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The present has caught up with the future. The superb sci-fi film, Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise takes place in the year 2054 which is darn close to our target date in this e-magazine. The story centers around a new technology that allows law enforcement to predict criminal acts before they occur based on the psychic meanderings of three individuals who are kept literally on ice or some analogous glutinous cinematic substance.
The October edition of 2050.net will be about the future of the legal profession in America and potentially the world. I know something about this subject as I have been an IP and litigation attorney for over thirty years. During this substantial period of time, I have witnessed the ups and downs of this profession along with its high moments, disappointments, and abject failure. The law, in my view, is not about justice as it should be but achieving a result and often at a very high price. Admittedly, this may be an appalling revelation for our readers.
Let me explain. The legal profession is about strong emotions and clients who are seeking professional gladiators to fight it out in court. The battle cry is typically about power, money, sex, and – of course – criminal acts. My focus has always been former and not the latter.
That said - whether a lawyer is dealing with civil or criminal law, the battle is fundamentally won or lost on the facts and to a great extent, the forensic and theatrical ability of the lawyers. The facts whether dealing with a contested big-dollar divorce, the ownership of a billion-dollar computer system, or the majority interest in an international corporation, are always at issue. The clients and teams of experts on both sides will swear under oath to conflicting facts that could only exist together in the crazy world of entanglement and quantum mechanics. Typically, someone is lying.
The litigation should be a quest for the truth, but lawyers and judges can get it wrong. I don’t want to shock anyone, but clients have been known to lie or more often misinterpret the facts. Even in a situation where the facts of a case are on the wrong side, a well-trained litigator can sway a jury, the trier of the facts, in the wrong direction. A classic case was the acquittal of O.J. Simpson who was found not guilty but clearly did it, in my opinion.
Once the facts are determined, the jury applies pre-set instructions to determine whether a particular defendant is liable (has to pay money) or guilty (serve time or death penalty). The jury will also consider whether specific defenses to the civil claim or criminal charge apply, negating the liability or crime. Again, this is simply the application of the facts to the civil or criminal laws which apply.
In addition to the antics of excellent trial lawyers to skew the facts, jurors and judges can be biased and arrive at the wrong result. Corruption occurs. Mistakes in the system happen frequently as with the prior execution of a convicted murderer who is exonerated years later based on DNA evidence not available at the time.
I predict that the determination of truth and the facts will be simplified through advanced technology by 2050. Although not at the sophistication of Minority Report, new neural devices which utilize sophisticated brain scans will be able to determine with 100% accuracy whether someone is telling the truth or not. Unlike contemporary lie detectors with an approximate accuracy of about 75 percent, this technology will not be subject to error or misinterpretation.
Recent computer innovations rely on MRI technology and minute variations in eye movements to adjudge the truth or falsity of human statements. Numerous startups are already working on complex software which evaluates a myriad of biological functions and input to determine whether a human subject is telling the truth or not. In the same way, the most sophisticated computer algorithms can predict the emergence of hurricanes from a myriad of data points, the same technology will be employed in the world of criminal justice resulting in the advent of systems better described as lie detectors on steroids.
This technology will likely be introduced on a voluntary basis throughout the country in the 2040s and then expanded as its efficacy is confirmed. The parties to a lawsuit would have the opportunity to waive their rights to a judge, jury, or arbitrator in exchange for the use of a “truth scan” for lack of a better word. The cost of litigation would be minuscule as there would be no need for lawyers and experts to develop the facts and theories of the case. Upon such determination after the administration of “truth scans” to both parties and potentially consenting witnesses, the now uncontested facts would be inputted into a computer system which would serve as the cyber-jury. An algorithm would evaluate the facts and make the legal determination as to whether the Plaintiff or State or Federal Government prevails or not. The computer's determination of damages (civil case) or sentencing (criminal case) would also be rendered.
I am doubtful this system would be mandated by the government and, therefore, introduced based on the agreement or consent of the parties. However, other countries would likely implement this system from the top, most likely, totalitarian states.
The gradual introduction of this advanced system in the United States will profoundly affect the practice of law which will dwindle as lawyers will be mostly replaced by technology with regard to litigation. Attorneys will continue on, however, as the prior system and new technology will exist in tandem. Eventually, the new technology will prevail leading to the extinction of trial lawyers. If the old system is not replaced by legislation, it will continue on for the very rich who will prefer to err on the side of human judgment or bias.
The remaining functions performed by non-litigators including transactional lawyers (business deals/contracts), Intellectual Property, Estate Law (Wills & Trusts), and other areas will be taken over by the next generation of computers. These tasks already can be performed by digital computers and good software. The advent of more complex computers in the 2020s and certainly quantum and wetware configurations will be able to carry out these functions with ease and less cost. Unfortunately, these lawyers will also go extinct.
Given the seismic events confronting the legal profession, the need for lawyers and law schools will also diminish and then depart from the scene of history. My apologies in advance to our distinguished readers who comprise law professors, deans, and administrators. I hope you will forgive me.
As is the tradition of this publication, the October Edition of 2050.net will be a wild ride into the future of jurisprudence.
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