Entering 2020, with technology expanding at an increasingly rapid pace, changes to the way attorneys and others in the legal field do business were already occurring. In light of the crisis the United States, and the world, face with COVID-19, those changes are now not simply increasing but may change the way many in the legal industry function permanently.

The topic of legal assistance provided through the internet has been transformative and controversial well before the current state of affairs. As an example, documents in Florida can now be notarized online after meeting certain requirements effective Jan. 1. This is part of a larger push for online access to legal assistance and the ability to use tools provided by technology in the justice system. One of the concerns that has been debated for years was the risk of fraud and the argument that it is less reliable than in person confirmation.