First Blog

  Will we witness the end of the legal profession in our days? With the advent of AI (Artificial Intelligence), there comes a serious challenge to this profession that celebrates its precision and logical arguments, almost always based on precedent. Let’s consider a few cases.   It seems certain that future lawyers will bring an AI assistant into the courtroom. It will listen to all testimony, look for irregularities, signal objection events, point out exceptions (with references), and help deliver closing arguments. Do you agree? The law office of the future will need no paralegals. AI will develop all the background knowledge the attorney of record needs. It will supply appropriate quotes with references. It will cite tangential issues, how they were decided, and accompanying arguments. The future law office will have no space for a law library – it being online in every office. Attorneys will dictate and AI will compose their letters in the correct legal language. The trusty leg

The extensible spring.  Think of the shock absorber on your car.  You hit a bump, the spring is compressed and then releases its energy slowly to cushion the bump.  Now think of capital markets in the same way.  This time the bump is a constant barrage of regulations.  They kept coming during the Obama administration.  For good or bad, the spring kept compressing.  Under Trump, the regulations have been relaxed, and the spring with all its stored up energy seems to be releasing its energy in an explosion of expansion.  This leads us to believe the markets have expanded (30 new DOW records this year), not back to their reasonable expression, but far beyond.  It leads one to think a rebound is possible, as it returns to where it should be.  And “should be,” on the basis of growth and market, are the key words.  We are led to believe the markets will settle back to reasonable positions, and this may imply a correction is coming.  A bumpy ride may be afoot.  Analogy is a wonde

We look at the two candidates as they are as projected from their past.   This is the second blog on Hillary and Donald. The first is at  http://used-ideas.blogspot.com/2016/09/hillary-and-donald.html The election this cycle offers us two opposing viewpoints proposed by two fundamentally opposite persons.   Each, I believe, seriously wants to help the country in this time of multitudinous international and national stresses.   Both approach the problems differently. Different paradigms, different temperaments, and different solutions.   Actually, different everything.  Both use their personal time-tested techniques. Political vs. Business.   They cannot and will not change!   Not at their age.   Old dogs and all that…  Though Hillary was trained as a lawyer, she is now a thorough-going politician.   Thus, Hillary will likely treat all matters as political within the constraints of her political dogmas. Hillary, with help from her team, will always, but always, give ful

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." --- Shakespeare The legal profession has about the broadest range of intellectual ability as any of the prominent professions.  Known to most as an important profession, necessary in a complex society, but for which billed fees are perceived as disproportionate to the services rendered.  This we know.  However, it is the range of skill of lawyers, from supreme intellect to barely literate that we come upon.  It's all in the licensing. Many folks could handle simple wills, property closing, contract execution and enforcement, and numerous lawyerly skills. For most of these tasks there are strict procedures of practice. Very little actual legal knowledge is required. There is a difference between understanding the nature of the law and preparing a will or trust for some needful client.  To be sure, without licensing the doors would open to completely unscrupulous, incompetent, and immoral practitioners.  Licensin

June 12, 2012 One claim made by many pundits these days is that the United State has too many regulations,   that regulations are stifling to the economy, that regulations are so arcane they are difficult to penetrate.    True or not, let’s look at the situation.   It is a fact that regulations are necessary for the proper administration of government.   A population of 250 million is too large to handle by local and arbitrary means.   Regulations can serve to stave of legal actions of almost every variety.   Second, with too many regulations there are a number of unanticipated consequences.    A couple of definitions: Policy: A consistent guide to be followed under a given set of circumstances. Procedure: A procedure is a sequence of steps for completing a given activity. Regulation:   Statements to explain the technical, operational, and legal details necessary to implement laws. Law: A   system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to gove