The (necessary) Digitalization of the Legal System

For a long time, the legal system in Mexico had refused to innovate, change and improve; but not only in Mexico, the legal sector has a reputation for being traditional and allergic to change around the world.

Given the current conditions, amazingly, we have been breaking this paradigm. But, Why now? Why not 5 years ago?

In order to engage in a better reflection, we must ask ourselves the following questions:

• How do I see the legal system in 5, 10, 15, 20 years?
• How do I see myself as a lawyer in 5, 10, 15, 20 years?
• Why can other professions innovate?
• Is it worth profiling myself as a traditional lawyer and not as a digital one?
• Why does technology exist? To answer this question, it is important to define “technology”.

According to the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy), technology is understood as: “a set of theories and techniques that allow the practical use of scientific knowledge”.

From a simple analysis, we can conclude that technology exists because it has to facilitate/implement/improve the lives of human beings.

For this reason and under this philosophy, innovation has been implemented in many professions and areas of daily life, but unfortunately it has not yet occurred in the legal system.

My father is a lawyer, and I still remember that in his office he has at least 25 books of more than 300 pages each, where if I wanted to search for case law or some interesting judicial precedent, I had to review a lot of books to find one that I could use. Later, if I'm not mistaken, they created compact discs instead of books. Nowadays, we can search and find case law in less than 5 minutes, when it used to take hours or days.

As Lawyers and future Lawyers, we must learn to use technology to our advantage. We have to understand that The world of law has evolved and there is no going back. We owe a quality legal system to our society.

El Digital Lawyer, the lawyer of the 21st century, must know that the title of “Bachelor of Law” is not enough; he must know that technical knowledge is required of Microsoft Word, you have to know how to do a nice PowerPoint presentation In sight, master the use of Microsoft Excel, the operation of social networks, how does a Software, basic computing, use of virtual tools such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, Slack, Monday! , etc., Legal Design or even the conversion of legal services into legal products.

Debt to Society

Why must we radically transform the legal system? Because, as it turns out, we owe society:

• We owe him a judicial process that does not take years in being resolved.
• We owe him honest and effective attorneys, fair laws.
• We owe you Judges, Lawyers, Officials who understand that the law must adapt to society and not society to the law.

This way we can guarantee a true right of access to justice for everyone, without exception. We must remember: “Late justice is not justice”.

Currently, there is a legally unexplored world, an alternative to physical reality, a virtual reality. New forms of crime, new forms of contracting an obligation, new forms of responsibility, new forms and forms of legal acts and acts.

The innovation and creativity of the legal system will be necessary for new and future Lawyers. This is why our profession is amazing, we always have something new to learn and there is a whole new legal world to discover.