A Glimpse into the Future
By Pam Lane

What ranks Number 4 in “Science’s Top 10 Inventions of the Millennium?” If you guessed the computer, the laser, the microscope or telescope, you were close, but they all fell below the “World Wide Web,” according to a recent article in the Dallas Morning News. The Net is heralded as an invention of unprecedented scope and complexity. Among other attributes, it provides the legal field with instant information and a powerful vehicle for collaboration. Today, the Net provides instantaneous access to information 24 hours a day, anywhere in the world. It provides a new medium for commercial transactions that in the USA alone could soon exceed in volume the $50 billion mail order industry. The Net provides a very low-cost, very rapid means of personal communication between individuals, attorneys, law firms and corporations across the globe or across the street. It is playing an increasingly important rule in the way lawyers practice law and represents the wave of the future. The Internet provides a means for special interest groups to form instantaneously around any subject of common interest and act in unison over a vast distance. It is an organization without any discernable center of power or ability to direct anyone or anything. It is the first organization that anyone can access, but no one can control. That is how the Internet is seen today, but what about five or ten years from now? How will it be viewed? Remember the Internet is only six years old now, an adolescent in today’s society, but we can make some educated guesses about Internet technology because it is a direct descendent of human nature. Only what people actually use will survive. Already, your e-mail arrives via the Internet. Soon, there will be hand-held wireless videogames and gadgets of all kinds that connect to the Internet for different purposes. Imagine being able to wirelessly access the Internet or check your e-mail while you are waiting at the airport for your flight. Armed with a laptop, you can do that now at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport by way of transmitters in the terminal ceilings. Passengers log on to the World Wide Web after purchasing an ethernet network interface card and paying a subscription fee to Wayport, Inc., an Austin-based company which provides high-speed Internet access.

Expect to see combined television, radio, telephone and computer networks. The trend has already started with Web TV You’ll probably still call it a TV, but it will be very different from today’s TV. Today, you may have 2, 3 or even 4 remote controls in your living room. Three to five years from now, you may have the equivalent of a dozen or two dozen little gadgets, each of which are very important to you for what they do. There will be millions made integrating all of these disparate pieces, these separate services, making it possible for you to have reliable access to all aspects of your on-line identity from wherever you may be. Today there are microprocessors in your home, your car, your TV. You take them all for granted. In the future, if your washer or dryer breaks down, it will be able to send a signal through the power grid and a repairman will be sent out immediately—before you even know about it. Your alarm clock will be able to check the weather and traffic conditions, calculate your drive time and then wake you up at the configured time so you won’t be late for work. All of these microprocessors or “chips” will be networked and will “talk” to one another, and they will all be connected to the Internet.
The Internet of the future will be easy to use and embedded in everything. ATMs changed the way people bank; the weekly trip to the bank teller changed to a convenient pause at one of the vast array of network boxes that provide cash-on-demand Soon, ATMs will be obsolete. Why travel to one of these boxes? Why not use evolving telecommunications to authorize computers to print the cash you need no matter where you are? One big development to look forward to is the next generation of translation software which will reduce language barriers and do away with the need for interpreters for depositions and trials Information on candidates for public office is already available on-line In the next few years, instead of going to the local church or school where you are registered to vote, you will be able to cast your ballot on-line from your home or office. The effect on voter turn-out could be enormous. 
Computers that you wear have already been developed and things that “think” have been created and those things talk to one another. Computer chips could be embedded in anything—not just your car, your office, or home security system. Remember: nothing sounds more out-of- date than yesterday’s vision of the future. The Internet will also be taken for granted; with invention comes complacency. It will become an extension of us, like our cellular telephones and cars are to us today. 
In the legal field, various forms of Internet alternative dispute resolution have already set up shop. Cybersettle.com is one medium which was created to provide a more efficient means of settling disputes. It is based on the idea that the parties to a lawsuit are in the best position to resolve their own disputes and was designed to provide an on-line, unbiased settlement tool. It touts that it will replace today’s outdated methods of alternative dispute resolution. Only time will tell. 
Currently it is estimated that 30 percent of the United States’ population is connected to the Internet. In the next few years, that estimate is expected to rise above 50 percent. The actual number of Internet users is not really known but the March, 1999, publication “The Future of the Internet” predicts the global on-line population to top 250 million by 2002 and to top 300 million by 2005. The greatest growth is expected in Asia and South America, both previously under- developed markets In the legal field, the Internet is playing an increasing role in lawyers’ lives. Nearly all law firm attorneys and legal assistants (91%) and the majority of in-house counsel (71%) have access at work, and 79% of Internet users report having access at home. 
The strengths of the Internet, according to surveyed attorneys and legal assistants were the ability to communicate with clients, other lawyers, and the speed of such communication. Another attribute was its research capabilities. These attorneys and legal assistants express general satisfaction with the Internet as a general research tool. Research for which the Internet is currently well-suited and that will remarkably increase in the next three years include reviewing on-line court documents, background research, business information research, statutes and legislation research. 
One weakness pointed out with regard to the Internet was the time-consuming efforts to find things due mainly to the disorganization of materials. That will change in the next few years as more and more search engines become state-of-the-art. Other areas where the Internet is lacking include legal research, case research, concern for lack of security, and confidentiality. 
In the courtroom, the Elmo or telestrator are already obsolete. We now have computer generated demonstrative evidence which combines video, audio and graphics into one projection. Trial exhibits now range from timelines, flow charts, call out boards and other graphics, all computer software generated. 
Beyond providing sizzling speed—85,000 times faster— and rock-solid reliability, the next generation Internet will spawn a whole new array of applications. Accompanying the Web TV application, many radio and television broadcasting companies will abandon their analogic equipment and migrate entirely to the Internet, enhancing their programming with a variety of interactive features. Video conferencing and “chatting” will transform you to full three-dimensional virtual worlds and appear to physically interact with other Net users in real time. You can already receive CLE credits via the Net and soon, you’ll be able to attend seminars and conferences anywhere in the world. 

Law firms are increasingly utilizing the Internet for client development which will be a huge marketing tool of the future. More and more clients are demanding electronic services from their lawyers, from e-mail and modem capability to research on legal issues. In the past, clients have found lawyers in other communities by asking about or consulting various print legal directories. Those directories are now going on-line, with enhanced search capabilities. Not long from now, most efforts to locate a lawyer in another community will be accomplished on-line. Even the Courts are hopping on board by increasingly encouraging the electronic filing of pleadings and are distributing their own rulings by way of the Internet. 
When it comes to job hunting, the Internet provides a wealth of information. Currently you can use the Internet to find detailed employer information, legal career information, and general information about the legal profession. As more legal employers publish information about themselves via the World Wide Web, job hunting on the Internet will become more commonplace. 
Most agree that the Internet has the potential to improve society in several ways. Its use as a medium of information exchange may make society more democratic and knowledgeable. It has the potential to place vast storehouses of information on-line, and thereby ease information access and increase the capacity for all members of society to learn. The Internet has become something much greater than a simple network for sharing research information. It has grown to encompass a significant part of our society and is still growing by leaps and bounds. As the number of Internet users grow, the Internet’s effect on society, and the legal profession in particular, will also grow. If the Internet of the future delivers only half of what it promises, it will be worth it.

Pam Powell-Lane is a senior legal assistant with the law firm of Cooper & Scully, P.C., where she specializes in the areas of product and premises liability, personal injury, bad faith, coverage, and appellate litigation. She is a charter member of the State Bar of Texas Legal Assistants Division where she has previously served as Chairman of the Ethics Committee.