Controversial rap star Eminem appears an unlikely role model for lawyers – who tend to identify more with the great classical composers. Yet his techniques may be highly relevant to today’s legal sector. Compare the laborious cutting and pasting of legal precedents in many law firms, with the sophisticated sampling that goes on in the music business.
Right now, software is being developed that enables complex master contracts or precedents to be turned into interactive, re-usable digital sources. These sources are precise, reliable enough to generate client documents with little intervention from the lawyer, and can be sold many times over. Law firms are starting to think the unthinkable. They see how they can augment their personal service with such fully automated services, how clients will value it and pay for it.
