Law 2.0

Law 2.0 is an indirect descendant of Web 2.0. The idea is to take concepts and practices developed and articulated by the Web 2.0 crowd and apply them to the practice of law. It is a revolutionary concept in the way law is currently practiced, and thus worthy of the full version upgrade syntax.

Key concepts
The key concepts that make something "Web 2.0" are:


 * It should be easy to get data in and out of the system: this has special applicability to court opinions, motions, briefs, public arbitration decisions, attorney practice and discipline.
 * Users own their data and can modify at their convenience: RSS feeds are already current with digitalized lawyers, there's a lot more to do yet
 * Uses the Internet as platform : most lawyers use the Internet already, this is a way of enhancing that usage in a manner consistent with opening access to data and avoiding privitization of public information
 * Dynamic data returns: the law is not static, on-demand web pages are the best way to respond to user needs, whether via intranet, extranet or public web
 * An "architecture of participation" : added value is key. There are many legal actors who can contribute to public/private knowledge in-public knowledge out applications
 * social networking aspects: solo practitioners and smaller firms can network, rather than conglomerate

Benefits

 * Broader public access to public knowledge
 * More meaningful public access to public knowledge
 * Greater synergy between consumer expectations and legal outcomes
 * Greater collaboration between lawyers, judges, agencies and other professional disciplines
 * Richer and deeper contextualized content through distributed responsibility
 * Enables non-Western societies to leap-frog development of inclusionary legal infrastructures

Caveats

 * Hype without substance
 * Further stratification of law firms
 * Further privitatization of law firm technology
 * Failure to leverage benefits of collaborative efforts for common good
 * Alienation of non-technical users

Law 2.0: General Articles, Blog Entries and Publications

 * Law 2.0 — Is The Train Leaving the Station?
 * Law 2.0 Discussion Gains Momentum
 * The Web 2.0 Revolution Spawns Offshoots...
 * Andrew Raff, "Web 2.0"
 * Dennis Kennedy, "Web 2.0"
 * Jack Casey, "Lawfirm 2.0 Philosophy"

Law 2.0: Alternative Dispute Resolution
Alternative dispute resolution includes arbitration, mediation, med-arb, arbitration, conciliation, facilitation, victim-offender counseling, community mediation, divorce mediation, reconciliation and court-annexed processes. Web 2.0 is already playing a major role in the development on online dispute resolution (ODR) tools which support face-to-face methods of dispute resolution. There are many resources available to discuss this rapidly growing area of legal services and at least one law school competition (ICODR).

Lawyers and Others Working on Law 2.0 and ODR Issue

 * Aresty, Jeff
 * Davis, Benjamin a Law Professor
 * Gaitenby, Alan
 * Hattotuwa, Sanjana an ADR Systems Designer and Researcher
 * Katsh, M. Ethan a Law Professor
 * Kennedy, Dennis a lawyer, consultant, speaker and writer
 * Lessig, Lawrence a Law Professor
 * Mullen, Regina an attorney, ADR Professional and programmer
 * Rule, Colin

Technical Aspects, Standards

 * LegalXML