. This barrier to entry limits the
supply of attorneys, allowing over the short run
less efficient methods of practicing law. This
problem may be exacerbated by the increasingly
specialized knowledge needed to practice in many
areas of law and the investment of time in learning
a new area of specialized knowledge. This further
limits competition and decreases the pressure on
attorneys to change in order to adapt to their
environment.
Working against this resistance is the second law of
thermodynamics that tells us that over time all
things tend to break down, becoming less ordered,
and tending toward disorder and chaos or entropy.
This law has been applied to all systems including
biological, chemical, and social systems. As systems
evolve, order is created not in spite of the chaos
and entropy, but because of it. Evolution and growth
are a result of a system slipping into chaos, and
then reorganizing itself at a higher level of
complexity and functioning. This reorganization
allows the system to survive and continue
functioning and in our society is one of the main
functions of lawyers.
As the amount of information needed to practice law
increases, the practice inevitably becomes more
disordered and chaotic. Because lawyers are limited
in the amount of information they can process,
computers and technology are necessary to survive
and continue functioning. Hence, technology has
allowed the knowledge worker to evolve and process a
greater amount of information than ever before,
helping us avoid information overload, disorder, and
chaos.
Knowledge Management: Conquering Information
Overload
As information becomes readily available and
abundant it will be imperative to an attorney’s
survival to adapt to the techniques used to grasp
and transform specialized knowledge as it relates to
the law. The process of managing information through
technology is commonly known as “knowledge
management.” (For an excellent weblog of knowledge
management concepts and resources, see http://excitedutterances.blogspot.com).
Attorneys who effectively use knowledge management
tools will have a significant edge over others who
do not. This will become increasingly important as
technology continues to improve, knocking down
traditional geographic barriers and creating
competition.
From a global perspective, China, India, and other
developing nations are pushing to become more
information-based, creating a large demand and
supply of international knowledge workers. This will
create a market for attorneys who can process vast
amounts of information, especially in protecting
copyrights, patents, and other information from
theft. However, with it will come competition. From
a regional perspective, attorneys can now handle
distant matters through the use of technology,
including online collaboration, e-filing, and
videoconferencing. This technology encourages firms
to become larger in order to process vast amounts of
information and handle multiple claims across large
regions, which in turn creates increases local
competition from information hubs such as Austin,
Houston, and Dallas. With thousands of new attorneys
being produced each year, it is important to stay
competitive.
This new legal world replaces the traditional
briefcase of papers with electronic devices and
moves at the speed of light through fiber optics.
Applying Albert Einstein’s theories on space and
time to the future of information technology,
knowledge workers might someday send information
through space at speeds fast enough to slow time,
allowing them to steal back time while collecting,
managing, and processing information. Though we may
not be able to physically travel at light speed, the
information we need to practice law will, freeing us
from the potential chaos and dense black holes of
information overload.
Jason Coomer is an Austin lawyer
who handles complex litigation including large fires,
commercial business to business disputes, toxic torts,
catastrophic injury & death claims, probate matters, and technology
litigation.
Bob Binder is an Austin lawyer who
handles automobile collision and catastrophic injury
claims.
Willie Buehler is an information technology
& media specialist.
A special thanks to Michele McKeever,
Dan Stokes, and Bill Belsom
for their editing assistance.
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1 Oliver Wendell Holmes, A Father's Book of
Wisdom, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr., P.65
(1988)
2. http://www.nelh.nhs.uk/knowledge_management/km3/knowledge_worker.asp |
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Austin
Technology Lawyer Jason Coomer provides a variety of legal
services including business litigation, Estate Planning, Probate Matters,
and wrongful death/personal injury litigation. For
questions on this article or legal services, please
e-mail Austin lawyer Jason S. Coomer at
jason@texaslawyers.com.
The Law Offices of Jason S.
Coomer, PLLC
406 Sterzing, Second Floor
Austin, Texas 78704
(512) 474-1477
jason@texaslawyers.com |
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