I came across a great discussion that started with a question “Why do you believe that there are so many unhappy lawyers?” at LinkedIn. I provided my take on it by saying that I feel that has to do something with the changing role of the law itself. Although many people feel that the very fact that the law was developing in a linear way for three thousand years at least, somehow guarantees that this will continue in perpetuity. I think that we are facing a paradigm change in that respect and that deep changes of the role of law in society are underway already. Fully integrated and instant connections in modern societies changed the societies already and are going to change law itself and its role in society by rendering the lengthy processes and unnecessary formalities obsolete. Modern societies need instant resolution in order for the communities and the economy to function properly and with undue friction.

I participated today in a “real world” discussion at an advanced mediation training where it was said that a dominant way of using legal systems in most of the societies nowadays is actually blatant misuse the legal system, its anachronistic processes and intricacies for commercial and personal gain in bad faith. As lawyers are first to see this happening they might feel frustrated. Some of the lawyers might be rendered unhappy by the very changes itself, and other by not being able to contribute enough in changing the legal systems they are working with.

I submit that the traditional jurisdictions will melt way with the foreseeable changes in the very concept of sovereignty as will e.g. the territoriality principle in intellectual property rights. I sometimes ask myself why the lawyers do not have a privilege of planning twenty years ahead, as for instance, do the architects. The architects are trying to project the social organization of space in the future and I just do not get it why lawyers don’t do something similar? Probably looking into the future and actively planning the change would make at least some more lawyers happy. What do you think?