#24: Ed Walters on Robot Lawyers and the Law of Robots (Replay)

This episode we’re trying something a bit different. One of our favorite interviews to date was Sam’s conversation with Ed Walters about law and robots, so this week we are replaying it. If you missed it the first time around, you’ll want to tune in now.

Last year, Ed taught a “Law of Robots” course at Georgetown Law, which Sam used as an excuse to talk to him about technology and the future of law. Robots are already here in the form of drones and self-driving cars, and they are raising some novel legal issues. But computers may play a greater role in law practice, as well. When you consider Moore’s Law, it’s hard to imagine computers not doing some legal work on their own in the near future. That doesn’t necessarily mean they will replace lawyers or render lawyers irrelevant, but they will probably make lawyers’ jobs a lot easier. Students in Toronto are already trying to put IBM’s Watson to work doing legal research, and that is surely just the tip of the iceberg.

Ed and I explored some of the roles computers may play — not all of which endanger lawyers’ jobs. In fact, some of the roles computers may play could actually make law practice a lot more rewarding.