Can blockchain smart contracts affect the legal profession?

 

Blockchain technology is attracting the attention of businesses and organisations all around the world. This is particularly true in the legal field.

Although Blockchain was developed in 2008 to act as the virtual ledger for Bitcoin, technology has progressed in ways that could not have been anticipated at the time. Any business that needs sensitive information will benefit from the development of an immutable and transparent public information booklet. Blockchain seems to be destined to be a significant driver of change in a number of industries, including the legal profession.

Smart contracts

Legal contracts are still written on paper with all parties' physical signatures required to execute a legally binding transaction, as they have always been. The process of establishing a contract becomes very time-consuming and costly when there is a mountain of supporting administrative labour (think the endless paper bunches and a steady buzz of scanners and photocopiers).

Blockchain has the ability to entirely digitise and end this process by utilising "intelligent contracts," in which agreements are created by code and responsibilities are wholly automated. Contracts may be written and performed directly between the parties, with little or no involvement from legal third parties. As we all know, payment disputes may be a thing of the past. If this isn't the case, smart contracts will instantly make payments depending on the contractual terms agreed upon at the start, apply fines, or stop providing services. Learn about smart contracts by enrolling in a blockchain course.

Intellectual property

Intellectual property (IP) issues have arisen in the digital age, especially with respect to the protection of individual rights. Millions of internet users believe that everything should be free in their best interests, and that the legal system has failed to provide a solution.

Pictures, music and video files, symbols, and other internet copyright works are often downloaded, unlawfully streamed, or used in various ways without the creator's consent or payment of royalties. Blockchain Technology offers a route out of the mud as well as a public copyright record. It can also monitor whether or not a piece of information has been downloaded or viewed.

Custody Chain

What happens in criminal proceedings has a significant effect on whether or not the case is successful. Cases may be lost if the custody chain is not secure. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for cases to be jeopardised due to accidental evidence loss or destruction. As law firms have testified, keeping the custody chain on physical evidence is tough enough, but digital material kept on hard drives or mobile devices is much more complex.

Property rights

Property rights may be a minefield, and there is often conflict. The bulk of records, which span decades and include reams of ledgers, actions, and other papers, are kept in hard copy format. Even if the data is kept digitally, it usually includes scans of the original hard copies, which are stored in whichever database the organisation decides is suitable for their needs. In reality, this entails a lack of transparency, data that has been lost or deleted, records that are inconsistent, and time spent searching for what you need.

Wrapping up

The legal profession will have to wait and see how much the blockchain revolution impacts it, but it seems that it will play a major role in the future. Long processes will be changed (or eliminated), and many companies will likely run more efficiently as a consequence. When old doors close, though, new ones will open, exposing a whole new universe.

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