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17 - Smart Transactional Technologies, Legal Disruption, and the Case of Network Contracts

from Part VI - Future of Smart Contracts, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2019

By
Roger Brownsword
Edited by
Larry A. DiMatteo ,
Michel Cannarsa  and
Cristina Poncibò
Larry A. DiMatteo
Affiliation:
University of Florida
Michel Cannarsa
Affiliation:
Université Catholique de Lyon
Cristina Poncibò
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy
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Summary

The author examines the impact of blockchain and smart contracts on the legal profession. After all, the lawyer is entitled to draft smart contracts. For a few years now, in information technology, the lawyer has promoted the writing of so-called agile contracts in connection with projects run by “agileȁ methods. However, the smart contract, whether described as a contract or simple algorithm, challenges the lawyer by its philosophy (“code is law”) and by its writers who are no longer jurists but developers. He discusses whether this technology will be “killing off” the legal profession. Before over-hastily assuming this apocalyptic demise of the lawyer, the author suggests to think about the role and the status of the lawyer in his general mission of advice and defense, and considers whether information technology can be a substitute for the lawyer or simply a new tool that could be used.

Keywords

Self-help remediesdistributed ledger technologyconsumer protectioncontract standardizationtransaction costsescrow
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Smart Contracts, Blockchain Technology and Digital Platforms , pp. 313 - 333
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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