McLuhan and the Practice of Law

Have a look at Jason Wilson’s latest rethinc.k post, “The Document Life: Why “lawyer” is moving from a profession to a metaphor.” In actual fact, the post, after a brief intro by (legal publisher and Slaw columnist) Wilson, is a reproduction of an article written in 2008 by Ross Reeves for the Virginia Bar Association News: “Marshall McLuhan in the Modern Law Office: Has Technology Changed the Way We Think?”

McLuhan, the hometown boy and media messenger, is back in the world’s good graces again, after a number of years in the wilderness. And, of course, what’s restored him to significance is the rapid sweep of the board by digital media and the internet — that, and the fact he was spot on about so many things, of course.

Reeves, after McLuhan, tells us that “modern law office media are changing the shape of the legal mind” and warns that “[w]e remain blind at our peril.” So read what he has to say — and consider that things have moved along ever more swiftly since 2008.