Information technology

The lawyers themselves have kept us on the run for a long time. And they have
got a reputation over the years of charging us for what? At the end of the day it is
just information. We have often discussed the topic of the impact of law on
technology and on society and now in some ways, we as technologists are saying
it is now about time we discuss the impact of technology on law because the
show is on the other foot. How it affects their business for example we had a
speaker here today, Professor Richard Suffcons who came via satellite from I
think from the UK and he was scaring them to death, he said you people might
very well be disintermediated because what value do you add when you do what
you do?

Host: People might be disinter-whatted?

Jonar Nader: Disintermediated is the intermediary or the middle person or agent

who in this case is a lawyer. A travel agent is a middle person; they sell you a
ticket from an airline. What does a lawyer do? They give you information that
they decipher from the torts or the statutes and so he is saying, if all you sell is
information, why cant we go elsewhere for it? What makes you think I have to go
to you? I could go to the internet, to other countries, to people who arent even
lawyers just people who know how to decipher the law, and that was scaring
them somewhat and Sir Ivan Richardson, who is the president of the Australian
Court of Appeal was here this morning addressing everyone and he said that the
costs and accessibility are far too high and is calling for a review on that. Certain
prominent speakers are certainly shaking the attendees in their boots.

Host: Are the lawyers themselves open minded enough to take advice from
technology people?

Jonar Nader: I think that in the past they havent been and now I think that
everything is coming through fear, because remember fear has been a fantastic
seller in our history, and so they have the fear put into them and are now
listening and asking questions all be it they dont like the tablet that they have to
swallow for example there was the communications minister speaking about
frogs being produced in labs without heads and how the papers have already put
down to produce humans without heads and what ethical questions that will raise
if you can have a factory with bodies, non deplumes who can donate their
kidneys, etc. And when you talk about what technology can do, the speed
transaction, the globalisation, the cross boarder trading, theft and crime then if

you are not up on this, how can you practice law if you do not know what it going
to happen and the minister of communication said you may think that things
may have been going quickly for us, you may think that technology has been
travelling quickly, but I will show you the graph. In my opinion, it is going to shoot
up just like a vertical and your children will be in a whole new world.