Ways That Blockchain Could Transform the Legal Industry

Blockchain has been a hot topic of conversation over the last few years, and it will most likely intensify. As more and more industries begin to embrace blockchain technology, we must think about what it could do for the legal industry.

Here are a few ways that blockchain could disrupt and improve legal industries like Wilkes Barre Law Firms and make amazing improvements across the board.

Chain of Custody

Chain of custody has always been a problem, and it is in desperate need of a solution. Chain of custody can make or break a case. When the prosecution is submitting evidence, they must prove the chain of custody so that there is no way the evidence could have been tampered with.

If there are any holes or weaknesses, the defense attorney will motion to suppress evidence, no matter how damning. This is and always has been a serious issue for prosecutors.

With blockchain technology, it will be much easier to prove chain of custody. In fact, it wouldn't even need to be a discussion. Not only can blockchain store documents, but you also can not tamper with the evidence as one block locks and is not able to be edited.

This way we can see an accurate history of who had access. This will save court time and money, in addition to being much more efficient.

Contracts

For a legal document to be binding, it must be signed and stored. This opens a host of opportunity for human error that can lead to costly mistakes. With blockchain technology, the documents become accessible to the parties that need it and eliminate the time necessary to mail the documents or other delivery options.

By having all the data available, the block locked and stored, it almost erases the need for a lawyer to oversee the process.

Estate Planning

Imagine all your documents, investments and banking information housed in one central location. If stock exchanges were blockchain enabled, you could have the work with your estate planning and will. If you store the documents of your will to your blockchain, you can set it up where upon death, the blockchain will deliver the relevant documents to your heirs.

This can be based on your date of death recorded by the Social Security Administration.

Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual law can be one of the most challenging areas to defend and prosecute. Blockchain can change everything when it comes to that. Businesses utilizing blockchain for IP purposes will have a record that is irreversible because of the blocks closing.

This means that documents cannot be edited, you are forced to keep that record and open a new block up. This will provide the date and time that the patent, trademark or copyright was filed.

This secure storage will also be available worldwide for instant use.

Conclusion

Blockchain technology can transform so many different businesses and areas of specialty. But the legal field has a ton of room for improvement when it comes to data and how it’s stored.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.