Justice and Technology Practicum Class Guest Lecturer: William Hornsby Staff Counsel ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services

Functions of Lawyering Dispute Resolution Compliances

UPL Who is most hostile to UPL? UPL may depend on the definition of the practice of law – Drafting From Dacey to Parsons to Reynoso What about LegalZoom? – Product or Service?

As applied to Technology “Websites don’t just grow out of thin air and aren’t maintained out of thin air. They’re put together by people; they’re put on the Internet; and it’s not the web site that provides the assistance. It’s the people who develop the web site that provide the assistance.” In re Reynoso

Janson et al v. LegalZoom “A computer sitting on a desk in California cannot prepare a legal document without a human programming it to fill in the document using legal principles…” The notion of product vs. service The dumber the better; the smarter the worser?

Forming a Lawyer-Client Relationship In the eye of the beholder Two-step analysis Does the person believe there is the relationship? Is there a reasonable basis for that belief? Legal Information vs. Legal Advice Direction for court clerks, librarians.

What if the Rules Apply? MR 1.2(c) Limited scope of representation Reasonable under the circumstances Informed consent MR 1.1 Competence Duty to make inquiry MR 1.3 Diligence Zealous advocacy

Application of rules Confidentiality Security of Information (Cloud issues) Conflicts Imputed conflicts – MR 6.5 Candor toward the tribunal Ghostwriting

Questions to ask ourselves Can we avoid UPL? Can we work outside of the definition of the practice of law? Is there a difference between services in the marketplace and those for the public good? How can we control the determination of the lawyer-client relationship? If we work within the lawyer-client relationship, how can we comply?

What about the future? Virtual Worlds From 2-D text-based interface to a 3-D graphic-based interaction Portable Avatars Integrating AI with human interface

Questions/Comments