Legal technology, ethics and citizenship

The technological evolution of the resources with which information has been documented has key moments that range from the use of memory; of cuneiform clay tablets; of the paper; or that quantum leap that today is lived with digital tools. The aim is to continue improving activities that are fundamental for the development of humanity; for example, the regulation of certain behaviors. In this regard, today many legal professionals, trained “on paper”, have had to reinvent themselves before a progressive development that goes at full speed with tools based on the so-called legal technology or legal tech, so as not to die trying to continue with a reality that will no longer be. Law is at a critical moment in its evolution with new concepts and disciplines in which most of the generations that are active were not prepared for a change of this dimension. They have been forced to align the compatibility of their knowledge with legal technology. Contract reading mechanisms that synthesize thousands of pages, voice algorithms that analyze due process in hearings, Blockchain technology applied to the property regime, or artificial intelligence that handles legal processes. And although some authorized voices might say that this is no longer so new, perhaps due to the impetus to listen to innovations with greater speed, that is to say the least far from being the day-to-day life of the legal profession and much less of the citizenship.

It is there where the technological imperative that dictates “if technology allows it, it is done” must be involved with two problems that a pandemic has exacerbated. The first is to guarantee the ethical behavior of those who claim to serve to defend rights, but who often distance themselves from protecting the interests of the people, integrity, professionalism and the prevalence of justice, ethics. The second is to guarantee that everyone has true access, with clear and simple language, to understanding basic aspects of their rights and obligations. Today many people, despite hiring legal services, do not stop living the uncertainty of a legal alchemy that prevents them from understanding whether things are being done correctly when they rent their house, lend money, sign contracts, carry out paperwork, or are detained by some authority, in short, in countless situations.

It is there where legal technology can contribute significantly in the effort to develop solutions that, beyond a key moment in the evolution of law, generate clear consequences in the day-to-day life of many people who are individually invisible to the discussion. , but as a whole they are the reflection of a Mexican rule of law that continues to be their duty.

ricardo.corona@koalsulting.com