Lawyers: The Age of Clicks
and Mortals

The sea-change lawyers are fearing with the rapidly changing technology is questioning the very existence of the profession. Lawyers, soon enough, will no longer be the first port of call or for that matter be the sole gatekeepers.

As the population gets more broadband-crazy, and as consumers get more educated, and believe in their competency and autonomy, there will come a time when intermediary-service businesses will be provided by banks, travel agents, insurance, finance institutions, share brokers, in-house counsel, and even car-salesmen.

And 'A Do-It-Yourself Mentality' will grow as a change to the legal landscape, just as much as the traditional Court system of resolving conflicts, will give way, some way, to alternative dispute resolutions and self-representation, including arbitration and mediation.

The day has come when legal information and forms are readily available from the web-site. One can imagine a sale on the Net which boasts 'No lawyers! Save money!', leave aside what banks are cloaking themselves as over the years.

So how do we get around to be relevant.

Lawyers of the future who serve as infomediaries, and those who provide high-end, value-added services, will be the force of the day. Those who remain doing routine work will find fees so low that it will be difficult to make a living.

There will emerge virtual firms where professionals will come together for the singular purpose of solving a client's problem. It must be reminded that the Net is here to stay.

No doubt, the halcyon days when dot.com fever raged as furiously as the Gold Rush of old, with scores of stocks of the vibrant exciting new company on the block being traded at inflated prices, are officially over.

Also, gone are the heady days when young dot-com entrepreneurs dominated the limelight with their 'get-rich- quick' stories, inspiring many a young legal eagle to either set up his own dot.com or alternatively, join a brand new dot.com, lured by promises of employee stock options and a scintillating work environment.

Internationally renowned Yahoo, a successful Internet search site, which steadily spread its wings worldwide, has hit the news with announcements of a first quarter loss this year, and plans to lay off 12% of its staffers. Yahoo's subsequent would-be foray into the world of pornography was abruptly halted when the portal's users protested and criticised its latest venture. With falling share prices, Yahoo has also seen management upheavals and the departure of top international managers.

Another on-line success story - Amazon - the on-line bookstore that captured the imagination of the world's book lovers, also announced this January that it would fire 1,300 employees, in addition to closing a warehouse and a call center.

In the wake of these setbacks, even in Silicon Valley, the mecca of technology, it is tempting to dismiss all B2C (meaning the business to consumer transactions online) as worthless and urge a complete turn-around to pure 'bricks and mortar' business.

Yet we cannot turn back the clock - countless organisations now conduct and will continue to transact electronically amid a shoal of 'newspeak': apart from the well known B2C model, there are B2B (Business-to-business), C2C (Consumer-to-consumer), C2B (Consumer-to-business), even Nonbusiness EC (for non-profit organisations) dealings.

A more realistic outlook would be that e-Commerce is here to stay; not supplanting traditional modes of business, but as a supplement, which is neither a magic potion for business profit, nor a cure all to all business woes.

Increasingly, 'bricks and mortar' companies are as likely to venture into the 'virtual' world of business, as are dot-coms likely to move into traditional commercial arenas. In some instances, the twain shall meet in mergers, for instance, the mega AOL-Time Warner marriage. Amazon has also taken steps to link up with Toys 'R' Us, selling its toys on line.

Dot-coms may even be able to earn more revenue by making the technology they have developed or acquired in their own cyber business pursuits available to traditional enterprises desirous of adding an e-business element quickly.

In the legal profession, we cannot remain aloof from the changes that e-business brings in its dawn.

Increasingly, our clients require legal advice as to the legality or otherwise of their cyber business schemes.

Our law firms, following in the footsteps of international firms, are establishing their cyber presence, with the view of reaching a wider clientele, or even exploring brave new ways of providing legal services in the virtual realm, changing forever, the traditional lawyer-client relationship.

Commercial law has scant alternative but to grow to accommodate and to be applicable to the new e-business methods. In Singapore, a new 'think-tank' of the Singapore Academy of Law ponders the implications of the new developments.

E-business has also added an entirely new dimension to legal ethics, which legal associations and lawyers worldwide have begun to consider and debate, and to attempt to reconcile with traditional codes of conduct.

The Government, through the Infocom Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), is actually promoting e-commerce, and that really is less than half the story.

Judicial activism in our courts is on the high in high-tech approaches from document-filing and e-exchanges of documents to video-conferencing for hearings in court (see Registrar's Circular No. 4 of 2001 dated 19th April 2001). Already, talk at last month's IPBA Conference in Tokyo on cyber arbitration is becoming a reality.

E-commerce, e-lawyering and the Internet will level the playing field between large and small firms, and will continue, with force, to blur jurisdictional boundaries.

E-conveyancing is in our midst, and a generation of our conveyancers has been hit. DIY conveyancing is in the air - and that is or may not be all. Standard forms for a divorce or a Probate/L/A. Petitions can be envisaged: the boundaries are boundless.

Such 'do-it-yourself packs' with an aim to improve the process for the consumer by making it faster and easier - and more importantly, cheaper - may be the order of the day.

The lawyer may become an endangered species - unless a mind-set change is made now! Going multi-disciplinary may be the way, and computer power with human expertise may be just the other way.

The challenge for lawyers is combining online and the traditional human service; for lawyers and other professionals, there ought to be embracing technology through our humanness - and rejecting technology that invades or intrudes it. 'Clicks and mortals' and law service will still be on demand though it will be handled online in the future world of electronic 'chambers', chicken wires and all. Consumer satisfaction and protecting the interest of the public must surely be the continuing core value of the profession : that surely is the fundamental raison d'etre of any independent Bar.

Palakrishnan, SC
President
The Law Society of Singapore

Your President Listens Members of the Law Society will continue to have the opportunity to meet Mr Palakrishnan, President of the Law Society, at his fortnightly Saturday sessions at the Law Society's premises between 10.30am to 12noon. The sessions next month will be on 2, 16 and 30 June 2001.