Within the late Nineteen Seventies, authorized analysis databases like Westlaw and LexisNexis hit the market, and with their emergence got here a flurry of predictions concerning the de-skilling of the authorized career. Pundits speculated that reliance on these applied sciences may result in a lower in vital pondering abilities amongst attorneys, to not point out a giant discount of their capability to invoice hours.
Because the web age dawned, this discourse gained momentum. The simple availability of authorized info on-line spurred fears of the “commoditization” of authorized providers. As authorized info turned extra accessible, the argument went, the necessity for attorneys may shrink. People and companies, it was surmised, might entry authorized info and conduct primary authorized duties on their very own.
