INTRO:
Why many lawyers choose their profession is based on what the law path may give them in return and in the long run- it is a career that once retained a very certain prestige and secure path. Legal services in England and Wales have the flexibility to offer different types of funding, each type in the form of pro bono, legal aid and various private forms are applied to suit each and every client individually.The various forms are often found debatable in the law world; whether or not they are ethically correct when applied and what duties conducts a lawyer's conscience at play- the constant growth in the market raises the question of what technological innovations may override legal careers in the upcoming future. Although client based relationships are highly rated in today’s society what could be a possibility if technological innovations find a way to inherit artificial intelligence strong enough to inherit traits such trust and strong communication. – remaining ethically neutral means that a lawyer sustains fidelity to the client and the law and is what drives the field of legal careers, but is this something we expect to see in robots?
Lawyers are regulated by the Legal services Act 2007 (and a few legal regulatory bodies), s1(1) summarizes the rules that lawyers must abide to when working as authorized persons this means that there are not only many assurances for lawyers but also limitations to what they legally can and cannot do. With each service, a worker of the law is bound to a certain mandatory ethical code and a course of conduct- the integrity and morality is personal to each and every individual of course and in many cases can translate into an unjustifiable course of action when it is seen by the eyes of the law. "When a judge sits in judgment over a fellow man, he should feel as if a sword is pointed at his own heart." Talmud
The article ‘Distributing Justice written by Frederick W Smith goes into analytical depth of the judicial system and what purpose it serves satisfying the wrongs in society; the article debates that equality of the distribution of legal services and that it is not accessible to ‘just anyone’ he conditions that the law system has hierarchy and legal services lack civil justice- as at the end of the day process fees ridiculously costly and remotely efficient. .“Our system of justice has become unaffordable to most,” Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales a statement in the
This essay will go on to discuss how the legal system and provision of services looks today and the possibility of the outlook in the future whilst analyzing the ethics and technological side. Today the legal field offers the types of legal funding include: pro bono,legal aid,private, third party,conditional fee agreements, damage based agreements, before the event insurance and crowdfunding giving society’s clients options which route to take when deciding what will protect them best. This essay will go on to discuss the options that society is met with when facing the law field and what we should expect to see in the current technological innovation process and the near future.
ETHICS
There are the three different moral philosophies that can be applied to law: deontology/rules, consequentialism and virtues. Deontology focuses on that some choices cannot be justified by their effects and that rights are duty based by following the rules; consequentialism basis it’s ideology that outcome is everything and sometimes a lie can bring out a good outcome and virtue based ethics highlights that character is what matters most. The issue at hand is what a person should do versus what they must, when breaching the law a person often faces the consequences whilst with personal ethics and morals they must not as they are their own verdict of what is right or wrong; this can be why it may be conflicting when comparing law and ethics as what one act is seen as correct in the law may seem unjustifiable in ethics and morality. The practice of the law can leave one confused and there are various cases that support this debate; F v West Berkshire Health Authority [1990] HL a woman was permanently sterilized at the age of 36 due to her mental health state by health authorities, it was held that it was in her best interest for her state; this is a case that occurred not too many years ago but questions whether the justification of the law is in fact worthy enough to judge over a human's right to decision when concerning her own body. In the article ‘When Ethics and the Law Collide’ by Frederic G. Reamer morality from a lawyer’s perspective is discussed when he is placed in a position of either violating his work ethic or his client’s trust; it also deals with how ethical codes work in different workplaces such as how social workers must deal with legal issues and how certain types of confidentiality is handled accordingly. Often the question of how does a lawyer's ethical code make them stand out from the public’s is a key process in a client’s hiring of and reflects back to what forms a lawyer’s reputable career, sometimes a client may be more difficult and put pressure on the lawyer to receive a certain outcome or even challenge the lawyer's integrity, these are some of the the largest problem a lawyer's faces, finding a workplace compatible with the majority of their own morals and ethics- as there is not much help from the regulatory body if a lawyer were to take matters in their own hands and go against the law.
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
A grey area in the english law system is the lack of ‘free’ funding, many people will often go through their options economically before reaching out for legal services. Legal aid is offered to those in greater need and those who are eligible and meet those particular requirements. This means that it is not any option for everybody. Although this can be seen in a negative light, it encourages a fairer system where legal services support those who are most in need, there is also the option of pro bono- a way of providing for the public justice by giving a larger amount of help to those in need who cannot afford it, but with that comes risks; very short concentrated amount of time is given to the client and often not very quality which leaves the majority to turn to private funding which is often depends on how much one is willing to cash out in order to get the right help and time, often the better the lawyer the more expensive.. Alan Paterson discusses in his book ‘Lawyers and the public good – chapter: access to justice’ the supply and demand of legal services and how competition may alter the quality of services, he also goes into more depth about the wealthier being able to afford a much more quality legal service; it gives a perspective on the fact that legal services are on high demand however there is a price to pay for receiving good service.
The article ‘Technology: breaking the law’ goes in depth over the current technological innovation groundbreaking the legal system right now and how it will look in the upcoming future; it talks about the fact that lawyers fear what will surpass their careers regarding newer technological innovations. Many careers have already sunk down the drain if not replaced in the media world, music, travel, the list is continuous; even the internet has become a far off threat when innovations such as robots come into play- not only can they perform tasks such drive, medical surgery and even perform sexual acts this leaves us to ponder what they will be able to do next.
‘The numerator is stacked in favour of the rich. The denominator is more complicated: the cost of the legal system is set by various decisions made in its design, and most Western systems are built for (and by) high net worth individuals. The systems are often very good; but they are also, by the same token, very expensive. The result is not only that the poorer you are, the more disproportionate you become; more fundamentally, it indirectly channels court time to those best able to pay for it.’
Our technological advances are expanding by the minute and today we have websites and apps that can provide us with simple legal services such as forming contractual relations/contracts, give legal advice automated by robots and algorithms that process information faster than ever- resulting in providing information that we need faster and often at no cost at all. It gives us options for less costly legal services that are set at the same standard for anybody using them. The problem with all business and services is that they are expensive to run and that is why so many new innovations provide a solution to decrease costs- although this is typically bad for legal workers meaning the cut in jobs and less funding towards office space, it does create job opportunities in new areas such as technology development. The outlook seems to be both privileged and high when it comes to robots in our society and artificial intelligence, a humanoid robot named Sophia has already been granted citizenship earning a human privilege in Saudi Arabia.
Today's technological advances give us other options, for example more affordable legal help especially for small business owners initiating startups and in need of simple start contracts, legal advice for private people that is easily accessible and inexpensive/free of charge meaning more people are able to reach out and get help. Robots allow people to get better advice in an objective manner and avoid being judged as they would in a human relationship; they allow the chance for intelligent decision taking with less risks and a more calculated approach than a human may have. This is something that can be both a positive and a negative when it comes to a human based relationship approach as some people prefer a more warmer approach whilst others rather have certainty in a formal way, what technological innovations lack is the ability to express emotion and build relationships such as client based relations this is something that can most likely change as we keep developing. However, as a counterargument robots function on algorithm meaning that everything is calculated by popularity and is defined that ‘technology-doing more with less’ as described in the article ‘The Pros and Cons of Robot Managers’ written by Thomas Premuzic and Gorkan Ahmetoglu so not everything that is worked out is specifically the right move for the client themselves.
CONCLUS
In conclusion, the England and wales funding for legal services do provide to a certain element ‘justice’ in the form of funding of legal services. Legal aid is provided to those who meet the and are tested by the three tests: subject matter in scope,means satisfied and merits test satisfied. We see that this is successful in the case of: Campbell v MGN ltd and decision is conditional fee agreements and a success fee however in the case of: Steel and Morris v United Kingdom there was a failure to claim for legal aid but received damages in this case legal funding succeeded.
Long term challenges show us that in the current situation we are in now with legal funding and technological innovations is that it can both be a positive and a negative. We will be able to provide more people with simpler and cheaper solutions to legal services by reaching out to a majority and supplying our customers demands by providing efficient services. The fundamental changes in the world will always alter the path of the law field as it adapts to stay up to date with our modern time. This means that in the future it is likely the law world will respond to clients in form of their new demands and try to adjust in order to reassure the lifeline of the career. When it comes to the ethical part of law- it lacks in being sufficient in the form of funding as it simply does not give every person the option although it should do, technological innovations may be a resolution to this as well