Lawyers and Hackers – Much In Common

Lawyers and hackers have more in common than you might think. Both tackle novel problems and bring their prior experience to bear when navigating uncharted territory and devising solutions to seemingly intractable problems.

“The activities of attorneys and the activities of hackers are not as different as you might expect, if you define hackers as creative, unconventional problem solvers. Each explores vast spaces of complicated systems, looking to see how they work, both in ways intended and unintended, and to see what they can be made to do. In general, the law typically does not keep up with changes in society or technology. As a result, lawyers often must formulate new and innovative ways to address difficult legal problems by using and combining existing legal tools in new ways. For example, if there is a problem with a self-driving car that causes an accident, how can you assign responsibilities so that the right people will pay for the damage? How can you set up the law so such problems tend to be prevented or corrected rather than made worse? Lawyers need to think outside the box, and you often see lawyers cobble together legal tools creatively to solve new problems or to approach a difficult problem in a new way.”

Read: What Do Lawyers and Hackers Have in Common at LLRX