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URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/other/journals/WebJCLI/1995/issue1/widdis1.html
Cite as: Lawyering on the Internet
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Lawyering on the Internet
by
Robin Widdison
Director, Centre for Law and Computing University of Durham, 50 North Bailey Durham DH1 3ET r.c.widdison@durham.ac.ukCopyright © 1995 Robin Widdison. First published in Web Journal of Current Legal Issues in association with Blackstone Press Ltd.
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Summary
This article seeks to do three things. Firstly, it attempts to show why the Internet is not just a passing fad but also a major step forward in information technology that will have enduring significance both in the workplace and the place of study. Secondly, it seeks to explain the Internet by reference to what it enables users to do rather than in terms of its underlying technologies. Finally, the article examines how the development of the Internet is likely to impact on legal practice and on legal education.
Contents
Introduction
The computing world is notorious for its fads and fashions. In 1993 notebook computers were on top of the agenda. In 1994, CD-ROM based multimedia systems caught the imagination. In 1995, it is clear that obsession with the Internet has reached fever pitch. The Internet, like all the best fads, appears to have a precipitously steep learning curve. It would seem that one must come to grips with such esoteric technologies as Anonymous FTP, Archie, Gopher, Listserv, Telnet, Usenet, Veronica, WAIS and the World Wide Web to develop any understanding of the topic at all. When viewed from this perspective, the Internet takes on the appearance of the ultimate buff's paradise.
This article seeks to do three things. Firstly, it attempts to show why the Internet is not just a passing fad but also a major step forward in information technology that will have enduring significance both in the workplace and the place of study. Secondly, it seeks to explain the Internet by reference to what it enables users to do rather than in terms of its underlying technologies. Finally, the article examines how the development of the Internet is likely to impact on legal practice and on legal education.
What is the Internet? It aspires to be the entire universe of computer networks. For many years, individual computers tended to exist in isolation from other computers - as 'stand alone' machines. Then, began the process whereby these isolated computers were physically connected together by wires and wireless means into networks. Such networks might take the form of Local Area Networks or LANs (British Computer Society 1991 para 2:21.2) located on a single site such as an office building or university campus. Alternatively, networks might take the form of Wide Area Networks or WANs (British Computer Society 1991 para 2:21.6) with the constituent computers widely dispersed around a region, country or, indeed, a whole continent.
During the last 25 years - rather longer than is often realised - technology has been evolved to provide a fail-safe means of linking all these different LANs and WANs together in one giant 'network of networks' (Suarez 1994, section 3). At some point in the first half of the 1990's a critical mass of interconnection was achieved and the concept of the Internet entered the collective psyche. This occurrence has itself now triggered a dramatic acceleration in the rate at which new networks and individual users are joining and participating in the Internet.
Where does all this interconnection lead? Basically it means that there is now a line of communication from one computer to any other of the estimated forty million computers on the Internet wherever in the world the source and the target computers are physically located (Kehoe 1995). It means that two separate areas of technology - computing and telecommunications - which have been converging for some years, have touched and are now starting to overlap. It means that the development of the Internet is, indeed, a matter of the most profound significance. This view is, perhaps, amply demonstrated by the fact that the 'G7' industrialised countries felt the need to hold a ministerial summit at Brussels in early 1995 specifically to address the political, social and economic implications of the Internet (May 1995).
The landscape of the Internet
A. Transmittable Information
Before turning to an examination of the uses to which the Internet can be put, it is useful to say something about the various types of information that can be transmitted across the Net. Essentially, computer networks can carry information in the same 'digitised' form as that with which individual computers operate. Digitised information is information that has been 'dematerialised' into no more than sets of discrete on/off pulses. These pulses are usually denoted by binary strings of 0s and 1s. Developments in multimedia technology illustrate that not only text, but also diagrams, graphics, photographs, sound and videos can all be readily digitised. One only has to look at one of the many multimedia CD-ROM packages (eg Microsoft's 'Encarta' Electronic Encyclopaedia) to see the point demonstrated. Furthermore, advances in 'virtual reality' technology now provide the potential to digitise touch sensations (Rheingold 1992, p 312) and even odours!
Essentially, we are arriving at a situation where information that can be perceived by any of the five senses can be digitised. Once digitised, the information can readily be broadcast across the Internet. Furthermore, several or all of these types of information can be combined into a multimedia document which can be transmitted just as easily as a file comprising a single type of information. At least one other important category of information can be added to the list of transmittable information - computer software. Software typically exists at two levels - as human-readable plain text, known as 'source code' (British Computer Society 1991 para 11:64), and in machine-readable binary form, known as 'machine code' (British Computer Society 1991 para 8:3.2). In either of these forms, software can be transmitted across the Internet.
B. Uses of the Internet
This section will focus on three classes of Internet activity. The first is that of electronic communications - the use of the networks for person-to-person communications as an alternative to the traditional services. The second class is that of electronic publishing - using the networks as an alternative or supplement to traditional publishing methods. The third is that of hybrid uses that combine elements of both electronic communications and electronic publications.
1. Electronic communications
The Internet provides an alternative means of person-to-person communication to the telephone, fax, telex and postal services. Interestingly, the power of electronic mail, known as 'email' (Suarez 1994, section 2), lies in its plasticity. The technology can be moulded and shaped in such a way as to provide the benefits of any or all the traditional services mentioned above.
Email can be set up to provide instantaneous, 'real-time' communication, known as 'Internet Relay Chat' or 'IRC'. Equally, it can be sent out of hours or whilst the recipient is away and then stored in an electronic mailbox until accessed by that recipient. Email can take the form of no more than a textual message or can be used as a vehicle to which to 'attach' or enclose files containing processible documents, diagrams, graphics, photographs, sounds, video and software. The email message itself is capable of being conveyed as sound instead of text and, in this situation, is known as 'voice mail'. Voice mail itself can be combined with moving images of the correspondents to produce video communications.
How does email manifest itself? At the simplest level, it takes the form of one-to- one communication. One individual sends a message to another, who may then reply. At the second level, email may be distributed on a one-to-many basis. It is possible manually to address an identical or very similar message to a number of recipients at the same time. The third, more sophisticated level is that of pre- prepared one-to-many mailing lists (Suarez 1994, section 7). Here a number (possibly a large number) of subscribers who may be widely dispersed geographically are gathered into a group and the group is given its own email address. Mail sent by any individual member of the group addressed to the mailing list then passes though a 'mail exploder' which automatically addresses and sends the same message to every other individual member of the mailing list. Interchanges that take place amongst members of such mailing lists often develop into impromptu discussions. An interesting question or observation by one member of the group may cause a number of other members to respond and to raise fresh issues. This first wave of group interest can lead to a second wave and so on - the whole process sometimes 'snowballing' into a full- scale, ad hoc conference.
At the fourth level of sophistication, Internet-based discussions are increasingly run on a pre- planned basis as formal electronic conferences. A special mailing list may be set up and 'delegates' invited to sign up and participate in the conference. A conference agenda together with papers and other initial material may then be circulated before the conference starts. Then, over a period of days or weeks, delegates are encouraged to read the contributions of other members of the conferencing group and make their own contributions to the discussion without ever leaving their normal workplace. Such electronic conferences can be enhanced by the selection of a designated chairperson or facilitator who is responsible for initiating various stages of the conference, summarising discussion at the end of each stage and at the end of the entire conference and steering delegates back towards the agenda if they stray. Further enhancement can be achieved by the use of dedicated conferencing software that can support several 'threads' of discussion running simultaneously without the whole conference descending into irresolvable confusion. Finally, combining the ability to transmit sound and video, it is possible to shape the technology to provide video conferencing. Here, typically, a delegate participates in a conference in real time, viewing other speakers in action from the computer monitor on his/her own desk (or lap). When the delegate in question makes a contribution, a video camera on his/her computer relays voice, moving image of that delegate and any other relevant information to all the other delegates.
2. Electronic publishing
Unlike email where messages and attachments are delivered to the mail boxes of one or more designated recipients, the essence of electronic publishing is that information is made available at a central location in such a way as to give either open access to that information to the entire Internet community or closed access to a pre-determined group of Internet users. Just as the power of electronic communications lies in its plasticity, so too electronic publishing technology can be moulded and shaped not only to replicate traditional methods of publishing but also to create new and hybrid varieties.
At the simplest level, electronic publishing can amount to no more than providing Internet users with access to existing 'in-house' databases of processible documents, diagrams, graphics, photographs, sounds, videos, software etc. The next level up from there involves developing new databases specifically for access by those exploring the Internet. To facilitate navigation by such outsiders, catalogues, menus, indexes and instructions with attendant help text are often placed at the entry points to these databases. These tailor-made 'front ends' have further evolved into 'home pages' containing information about the host institution, its staff, location, activities, publications and any commercial or non-commercial services that it offers.
A striking feature of the Internet is that every goal has the potential to be a gateway to somewhere else. For this reason, one often finds that these home pages are like cross-roads, containing not only sources of information but also access points to other parts of the Internet thought likely by the authors of the home pages in question to be of interest and use to Internet users.
Moving up the scale towards more organised forms of electronic publishing we arrive at electronic periodicals such as newspapers, magazines and journals (The Web journal is, of course, the first electronic law journal based in Britain). How do electronic periodicals compare with their paper-based equivalents?
Traditional periodicals
- Traditional periodicals have a limited capacity in terms of the number and length of articles published.
- Traditional periodicals have a fixed, pre-determined content.
- Articles in traditional periodicals are essentially 'goals' rather than 'gateways'. Although citations in footnotes can only be followed up manually this is a laborious task.
- Traditional periodicals are strictly limited in the types of information that can be presented.
- Traditional periodicals can never be completely up-to-date. They are invariably late with news which has already been presented on television channels hours, days or weeks before.
- Traditional periodicals have to be physically distributed to outlets and then delivered.
Electronic periodicals
- Electronic periodicals have, practically speaking, no limit on the number and length of articles published.
- Electronic periodicals can have an evolving, rolling content.
- Articles in electronic periodicals can be just as much 'gateways' as 'goals'. Footnotes in articles can give direct access not only to the citations, but also to the source materials themselves.
- Electronic periodicals can have a multimedia nature, making use of the full range of digital information types.
- Electronic periodicals can be completely up-to-date and can present news as quickly as the television channels.
- With electronic periodicals, distribution and delivery problems vanish. Periodicals can readily be accessed over the Internet at any time, from any place.
3. Hybrid systems
If Internet technology is sufficiently plastic to enable us to create blends that transcend the limitations of traditional means of communication and of publishing, that plasticity also extends to permitting the hybridisation of electronic communications and electronic publishing. A simple example is the Usenet. The Usenet comprises a large number of newsgroups - collections of mail messages with are organised by topic. Unlike mailing lists, however, there is no need to subscribe to these groups. Messages, together with any attached files, are posted up on the Internet in the form of a 'bulletin board' which is then accessible by the public at large. To read these messages and explore any attached files of information, one obtains access to the bulletin board by linking into to the on-line computer upon which it is held. It can be seen that the Usenet possesses characteristics both of electronic communications and of electronic publishing.
Another blend of electronic publishing and communications produces the potential for lively, participatory 'readers letters' pages in electronic periodicals. Such pages may be set up to permit the development of ongoing discussion around, and evolving from, an article or note in a periodical. The next step, of course, is to provide formal electronic conferencing facilities to readers. Periodicals then merge into conferences and conferences into periodicals creating exciting new possibilities for the development of learned discourse.
Again, a combination of Internet technologies can produce the electronic shopping centre (or 'electronic shopping mall' as it is known in America). Electronic 'home pages' have evolved from being front-ends to accessible databases and now can, and increasingly do, take the form of on-line catalogues of goods and services for sale. Electronic periodicals can contain advertisements. Either forms of publishing can contain email links which provide the means whereby would be purchasers can place orders directly through the home pages or advertisements. Payment for those goods or services over the Internet by means of electronic funds transfer or EFT technology is also possible. EFT describes the process whereby computer systems are used to transfer credits and debits between banks, companies, shops and individuals (British Computer Society 1991, para 1.1.11). The use of EFT over the Internet has, however, been held up somewhat by the pressing need to find sufficiently secure ways of transmitting electronic funds. Delivery of goods (as defined in Sale of Goods Act 1979 s 61(1)) over the Net is, of course, impossible. Teleportation is one technology, at least, that remains firmly in the realm of science fiction! On the other hand, many services involve the provision of digitisable information in one form or another and so electronic delivery is entirely possible in these cases.
C. Navigating the Internet
Clearly, a cardinal virtue of the Internet is that it provides seamless access to both an enormous number of other users and sites on the Net (Kehoe 1995) and a vast amount of information. If every search goal has the potential to be a gateway to somewhere else - and many in fact are set up as such gateways - it must follow that there are many millions of paths through the Internet. When expressed in these terms, it can quickly be appreciated that the Internet's cardinal virtue is, at one and the same time, its cardinal vice.
There is no grand, overarching structure to the Internet, no all-embracing hierarchy, no central establishment to enact standards or to provide Net search facilities. Because the Net is neither owned nor operated by any single organisation, it gives the appearance of being anarchic (Millard & Carolina 1995). For this reason, it is critically important to acquire a knowledge of a variety of search tools before one attempts to navigate the Internet in earnest. In this article, we shall focus on three classes of tools, all designed to lead to efficient and effective searching, sifting, sorting and selecting of information. These classes are directories, structuring tools and search engines.
1. Directories
A number of individuals and institutions have taken on the public-spirited task of providing directories, lists and indexes of a range of types of information including Internet users, mailing lists, newsgroups, databases, home pages and electronic periodicals. Two of the first, and most famous general directories are the Yanoff and December lists, both named after their authors. Many of these directories are updated frequently - some constantly. However, a major problem with directories is that their coverage must inevitably be incomplete (The US National Centre for Supercomputing Applications actually produces a list appropriately called 'The Incomplete Guide to the Internet'). Another difficulty is that there are such a large number of different directories. For these purposes, there is an advantage in starting a search by referring to a 'directory of directories'. This will seem particularly appropriate, perhaps, for a 'network of networks' (Polly 1993).
2. Structuring tools
To deal with the fact that many directories give incomplete coverage, several species of alternative devices have been developed. Structuring tools impose an architecture upon information on the Internet in a way that makes searching much easier (Polly 1993). For example, Gopher is a powerful menu-driven tool that 'tunnels' into the Internet imposing a tree-like structure upon relevant information as it goes.
The exciting and increasingly popular 'World Wide Web', known simply as the 'Web', creates a structure whereby documents and other materials are connected together by means of 'hyperlinks'. Let us examine an example based on information in the form of documents made up of sets of pages of text. Hyperlinks provide direct access from a source page to any target page that is referred to and linked to that source page. The target page may be in the same document, a different document at the same site, or a different document in an entirely different part of the Internet. In essence, hyperlinks are like footnotes except that they do not just take the user to a reference to another document. They the user to that actual document itself. The power of hyperlinking lies in the ability to move not only horizontally - forwards and backwards - through documents in the traditional way but also to move vertically to 'footnoted' documents. This, quite literally, adds a new dimension to document based research.
3. Search engines
Another species of research tool is the 'search engine'. A search engine can be thought of a software agent or 'robot' which can be sent out into the Internet by a user in order to search for information. Such engines allow the user to search for information in a variety of different ways. Here are a few examples. On the Internet in general, 'Archie' can be sent into the Internet to hunt for particular file names; the 'Wide Area Information Server,' known as 'WAIS', searches the Net for documents containing user-defined keywords; and 'Veronica' permits a keyword search of all the Gopher menus on the Internet (Polly 1993). On the World Wide Web in particular, 'WebCrawler' traverses the Web doing a keyword search of both document titles and their content; and the bizarrely-named 'World Wide Web' Worm pores over the information on the Web and builds up an index of both document titles and the electronic addresses of the Web sites where they are to be found (Netscape 1994).
4. Hybrid search tools
It has to be said that, just as the Internet itself is constantly evolving, so too these classes of research tools are in a permanent state of development and hybridisation. For example, the 'Lycos' search tool based at Carnegie Mellon University comprises a huge, searchable, bibliographic index together with a search engine which spends the whole time crawling through the World Wide Web looking for documents to add to its index. It is estimated that the engine brings in details of some 5,000 new documents per day (Netscape 1994).
Use of the Internet by lawyers
Having examined some of the key features of the Internet, Let us now focus on how the technology may be used by legal practitioners - both solicitors and barristers - and by law academics. As the Net has evolved into its present form so recently, and as developments are so rapid, much of what is written here must, of necessity, involve an element of speculation.
A. Legal Practice
In considering the use of the Internet in the law office, it is helpful to draw a fundamental distinction between three main areas of activity. The first two of these are case work and research - the 'front-line' fee- earning activities. The third activity is that of administration - anything that supports the front-line activities.
1. Case work
How can case work management in legal practice benefit from the speed and flexibility of electronic communications (Kirkwood 1993a), (Kirkwood 1993b)? Clearly, the technology provides an excellent means of keeping fee earners within the same law firm in touch with each other. Whilst in small firms, the costs might still appear to outweigh the benefits, in larger firms where fee earners are spread over a number of floors - even a number of buildings - keeping them in ready contact with each other so that they can manage their time as efficiently as possible, co-ordinate team work and pass draft documentation around for comment and completion must be seen as a highly desirable goal. Increasingly, of course, the major City law firms are establishing offices overseas. For example, Clifford Chance, the largest City firm, has offices in some twenty locations across the world in addition to their London office. Given the problems of both distance and time differences, an email/electronic conferencing system is the only effective way of resolving a logistical nightmare (MacLeod 1990).
Case work does not just involve communicating with 'in-house' colleagues, of course. Instructions can be sought from clients and progress reports can provided to them periodically or on demand. Instructions to counsel can be transmitted via the Internet and resulting opinions, draft documents and draft pleadings be returned to the firm in word processible form for completion. Electronic conferences can be set up between clients, solicitors and counsel on an ad hoc or a pre-arranged basis and can continue over a period of days or even weeks if the need is there. Already, in fact, the implications of full-blown video conferencing on costs and the speed of working have been grasped by many in the legal professions and facilities appear to be in increasing demand (Christian 1993). As well as keeping in touch with client and counsel, a fee earner will undoubtedly be concerned to communicate electronically with solicitors acting for other parties to a transaction or a dispute. Again, this class of communications can benefit from the use of email and electronic conferencing links.
One last thought on the relevance of electronic communications to case work. If one involves all the parties, their solicitors, counsel and witnesses in a pre- arranged on-line conference, it is only necessary to add the judge or arbitrator in order to have a full-scale electronic or video trial. If computers are moving into courtrooms (Plotnikoff & Woolfson 1993), how long will it be before courtrooms move into computers?
What of the contribution of electronic publishing to case work? Clients and counsel will undoubtedly benefit if case files - documents and other materials relevant to their cases - are made available to them on-line by law firms. Direct access to court lists produced by the listing offices has an obvious benefit to counsel and instructing solicitors. Equally, legal practitioners will be greatly assisted by the facility to search on-line databases of information held by such institutions as HM Land Registry, Companies House, the Trade Marks Registry, local authorities etc. Access to commercial company searching and credit rating searching services, such as those offered by Dun and Bradstreet, can now be obtained via a new 'value added' legal network service called 'Link' (Legal Information Network 1994).
2. Research
The other major front-line task both for fee earners in law firms and for counsel is research. Traditionally, legal research facilities have centred on the use of 'in- house' consultants and counsel, the paper-based law library, the precedent bank and collections of press cuttings. How can the Internet now be used for research purposes?
The power of having an email link to a large number of other practitioners and law academics on a one-to-one basis should not be underestimated (Millard & Carolina 1995). One must add to this the value in research terms of participating in some of the growing numbers of topic-specific mailing lists or in electronic conferencing (Louis-Jacques 1994). Any of these technologies might well provide the means to obtain an answer to a problem or at least some important leads. The new 'Link' service provides one possible medium for research interchange whether in the form of one-to-one enquiry, informal discussion or outright conferencing (Predavec 1994a), (Predavec 1994b).
Alternatively, research may involve hunting for an answer from within the vast quantity of electronically published information on the Internet. It is possible to access a substantial number of law library catalogues across the Net. The 'National Information Services and Systems' information service (NISS) provides access to 85 British academic library catalogues from Aberdeen to York. Increasingly, electronic libraries comprising full text documents are themselves accessible across the Internet. On-line access to electronic publishing services such as 'Lexis' and Context System's 'Justis' databases have been available for a number of years. Now, however, the number and variety of such published sources in rapidly increasing. More and more international and domestic sources of primary materials (treaties, conventions, constitutions, legislation, secondary legislation, case reports etc) and secondary materials (publications by various governments and international bodies, commentaries, journal articles, research papers, newsletters etc.) can be tracked down and examined. The problem is now how to filter these materials to find what is useful.
There are a few examples of directories and lists that are of particular relevance to legal practitioners, although there are not yet enough authoritative and reliable resources available for lawyers. Some institutions are using their home pages in such a way as to try to fill the gap. This has been achieved by bringing together access to relevant directories and other sources of home pages and materials into grand directories of directories. One of the most comprehensive and important examples of this type of development is the World Wide Web Virtual Law Library (Indiana University 1995) discussed in (Cameron 1995). Other examples of note include Cornell Law School's home pages (Cornell Law School 1995a) and, in Britain, those of Strathclyde Law School (Strathclyde Law School 1995).
3. Administration
As with any business or organisation, there is a substantial amount of administration that needs to be done in law offices in addition to the 'front line' work of the fee earners. Two tasks that have become much more central to the thinking of practitioners recently are those of marketing and public relations. In America, a few firms now advertise their services by means of home pages which are accessible by the public on the Internet (Cornell Law School 1995b). Such pages can be coupled with a direct email link to the firm as a means of first contact. At present, it is still a novelty for British law firms to offer communications and publishing services to clients via the Internet. It follows that many prospective and existing clients will be impressed by firms that can offer such facilities. Larger firms have now taken to maintaining regular contact with clients and ex-clients by a variety of means from regular newsletters through to Christmas cards. Provision of these services as electronic communications and publications is a quicker, cheaper and more striking way of making an impression.
Another important administrative task is that of accounting. It seems likely that soon some law offices will develop EFT links with their major clients. Periodic billing can be generated automatically by a law firm's accounts system and then communicated electronically to the client. The client will then be able to authorise the appropriate credit transfer to be made by its bank to the law firm.
Finally, law firms and barristers' chambers need constant supplies of books and periodicals, stationery and other supplies. Suppliers such as Hammicks bookshop now offer hybrid systems which take the form of on-line catalogues coupled with an email link enabling customers to order items via the Internet (Legal Information Network 1994).
B. Legal Education
With regard to the use of the Internet in law education, we can again make draw a fundamental distinction between three main areas of activity. The first two of these are teaching and research - the 'front-line' academic activities. The third is that of administration - anything that supports the front-line activities.
1. Teaching
Academics are already exploring ways in which electronic communications can enhance their teaching (O'Donnell 1994). Encouraging students to raise queries and problems with their lecturers and tutors via the privacy of one-to-one email looks likely to enrich the interaction between staff and students. Academics can play a passive role and await messages from their students. Alternatively, they can play a more active role by posing questions to individuals and to small groups of students. Those small groups can be formed into mailing lists by means of which students, with or without their teachers, are requested or required to post papers and discuss questions and problems perhaps with a view to enhancing subsequent face-to-face teaching sessions.
Rather more formally, some experiments have been carried out which involve using electronic conferencing techniques and/or software to conduct electronic tutorials and seminars in place of their face- to-face equivalents (Hardy 1994), (Widdison & Pritchard 1995). There are a number of advantages to using the technology in this way. These include:
- (i) Neither staff nor students have to be in any particular physical location at any particular time;
- (ii) Tutorials and seminars do not have to be squeezed into one short, timetabled slot. Discussion can take place over a period of days or weeks in a more relaxed and considered way;
- (iii) Where text is the primary or sole method of communication, students will get practice in composing their views in written form; and
- (iv) Whilst traditional face-to-face tutorials and seminars require tutors to operate 'consecutively', electronic equivalents permit them to operate 'concurrently', ie participating in several tutorials or seminars simultaneously.
Let us turn, now, to electronic publishing (O'Donnell 1994). Twenty-four hour access to primary and secondary sources based on campus can be offered in order to help alleviate the pressures caused by large numbers of students squeezing into law libraries designed for smaller numbers and all attempting to get hold of the same required or recommended reading at the same time. Access across the Internet to a wider variety of 'electronic law libraries' and other relevant databases will greatly enrich the sources of material available to students. However, emphasis must be placed upon the development of skills in searching, sifting, sorting and selecting electronically published materials. Acquisition of these skills will, however, be of enormous benefit to students not just in relation to their studies, but also in their future careers.
2. Research
As for academic research and writing, everything that has been said both generally and in the context of legal practice applies to staff in law schools. Both academics and research students stand to benefit substantially from the increase in accessibility of - and speed of access to - other academics via one-to-one email and mailing lists (Louis-Jacques 1994). Electronic conferencing is an area of particular interest because of the facility it provides (as we have seen) to enable delegates to participate actively in international conferences whilst located in their workplaces and undertaking their normal work loads. A small amount of experimental activity has already occurred in the area of formal, electronic conferencing for law academics (Hardy, 1993).
As for the benefits of electronic publishing to academic research, again, all that has already been said in general and with regard to research by legal practitioners is applicable here. However, there is also a desperate need for high-quality directories and other search tools to help law academics and research students to navigate around the Internet.
3. Administration
As with law offices so with law schools, there is a substantial amount of administration that needs to be done in addition to the 'front line' work of the academic staff. A task that is becoming much more important to law schools is that of public relations and marketing. With the abolition of the 'binary line' between the old universities and the polytechnics, there are now close to a hundred university law schools offering a range of courses including undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, common professional examination courses and legal practice courses. The pressure on these course providers to raise their profiles and 'sell themselves' in the education market is mounting. The development of home pages on the Internet provides a new and exciting forum in which law schools can advertise and would-be students can 'shop' for suitable courses.
Another important administrative task for law schools relates to 'input' - student admissions. Anyone who has had the soul-destroying task of wading through thousands of application forms trying to identify the very able from amongst the able - the highly suitable from amongst the suitable - will relish the notion that the whole process and all the paperwork could be dematerialised. Such a development would provide benefits both in terms of sorting and selecting of applications and also, perhaps, in terms of the possibility of creating direct links between the law schools, the would-be students and their referees.
At the 'output' stage, most law academics have noticed that there is an increasing demand from potential employers for references. These references are now routinely sought not just in respect of would- be trainees but also in respect of any students who apply for vacation placements. The facility to receive requests for references and to respond to them directly via email would be a considerable boon to both sides.
Finally, law schools, like law offices, need constant supplies of books and periodicals, stationery and other supplies. It is to be hoped that Hammicks bookshop and other suppliers will soon make their on- line catalogues and ordering systems available to the academic community.
The Future
Futurologists have a particularly difficult time making accurate predictions of the changes that computer technology will bring about. They frequently fail to foretell major innovations. Just as frequently, they forecast developments that stubbornly refuse to happen. Three striking examples of the latter category are: (i) the wholesale dematerialisation of paper-based information resulting in the evolution of the 'paperless office'; (ii) the widespread move towards on-line shopping and banking; and (iii) the universal exodus from the traditional education establishment and workplace in favour of telestudying and teleworking.
Why do these things fail to happen as predicted? Often, there are cultural reasons. There are still generations of individuals who have grown up communicating and researching by means of the medium of paper. These generations are also imbued with the notion that shopping, banking, studying and working are activities undertaken, for the most part, by travelling to fixed physical locations. Such people are disinclined to develop enthusiasm for the jump into 'cyberspace' (a term coined by William Gibson in his novel 'Neuromancer'. The term refers to an electronic world existing in parallel to the physical world). At this moment, however, a new generation is growing up for whom the screen is as natural a medium as the page. This and later generations may well be as comfortable in the electronic world as they will be in the physical world.
It has to be said, though, that predictive failures are not caused by cultural factors alone. For a long time, the technologies that are essential to the development of the Internet - one of the key components of cyberspace - were slow, unreliable and insecure. In some respects, they still are (Millard & Carolina 1995). For this reason, the Net remained the preserve of a minority of dedicated hobbyists for many years. Now we are seeing all this change before our eyes. Indeed, the rate of both technological and cultural change is increasing so fast that there is some risk of it creating a blur in our minds. At this point, it then becomes essential for us to refocus our understanding to ensure not only that we keep control of our technology but also that we can exploit its potential for the utmost benefit.
Bibliography
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Cameron, N (1995) "Internet Access, Software and Legal Sources" 5 Computers and Law issue 6 p 32.
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