Web 2.0 in the law firm

Slaw.ca has a great post about Web 2.0 in the law firm: The Uneasy Lawyer And IT Dialogue.

Patrick Cormier writes:

As I read two recent posts on the subject topic (Business and I.T. Must Work Together to Manage New "Web 2.0″ Tools by Dennis D. McDonald and Jeremiah Owyang and The Lawyer-IT Dialogue by Simon Fodden), I realized how much of a universal challenge the relationship is - between lawyers and Information Technology (IT). Why is this relationship challenging?

Lawyers share a common context with their clients. Lawyers must be familiar with the problems and issues of their clients. On the other hand, bankruptcy & insolvency lawyers, criminalists and litigators (for example) are not, by default, knowledgeable about Information Technology in general and Web 2.0 in particular¹. The lack of shared context between lawyers and IT is unfortunate, because Web 2.0 trends and technologies can benefit lawyers and law firms in a number of ways.