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Should the courts serve the public interest?

By September 12, 2003law practice

Wendy Liebowitz has a shocking suggestion: the courts should be there to serve the public, and it would help if they used technology to do it.

“Change in the legal profession usually comes from the top down, and that means that it’s driven by the courts. I’d like to think that in a democracy, change always filters up from the people. But face it, “The law is whatever the judge says it is.” If the courts really took the lead in changing the profession, by, say, implementing technology to streamline processes, the profession would follow suit. As one lawyer put it, “If the judge says to come into court wearing a clown’s red nose and walking on your hands, we’ll do it.”

Judges, of course, don’t want you to do that. But the point is, the courts’ priorities frequently don’t coincide with the priorities of those who use the courts. Most people want their matters to be handled with speed, clarity and reliable, preferably inexpensive, pricing. Is this what courts deliver? Speed? Clarity of process and result? Reliable, affordable prices, anyone?”

Yes, exactly. A second helping if you please sir.


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