Articles /Vol. 3 No. 3 (2021) /PP. 412-429

Cloud Computing & the Legal Arena: Digitization of Courts during Covid-19

Lead author · Corresponding
Fathima Nazneen
Student at Amity University, Dubai
1342 views
878 downloads
Abstract

There are numerous impressions of the Coronavirus pandemic on law and its enterprises and activities, including the closure of law practices and courts, the decline in services, the lack of clienteles, the withdrawal of client schedules and settlements, the decline in the accessible workforce owing to the virus or social distancing, and the struggle of holding unambiguous appointments and services. Therefore, the law as an arena has holistically changed in order to integrate technology in order to cope with the everchanging digital world. This paper highlights the use of cloud computing as part of digitization of the legal profession while emphasizing the advantages as well as its risks. It will also discuss CaseLines, a cloud-computing software that is increasingly becoming popular to conduct Court online. Various jurisdictions such as DIFC, South Africa, Canada, England and Wales, etc. has employed the use of Cloud-based evidence management systems to ensure the delivery and processes of justice, which is one such use of Cloud Computing.

Keywords
Digitization of Courts Covid-19 Cloud Computing Evidence Management CaseLines
Full Text

I. Introduction

“In an era in which many people conduct a large part of their lives using some kind of an electronic device — whether it’s a smartphone or an iPad or some kind of tablet or computer — the judiciary has got to enable the ways in which we conduct cases to match the expectations of the public.”

Lord Justice Adrian Bruce Fulford

Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales

The Covid-19 or Coronavirus pandemic has altered the economic, social and legal structure fundamentally. Lawyers, similar to other fields, face novel trials in their profession in today's exceedingly ambiguous condition and precipitously shifting atmosphere. The lawyers have undergone a alteration of their vocation and administration of their law practices. It may not always be easy to balance the professional conduct obligations of lawyers and the relationships between clients during the global pandemic. For these reasons, legal professionals should take certain initiatives in answer to the Coronavirus pandemic and carry out certain approaches to run their professional life in the framework of the continuing state. Processes reserved to combat the pandemic also have an important impression on this particular profession, i.e., Law. If we do not conform with the established system of conduct, the professional and civic accountability of lawyers can be involved explicitly in an emergency. The commencement of a changed legal purpose and the emerging types that will guide teaching, instruction, distribution, and ADR are distance learning, remote staff, and online courts. The Covid-19 pandemic has shed light on the prospect for legislation to play a more active role. Which means that, on the macro level, enhancing approach to and distribution of, and fulfillment with legal care, teaching, instruction, conflict settlement, a much-required educational restart, and mutual re-regulation built with the client and not lawyer the in the forefront.

The specialized competence to approach ICT infrastructures and amenities that are not created on a local computer or website is cloud computing. Connections to remote computers or networks that have sufficient services are rendered using a network (internet or intranet). All these facilities are offered and used primarily by technical frameworks, protocols or browsers. Technology is progressing towards this method for nearly all uses, as it provides many benefits from functionality, security, and expense insights. For many years, cloud computing has been readily accessible, and the literature talks sparingly, if at all, about its effect on law. Concrete enforcement of existing confidentiality protections can prove inadequate to meet the quality of treatment or to allow the benefits that the cloud has to offer to be used effectively. Although the average Internet user does not completely understand how the cloud works, clouds are now the basis for a large amount of resources we use online. Their success comes from the benefits that they provide consumers with. Cloud computing provides necessities based processing power and storing space, reachable from any device connected to the Internet, at extremely economical values, unlike traditional computer technologies. The obvious technological ubiquity of clouds is in stark contrast to the legal fact.

II. What is cloud computing?

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which gives a widely accepted definition for Cloud Computing, which states that, “Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction” (Mell & Grance, 2011)

Features of Cloud Computing:

The Cloud has its own set of distinguishing features and models. The features of Cloud computing are:

On-Demand Self-Service: A customer will automatically provide computing capabilities unilaterally, such as server time and network storage, as necessary, without needing human contact with each service provider.

Broad network access: Capabilities are accessible across the network and obtained by standard frameworks that allow heterogeneous thin or thick consumer channels to use (e.g., tablet, laptop, workstation, or mobile phone).

Resource pooling: Using a multi-tenant model, the computing resources of the provider are shared to support many clients, with separate physical and virtual resources dynamically delegated and reassigned according to user demand. There is a sense of freedom from the location in that the consumer typically has no power or understanding of the precise location of the services offered, but may define the location at a higher abstraction level (e.g., country, state, or datacenter). Storage, transmission, memory, and network bandwidth are examples of tools.

Rapid elasticity: Capabilities may be supplied and released elastically, in some cases automatically, to scale outward and inward according to demand easily. The capabilities required for provisioning also appear to the user to be limitless and may be appropriated at any moment in any quantity.

Measured service: By using a metering capability at any level of abstraction suitable to the form of operation, cloud systems monitor and maximize resource usage automatically (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). The utilization of services should be tracked, managed, and recorded, providing both the supplier and the user of the service used with accountability.

Types of Service Models:

Software as a Service (SaaS): The volume given to the user is to use the software of the vendor functioning on a cloud platform. Via whichever a thin client interface, such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email), or a software interface, the programs are available from separate client devices. With the possible exemption of limited user-specific device configuration configurations, the client does not monitor or monitor the core cloud infrastructure, comprising the network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application functionality.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): The opportunity to install consumer-generated or purchased software generated by means of programming languages, databases, resources and resources financed by the vendor on the cloud platform is given to the user. The customer doesn’t operate or monitor the core cloud infrastructure, which includes networks, servers, operating systems or storage, but has regulation over the application positioned.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): The competence to administer the client with arbitrary software, which can includes operating systems and programs, is to provide computation, storage, networks, and other fundamental computational tools where the client is able to carry out and accomplish arbitrary software. The customer does not carry out or control the under lying cloud infrastructure, but has control over operating systems, servers and software installed, and likely restricted control over selected components of the network (e.g., host firewalls).

Types of Deployment Models:

Private cloud: A single entity of multiple customers provides the cloud infrastructure with exclusive use (e.g., business units). The corporation, a third entity, or a combination of them may own, manage, and operate it, and it may exist on or off premises. Cloud for Group. The cloud platform is available exclusively to a small community of users from common organizations (e.g., mission, security requirements and policy). It may be operated, administered and maintained by one or even more voluntary groups, by a private entity or by a mixture of these groups and might even be residing on or off grounds.

Public cloud: The cloud infrastructure is available for free access to the general public. It may be owned, operated and managed by a business, academic or government institution, or any combination. It runs on the premises of the cloud provider.

Hybrid cloud: The cloud design consists of three or more separate (private, community or public) cloud infrastructures, that remains specific but are linked with standardized or proprietary technology that enables portability of data and devices.

III. Benefits and drawbacks of cloud computing

While discussing the benefits and drawbacks of cloud computing we can split it down into the following domains: Security, accessibility and efficiency. Compared to onsite technology, we will then detail the benefits and drawbacks of these main areas of the cloud.

Security is one of the main roadblocks to multiple cloud adoption, if not the biggest. There's a sense that it's inherently better if you can see anything than something you can't see. Many people also assume that their in-house technology is better than the cloud, based purely on the fact that it resides in the corner of the office or in the space down the street, as opposed to a hyper-secure, purpose-built data center. It’s important remember that just because the cloud is invisible does not deem it to be vulnerable in anyway. Other than having to house the networks in state-of-the-art data centres, at a fraction of the cost of ownership, there are also other advantages of using the cloud. Nevertheless, occasionally, the cloud is just not appropriate for every approach.

The advantageous factors of Security in cloud computing is as follows:

  • The cloud excels in two important fields of data security: resiliency and protection.
  • It focuses on the protection of the software, and lets the technology be secured by a cloud provider.
  • No information is stored locally, which ensures that it is safe in the case of computer failure or theft.
  • Cloud companies devote much more time and resources on protecting their applications than any organizations would do on their own.
  • By locking everything behind specific, safe access points, the cloud decreases the conceivable points of intrusion.
  • In a matter of a few taps, access points can be locked down with different mature authentication methods. These resources will entail substantial investments in facilities and personnel to incorporate and manage them if repeated on-site.

Some of the drawbacks include:

  • A transition in terms of responsibility, with the risk being carried on by the supplier. While this is an advantage, the cloud service needs to be trusted and protocols well established to ensure security.
  • Accessing data over an Internet network ensures that, no matter how safe the solution is, you won't be able to satisfy those compliance criteria.

As far as the cloud is concerned, accessibility is a crucial subject. Who should be granted priority, and how is this moderated, to what in the cloud? How does, and when can, an organization access the cloud? But, the subject of the debate is not just on accessibility to the cloud. There is a misconception that you are stuck within a private community when you reach the cloud—never to leave again. This obviously isn't real. However, what organizations need to know is that, based on how you use the cloud, leaving the cloud isn't a cakewalk. You can order your data to be sent from most vendors via hard drive/s if you use the cloud solely as a storage site, but this will incur a cost. However, if you're more focused on the cloud, you'll need a trained technician's job to transition you back to the on-site infrastructure. The kind of professional technician that you will like in the first place to manage your on-site facilities.

Before going for the cloud, the easiest thing to do is to do the homework first, talking to providers about the processes they have in place to exit their cloud solution. In fact, this sort of preliminary analysis will help you remove ineffective suppliers from the procurement process, saving you from headaches down the line. The advantages of accessibility as far as the cloud is concerned are:

  • You will still do your work if you have an Internet connection.
  • Protects against robbery, fire, injury, and human mistakes.
  • Remote staff don't need a VPN link that is sluggish and confusing.
  • Can be used on any computer from any place.

Some of the drawbacks include:

  • If you have all the data duplicated offline you can use it, or else you still need an internet connection.
  • The cloud can be accessible from the public web, albeit extremely secure, meaning stronger end-point encryption is required (compared to an isolated network.)

Disruption is the bane of all businesses, including the law. Efficiency is desired above all in any work environment. A significant percentage, if not any, of your workforce would be unable to work if your IT goes down. When a server tips over or an algorithm fails, it is difficult for workers to operate. Traditionally, one person who is tech-savvy will attempt to solve the problem as easily as possible for the IT manager/IT team. Alternatively, you'd have to call your IT help firm to address the problem. That will enable them to diagnose the problem before talking to you about the method of healing or even getting to the site. They are both unreliable, sluggish and often expensive.

And if the worse were to happen, you'd be out of service before you put up a new server. This could take days to replace and would cost thousands of pounds.

However, if a server goes down in the Cloud, your example will turn to a failover server (if the service company meets sound recovery practices). This is something that cannot be replicated on-site without having double the current hardware. Nonetheless, we still have these benefits:

  • Maintenance, management and notifications are done by the manufacturer.
  • Prior arrangements ensure uptime, or at least compensation.

The sole drawback is that, not only do you share the physical resources (servers, networking, etc), you even share the time of the engineer with other clients. You want to make sure that your seller has enough workers to handle demand, so you're never left too long in the dark.

While it can be used in several different cloud applications and hundreds of different situations, stability, connectivity and time are three of the main challenges organizations face on a daily basis with IT. If the benefits of the cloud are matched with the IT needs of your company, now is the time to start looking seriously at the cloud.

IV. The impact of covid-19 on the legal sector:

As the unforeseen influence of COVID-19 has overtaken everybody, health and welfare are everyone's focus. Needless to mention, depending on the countries and organizations involved, the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic has had its brunt on lawsuits and adjudication in different respects, extending from expanded practice of distant trials to over-all court closings. Courts around the planet has expeditiously implemented technologies, incorporating obligatory e-reporting, limiting trials to only important suits and managing them by video conferencing, in order to ensure minimum delays. Although it may entail the development of a comprehensive consultancy based on advising corporations to handle the numerous obstacles that may emerge, equally in the extended and short period, the constructive measures occupied by the judiciary across the world, has made it reasonably smoother to maneuver and accomplish litigation effectively.

(A) Impact on Legal Practitioners’:

Lawyers have been expressively impacted by social limitations, according to Clio's report (Clio, 2020), and many companies are seeing decreased customer requests. Grounded on this source, since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the majority of lawyers examined account suffering substantial interruption to their occupation. It is likely that clients say that if they have a concern, they will most likely postpone finding legal aid. Moreover, 77 percent of surveyed lawyers say they have undergone various alterations in their law practice's day-to-day operations. In addition, 67% of the lawyers surveyed are much more concerned about their firm's success, and 57% are concerned about creating a living over the duration of the coming months. In contrast, over the next few months, 46 percent of customers are apprehensive on the matter of having a means of living. As per this study, 56 percent of the lawyers examined saw a noteworthy decline in the number of individuals coming across for legal services to their firms, and 53 percent report being expressively not that bust at their jobs. 49 percent of clients say that if they were to go through a law related problem over the span of the coming weeks, they would be very likely to put it off until the Covid-19 conditions return to ordinary.

New allegations resulting from conflicts relating to the spearing of the virus are one of the consequences of the ongoing situation. From this point of view, the latest arguments can extend in many fields of practice and sectors of law. Based on the allegations resulting from this climate, it may be an incentive for lawyers to start a new venture. The current situation represents the growing desire for justice that attorneys should have the strategy of helping their clients settle coronavirus charges. Among other conflicts, legal practices may be in high demand to support companies in settling their new COVID-19 clashes, such as violations of fiduciary commitments, breaches of shareholders' or association arrangements, breaches of contracts, and disputes pertaining to creditor-debtor partnerships. Company owners want attorneys to help them to lawfully defend their business.

New problems resulting from the lockdown are the employer-employee arrangement, unemployment and re-entering the workforce. In order to recover their rights and earnings, these consumers who have been laid off or shot need urgent assistance. Legal practitioners should upgrade their qualifications and competencies that are required to support their consumers.

Rising domestic abuse is another effect of COVID-19. Simply limit access to the justice system, closure of courts, limitation of victims' facilities and shelters are the major issues of gender discrimination against women and domestic violence in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. This prerequisite calls for greater advocacy and access to education and legal professionals. In order to provide access to justice and legal professionals during this crisis, priority needs to be provided to vulnerable communities such as refugees, particularly illegal immigrants.

Social isolation is now an aspect of our social society. A simulated workforce and distance practice environment has been developed by COVID-19. Closures or restricted access by the judiciary and law firms contribute to the acceptance of emerging technologies by legal practitioners.

In order to boost productivity, the adjustment of the requirements for making out lawful practices due to Covid-19 includes the production or learning of novel abilities and emerging technologies. In legal specialist practices, this condition leads to the adoption of emerging technologies. Lawyers should be trained to engage by tele-conferencing, videoconferencing and other emerging technology and tools for holding judicial proceedings.

(B) Impact on Courts:

United Kingdom:

Jury courts had been suspended by the Lord Chief Justice. However, urgent work will have to be dealt with by the Magistrates' Courts. The new Coronavirus Bill by the Government allows for better use of video/audio hearings for appeals of judicial trials and magistrate courts. A special procedure will be observed in the Business & Property Courts. A variety of steps are being taken by QB Masters, including asking parties to adjourn non-urgent trials and cautioning of e-filing delays.

An update on visits to their building has been released by the Supreme Court. It makes it clear that the court is actually running as usual at the moment, but this is subject to adjustment. A announcement announcing a few temporary changes has been released by the Queen's Bench Division. Various counters, for instance, would be closed to the public. For the most part, though, industry, subject to the aforementioned, will proceed as normal.

India:

Supreme Court of India: The Supreme Court's full bench has expanded the restriction to the filing of petitions, applications, appeals, all other prosecutions before all the tribunals, courts and authorities of India, in its decision of 23 March 2020, by further declaration, in exercising the competences provided for in Articles 141 and 142 of the Constitution, until further notice, i.e.. the term from 15 March 202.

Delhi High Court: By order of 25 March 2020, when a judgment on a suo moto petition was released by the Delhi high court full bench ordered that provisional orders which were issued by the Supreme Court on or before 15 May 2020 expiring from 16 March 2020 or which would have later expired before further orders had been issued unless a ruling of the contrary was issued.

Dubai International Financial Courts [DIFC]:

All hearings were adjourned in the three Courts (Courts of First Instance, Appeals and Cassation). It was also postponed from 22 March to 16 April 2020 for licenses and personal status papers such as marriage and divorce certificates to be issued. In compliance with an order approved by the President of the Dubai Courts, hearings on pressing issues, criminal proceedings and appeals concerning prisoners and prisoners will proceed distantly.

V. Cloud computing and digitization of legal arena

The judiciary has been at the center of a tussle in recent years between conserving its well-known traditional structure and increasing burden to modernize it – in order to stay with the enormous technological developments of the civilization it aids. Progressions for digitizing evidence, e-filing, and online pleas have become more familiar to the courts. In exceptional circumstances, virtual cross-examination has also been previously permitted by the courts, but this has been restricted to exceptional occurrences. This along with other technical developments, have now seen the court systems provide a comprehensible and much more well-organized facility as citizens' requirements are given priority into the structure's core. Although tiny variations, however, have not remained deprived of their trials. Delays and glitches have been triggered by problems caused by lack of proper internet connectivity, problem-solving , or the newness of groups to the technology itself. Several arguments have also been made in the past against the use of technology for completely virtual hearings, which includes if it would be available to the public at large or if it was a proper and accurate manner of conducting Official procedures.

In their attempts to modernize, state and municipal courts face unique administrative, legislative and technical obstacles. Today's court climate is one of rising backlogs and budget constraints. Along with public demands of fast, digital service, security threats continue to develop. Technology collaboration with other justice partners and expanded use of cloud-based technologies are the most promising court automation efforts that address these challenges.

In order to digitize and simplify court proceedings, courts should use cloud storage technology, provide consumers with safe insight into important court and justice data, and ensure equal access to justice.

Multi-agency relationships focus on the effective modernization of the civil and criminal justice systems. By making it possible for jurisdictions to safely combine data from multiple networks, the cloud helps promote coordination and cooperation. Judges, for instance, are mindful that from 9 A.M., they do not have to issue restraining orders or summons in person. Till 5 P.M. They will pivot to an on-call model and, like law enforcement, have greater access to their partner agencies. Cloud access allows judges, instead of being connected to the in-office network, to get orders and warrants easily from home.

Visiting the website of a court and having sluggish page load times or getting shut out of vital systems is stressful for a litigator or solicitor. Based on their requirements, the cloud helps courts to scale device capability and computing power up or down, reducing the risk of performance-related problems. Device stability and uptime was improved and retained in the cloud. During emergencies like hurricanes or the COVID-19 pandemic, this kind of agility becomes much more significant. Although courts that rely on on-site technology frequently fail to adapt to accidents, cloud courts profit from business continuity system redundancy as well as versatility to meet evolving situations.

IT expenses for infrastructure devices and software licenses can be minimized by switching to the cloud while allowing courts access to the newest technologies and security capabilities. Since it is possible to incorporate cloud capabilities incrementally, courts can take advantage of modern features, features and developments without upgrading costly, obsolete programs at once. The cloud will also help judges assess the effectiveness of interventions such as opioid courts and other systems of diversion. State and local courts need access to accurate, nearly real-time reports with minimal resources on whether the policies they adopt minimize contact with the criminal justice system and make neighborhoods safer. Better decision-making is motivated by secure access to this material.

The cloud allows state and local courts to deploy electronic filing and payments, digital signatures, remote dispute resolution, automated courtrooms and other technology that decrease litigation backlogs, shorten turnaround times and make it easier for residents to connect with the courts. Enabling remote operations also allows court workers to operate from home reliably. As more litigants defend themselves, modern self-service platforms, such as online conflict resolution, are becoming more important. Digital instruments that allow quick access to and filing records for both parties in a legal case will help balance equity in the judicial proceedings between litigants that have lawyers and others who cannot afford them or want to defend themselves.

Specialized protection and enforcement standards must be fulfilled for cloud solutions implemented by the courts and criminal justice departments. Cloud-based systems and applications that are designed to conform with the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) standards of the FBI (in US) to secure classified law enforcement information are essential for courts to select. Data processing and enforcement for state and local IT teams who often face budget limitations can often be streamlined by leveraging these cloud platforms.

From streamlining the management of child custody hearings, jury prosecutions and bankruptcy proceedings, to ensuring that prosecutors and pro se litigants have fair and efficient access to records, cloud-based applications provide numerous ways to enhance internal court processes and improve customer experience. By allowing modern virtual processes and electronic facilities, these innovations improve everyday court operations and place courts to survive potential interruption.

VI. CaseLines: An Example

CaseLines is a portal for record exchange and preservation that helps both clients, attorneys, judges, masters, court personnel and anyone of their choice to view all of the records for an electronic proceeding in one place. It is entirely cloud-based. It is incredibly important to note that CaseLines is not a court counter rather an online hearing bundle.

The platform is open through the internet 24 hours a day. Before and after a court hearing, it requires parties and/or lawyers to exchange records of any size and any file type. There is no fee paid to the Minister of Attorney General in Canada or the Dubai International Financial Courts (DIFC) in Dubai, UAE for the use of CaseLines by legal professionals. The software will be allowed to use all matters falling under the framework of the pilot. At the defined web link such as ontariocourts.caselines.com for Canada, it is advised that counsel enroll in advance for the service or they will be asked to do so when adding to their first CaseLines file.

When an "event" is planned, such as a petition, case meeting, or the return of a hearing, a file would likely be accessed by court personnel on CaseLines. Counsel can not open a file on CaseLines itself. An account is different from keeping a court file open on the CaseLines scheme. When a CaseLines file is accessed by the court personnel, the latest form of cause and the correspondence of either attorney or the self-represented parties may be attached to the system. Those users will get an email notifying them that a case has been added to them. After signing into CaseLines and entering the case from the menu, Counsel can see that pre-created categories of documentation remain, i.e., factums, motion records, exhibits, etc. Based on the particular matter, the CaseLines software and court personnel establish these divisions.

When submitted to a CaseLines list, counsel will add other people's email that they choose to have access to the file to allow those people to view and upload content themselves. Registered users may upload up to 100 documents at a time to the pre-created document directories of every file format, which enables CaseLines to remain entirely organized. CaseLines will add its own pagination to a record when the content is submitted and will also execute optical character recognition (OCR), thus verifying that all records are searchable.

In compliance with the best record preservation standards, CaseLines also requires all files to be uploaded in their native format. A video exhibit posted to CaseLines, for instance, would allow the judge to see the metadata showing the video was shot on what device and when it was captured.

Both for hearing readiness and during the hearing itself, CaseLines is helpful. Lawyers and judges have the option to create private notes, outlines, sticky notes and other annotations on papers that are only available to the client or to any particular person with whom they want to share them while planning for a hearing. If required, these notes and the records inside which they are stored can be accessed for offline use. CaseLines has the ability to access documents side-by-side in the event that a person wants to view several documents at once, allowing for contrast or cross-reference.

CaseLines will be established by court personnel before a record is submitted to the system to alert all people who are enrolled in the particular file of the upload of a new document. Court personnel also have the capacity to lock a file if necessary, to avoid further uploads. At a hearing itself, when relating to material, lawyers and judges are able to use, and often are advised to use, CaseLines. It provides a feature that allows a speaker to direct a specified page in the record to all people logging into that particular file. For instance, if counsel wanted to direct the court to para 14 of a specific ruling, all those people actually using the software would bring the paragraph up on the screen, without even accessing the computers of others or sharing their own screen. Lawyers can also bookmark parts of the facts during oral argument and pass smoothly across the record.

CaseLines is entirely encrypted end-to-end for those rightly worried regarding protection. The data center that holds all the content is based in locally, i.e. UAE or Canada as per the particular Court System. One think to keep in mind is that, CaseLines is a platform that aids digitization of Courts and not an online Court. For instance, it is not a replacement for Online Court Portals that allows us to perform tasks such as file e-Complaints. It is not a e-Hearing platform such as Zoom or or MS Teams, it is for record management.

For the legal field, CaseLines is certainly a tremendous advancement. It's now long past due. Although the method is not flawless and can often result in duplication of effort for various functions of record processing, the net quality and cost savings are immeasurable in the long run. The legal profession across many countries such as Canada and UAE were required by COVID-19 to transition to a largely virtual environment. This is simply just another example. In order to continue to be successful advocates for their clients, counsels must become acquainted with this software, its advantages and its detriments. Although countries is moving on an interactive web portal in the same location that facilitates record processing, future support, and e-filing, CaseLines is a welcome first step. We're one step closer to the new digital world.

VII. Conclusion

The fragility of existing legal models has been revealed by Covid-19. Under the weight of the pandemic, the labor concentrated, lawyer based, blinkered, monumental structures of law and knowledge, distribution, and judicial structures soon buckled. Technological growth and progress—the legal arena— avoided a breakdown of ancient structures by managing to pass through to install dormant technology and procedures. The legal environment became more agile, fluid, collaborative and successful within a matter of weeks. With extraordinary speed, pervasiveness, absence of opposition, and overall efficacy, this transformation occurred. It highlighted the prospect of reimagining and changing the old methods of offering legal guidance, learning and dispute settlement.

One such development in the arena of law is Cloud Computing. With its safety, accessibility and efficiency, cloud computing offers various advantages to the traditional systems in the legal field. Evidence management, Online bundling, ease of use, etc are all possible with cloud computing, an example of which is CaseLines. Countries across the globe are slowly but steadily making use of such software to enable this age old profession of law.Law's internal emphasis has long become the barometer of transition. This myopic outlook no longer offers an absolute prediction for the future of law. Legal competence is not anymore the primary aspect of legal approach; the core equilibrium of the very strength of law moves from law and its expertise to extensive legal capabilities, including infrastructure, procedure, and access to resources. The lawyer-centered, artisanal profile of the legal industry is changing into a multidisciplinary, interactive one that is more closely associated with the market. Even if those in the legal sector do not yet see or understand it, Covid-19 is speeding this process. Differentiated legal knowledge is highly regarded, but much rarer than it was a decade ago is what passes for it. The legal arena, all that interconnects with offering facilities excluding practices, is increasingly mounting as practice and the demand for such distinct legal knowledge shrinks. Legal distribution, and the role of lawyers in it, is evolving fast. This is perhaps the biggest catalyst of transition in the legal profession, one that Covid-19 is driving and that will reshape the digital revolution.

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Footnotes

  1. Author is a student at Amity University, Dubai.
How to Cite
Nazneen, F. (2021). Cloud Computing & the Legal Arena: Digitization of Courts during Covid-19. International Journal of Legal Science and Innovation, 3(3), 412-429. https://ijlsi.com/article/view/cloud-computing-the-legal-arena-digitization-of-courts-during-covid-19