Lawyers Always First to Adopt New Technologies?

From Adam Curry comes this gem of wisdom:

Have you hugged your librarian today? You should! They’re really fun and useful (Sometimes sexy, if they have hair in a bun, glasses and both are let down and whipped off in a simultaneous move). As my (currently absent) friend “Dave“ would say: “Librarians and Lawyers are always the first non-tekkie users of technological developments on the internet because they are professional information whores”. Written with affection! [Adam Curry: Adam Curry’s Weblog]

Here’s what I don’t get: within the legal profession, many are convinced that we’re way behind when it comes to technology. I happen to disagree with that assessment (if I didn’t, my choice of career would be rather odd), but it’s interesting to note that some outside the profession see us as “information whores.” (Ahem.)

If that’s true, then the legal profession’s adoption of certain technologies should serve as a  bellwether for other industries. Which industries? And why aren’t more people of this opinion? (Note: I was part of a company that went public in 1999 – largely on the supposed strength of this claim – and the market didn’t respond too positively.)

(Here’s an obscure piece of trivia that lends Adam’s theory a bit of credibility: I first viewed Adam’s metaverse.com site with the Cello browser. It was a web browser developed by a law school. In 1992/1993.)

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