In this article from 2001, Darryl Mountain warns that law firms that do not embrace information technology, and reinvent themselves accordingly, are doomed in the increasingly technological marketplace. The efficiencies and capabilities of those firms that do embrace IT and automation tools will, over time, marginalize those firms that do not. Whether a firm develops an in-house legal web advisor team, or commissions outside tech teams to implement similar services, Mountain predicts that law firms must modernize or die. While reading, consider (1) how the practice of law (read: clients’ interests) have changed since 2001, (2) whether Mountain’s warnings hold greater or less weight than in 2001, and (3) how might Mountain change his advice, given the modern states of apps, connectivity, and client expectations.
Darryl Mountain, Could New Technologies Cause Great Law Firms to Fail?, Journal of Information, Law and Technology, (2001).
