Futurelawyer

The FutureLawyer Is Also On Substack.

Rick's Newsletter. Since I have readers who have different preferences for getting news and commentary, I have tried to publish FutureLawyer in different places, so that you can pick your poison, and still keep up with my meanderings. I am gratified by the response to the work, which I agree reflects my tendency to think and write about many different things. If you are looking for a traditional law blog, about legal technology and legal issues, you can still find it here; but I tend to write about whatever strikes me as interesting, and you will find poetry, humor, cartoons, and all sorts of material. At Substack, you can find me as "Rick's Newsletter". The secret to a happy life is the ability to choose, the freedom to choose, and to be able to pick your personal poison.

 

Subscribe To FutureLawyer Free.

I know that you never want to miss a FutureLawyer post. Some of you were on the email list; but my distributor, FeedBlitz, advised that my subscribe code wasn't working, a fact I was alerted to by a subscriber. So, if you aren't getting a daily email with all my posts, click the new Subscribe button, and add your info again. If you don't want to go to the blog every day, or you don't want to access the posts via Facebook, Tumblr, or Substack, just click subscribe on the home page. If you prefer to use the other methods, just go to the Futurelawyer page at Facebook, Tumblr or Substack. 

Meet Lou - The LexBlog AI Blogging Assistant.

LexBlog Lou. Kevin O'Keefe has never been one to let grass grow under his feet. He was the grandfather of blogging platforms for lawyers in the early 2000s, and now has the world's largest legal blog publishing platform, LexBlog. Now, leveraging the new AI phenomenon known as ChatGPT, he has created an intelligent assistant that will save blogging lawyers hours of time in creating compelling blog posts that showcase the legal knowledge of the brightest lawyers on the planet. I am very interested to see how Kevin and his crew create an enhanced blogging platform, and plan to follow the progress closely. Congratulations, Kevin. First again.

ChatGPT-4 Knows Who I Am.

I asked ChatGPT 4 who I am. This is the reply:

"Rick Georges is an attorney, legal technology expert, and writer based in Florida, USA. He has been practicing law for over 50 years and has extensive experience in civil litigation and appellate law. Georges is also known as the "FutureLawyer" and is a prolific legal blogger, writer, and speaker who focuses on the intersection of law and technology.

Georges has been recognized as one of the ABA Journal's "Web 100" and one of the "50 Most Influential Legal Bloggers" by LexBlog. He is a pioneer in legal technology, having been an early adopter of electronic case management systems and other digital tools for legal professionals.

Through his blog, FutureLawyer, Georges shares his insights and knowledge on legal technology, digital tools, and other emerging trends that are changing the legal profession. He is also a frequent speaker at legal conferences and events, where he shares his expertise on topics such as e-discovery, cybersecurity, and cloud computing in the legal industry."

Maybe legacy isn't a pipe dream after all? Not.

A New Blog By Kevin O'Keefe - AI In Publishing.

AIInPublishing. Kevin O'Keefe, the Godfather of blogging, has a new blog about the use of generative AI in blogging and other professions that deserves attention. Kevin introduced the FutureLawyer to blogging in 2005, and has been a leading light in technology for many years. He has recognized, along with the rest of us who have been around a long time, that ChatGPT from Open AI, and its competitors, including the heavyweights, such as Microsoft and Google and Amazon, that this will be a sea change in the way humans interact with computers and the Internet. In his words:

"AI is a tool, no different than a PC marking the advance from typewriters, which marked the advance from pen and a paper. Perhaps just a more uncomfortable advance."

But, oh, what a tool it is, and will become. The human like responses from a computer interface will change the way we interact with computers; and already is. I have added a step to my computer research in many areas. I am able to judge the responses; just as I would a very smart human colleague. I can amplify, direct, seek additional facts, make corrections, and otherwise act as an author/editor, before I put my final touches on a blog post, or article, or pleading, or list of questions or issues. Publishers of all kinds will find their work enhanced by these very intelligent computer assistants. In future decades, this advance will be looked upon as a natural successor to the beginnings of the creation of an alphabet. I plan to follow Kevin's blog. Will you?

Could The FutureLawyer Blog Be Written By An Artificial Intelligence Bot?

I have been posting a lot lately about ChatGPT, the generative AI bot from Open AI, which, simply stated, is an intelligent computer that can create competent content from its huge database of previous content. It knows a lot, and, for fun, I asked it a simple question. Can you write a blog post for the FutureLawyer blog? While pretty bland, I could probably have passed its answer off as a blog post, without anyone being the wiser. Of course, it lacks my wit, charm and conversational skill (he said, smiling). But, here is what it wrote:

"As the world becomes more and more digitized, the legal profession is no exception. The practice of law is undergoing a transformation, with technology playing a crucial role in shaping its future. From online legal research to cloud-based document management systems, technology is enabling lawyers to work more efficiently and effectively.

One of the most significant ways that technology is changing the legal profession is through the use of artificial intelligence (AI). AI has the potential to revolutionize the way lawyers work, from streamlining document review to predicting legal outcomes. In fact, some experts predict that AI will soon become a necessary tool for all lawyers.

One area where AI is already being used is in legal research. With the vast amount of legal information available online, it can be challenging for lawyers to find the information they need quickly and efficiently. AI-powered research tools can help lawyers quickly identify relevant cases and statutes, saving them time and increasing their productivity.

Another way that AI is being used in the legal profession is through the use of predictive analytics. By analyzing large amounts of data, AI can help lawyers predict the outcome of legal disputes with a high degree of accuracy. This can be especially useful in litigation, where the outcome of a case can hinge on a few key factors.

But AI is not without its challenges. One of the biggest concerns is the potential for bias in the algorithms used by AI systems. For example, if an AI system is trained on data that is biased against certain groups, it may perpetuate that bias in its predictions. To avoid this, it's important for lawyers to be aware of the potential for bias and to take steps to mitigate it.

Another challenge is the ethical considerations around the use of AI in the legal profession. For example, if an AI system is used to predict the outcome of a case, should that system be transparent about how it arrived at its prediction? Should lawyers be required to disclose that they used an AI system in making their arguments? These are all questions that lawyers and legal professionals will need to grapple with as AI becomes more prevalent in the legal profession.

Despite these challenges, the future of law is likely to be heavily influenced by AI. As the technology continues to evolve and improve, it will become an essential tool for lawyers looking to work more efficiently and effectively. By staying up-to-date with the latest developments in AI and being aware of the potential challenges and ethical considerations, lawyers can prepare themselves for the future of law."

Hmmmm. Is the FutureLawyer going to become obsolete? 

 

Speak In Your Own Voice.

Today, Cultural Offering offers a short, but profound, quote from Elon Musk. "Speak in your own voice", is simple; but, applies to every form of human endeavor. The best advice I ever received about blogging was to be 'authentic". Why are we always trying to act, or be, like someone else? I get the hero worship thing; but, trying to be something we are not will always be seen as phony. I suppose it is human to think we are unworthy; but, it is far better to be judged for what we really are, than on what we want to be. We can never control what others think, anyway, so why do we care? 

“Speak in your own voice.”

A simple profound suggestion from Elon Musk.

LexBlog Aggregates The Smartest Lawyers In The World, And Provides Their Content For Free.

LexBlog. My friend, Kevin O'Keefe, owns and operates the largest aggregator of online legal content in the world. He maintains and publishes blogs for the leading legal lights in just about every area of law you can name. But, more than that, he aggregates and highlights the blog content, and provides them free, via email, to anyone who chooses to subscribes. This link is what I got today in my email box, and covers current developments in the Corporate Transparency Act, current cases in facial recognition, antitrust, and ESG legal areas, and much more. These blog posts are a detailed and current discussion of cases and statutes by the legal experts in their field. It is a win win, because lawyers and consumers get the benefit of learning what is currently going on, and the lawyers who post get visibility for their firms and websites. LexBlog content is a great place to start in any legal research project, and, along with Google Scholar, Anylaw, and other free legal research sites, provides an amazing archive that has more value every single day. If you are a practicing lawyer, you need to go to LexBlog and subscribe to the email service. Thanks, Kevin, and thanks, LexBlog. You are the cutting edge of legal research on the Internet.

 

Blogging Isn't Successful Until It Becomes A Habit.

New Year's Resolutions. More Systems. Fewer Goals. Bridget Phetasy comments today on the failure of New Year's Resolutions, and compares the phenomenon to her inability to finish a script and a novel. We tend to let life interfere with our intentions. This is one of the reasons I stopped making New Year's Resolutions. If I dropped a pound for every year I failed at my resolutions to lose weight, I would be doing male model commercials. But, failing at setting goals isn't inevitable. We need to set the conditions to make our goals attainable. Setting up systems that allow us to trick our minds into performing and making good decisions out of habit. How does a slacker like the FutureLawyer manage to write over 16,000 blog posts in 18 years? I didn't set out to become the most prolific law blogger in the world. Adding poetry and philosophy and humor to the blog helped; but, I didn't wake up in 2005 and make a resolution to blog every day. I set up a system. I started rising at 3 A.M., or, at the latest, 5:30 A.M. This required making a conscious decision to go to bed at 8 or 9 P.M. This, by the way, becomes much easier when you are getting old. Then, once I was up, the Internet and computers made it easy to get into the habit of reading everything my fingers could find, and checking out as many news aggregators as I could find. I couldn't read for 10 minutes without finding something that was interesting, and I found that I couldn't help but write about it. It became a habit, and, now, I look up 18 years later, and there is a body of work that never would have happened if I made a New Year's Resolution to do it. Some writers say that they have to write. It is part of their DNA. That may be true; but, Bridget's husband is right. First, you have to set up the system. Then, everything happens, and one day you reach your goal.