I’ve Got A Penguin in My Briefs

“In 2004, after practicing law for 23 years in a mid-sized
downtown Seattle law firm, I opened my own boutique law practice
and I decided to make GNU/Linux the centerpiece of a completely
free/open software law firm environment.

“Almost everything about the practice of law is open and public.
You do not “lease” the law from any corporation and you do not
acquire a license to use any federal or state statute, municipal
code or administrative regulation. What the client pays for is the
lawyer’s knowledge about how to use a highly complicated set of
frequently asynchronous laws and procedures, much like what a
client pays for when hiring a programmer.

“In the Anglo-American legal system, the attorney deals with
“legacy” code (otherwise known as “Common Law”) built up through
the accretion of judicial case decisions over time (as in
centuries, on occasion) and utility “programs” for special
applications like federal taxation, bankruptcy, land use, criminal
prosecutions, and divorce proceedings.”

Complete
Story