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At a time when law firms are replacing conventional printers with scanners to facilitate the move to a paperless and cloud-based approach, 3D printers may seem like a step backwards. However, on the contrary, they are quickly becoming mainstream as 3D printing costs drop faster than anyone could have predicted with homemade models costing around $1,200. These days, 3D printers have moved beyond their expected use for manufacturers and medical companies looking for an easy way to quickly create prototypes, and have even made their way into retail establishments, such as this UK-based 3D printing shop. Have. Customers can turn a concept into a tangible object.
For law firms, 3D printers offer one of the most promising tools for serving clients and highlighting a practice since the iPad arrived several years ago. The possibilities are endless. For example, if you represent small business or IP clients, imagine the added value you can provide by sending home a 3D version of their invention. In my industry, a member of my trade association used a 3D printer to create ocean energy technology prototypes to display at an exhibition. The facilities are extensive. A law firm even hosts a meeting for new businesses and produces prototypes for each participant. It’s certainly more novel than a free lecture on contract law, but not interesting.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t also advise clients on legal issues related to 3D printers. Like many new technologies, 3D printers are creating a cottage industry of legal issues. 3D printers raise various legal considerations, from copyright (for example, if you reproduce a 3D image of Mickey Mouse for commercial sale, will Disney knock on your door with a cease-and-desist letter? Is it? Does fair use come into play in the 3D world?) to criminal laws and the Second Amendment (If you reproduce gun parts on a 3D printer and assemble a gun, are you violating gun control laws?)
3D printers may support a lawsuit or PI action. Attorneys can use 3D printers in product liability cases to produce models of defective products that an expert can use to explain the theory of the accident during a deposition or at trial. (You can also use it in copyright cases to compare whether a reproduction infringes the original image). As much as jurors might enjoy swiping around an iPad, I’m guessing they’d prefer to scrutinize a 3D object even more.
Finally, law firms may use 3D printers to create personalized pieces for clients—from little treats to entertain children dragged to the office by their parents—to more useful products, such as a box for holding important documents (for clients who still They didn’t. It’s gone paperless) or a branded phone or iPad cover.
Some observers have argued that 3D printers are just a fad like virtual reality or virtual online sites like Second Life (remember when law firms were clamoring for law firms to support Second Life?). I disagree Unlike virtual worlds that remain forever abstract, 3D printing is the opposite: it allows users to take abstract ideas and make them real. And therein lies the attraction for us humans, as we are forever more drawn to the tangible than the incorporeal. Our affinity for concrete explains the popularity of iPads and tablets that we can pick up, touch and hold – even as we use them to access online bytes and images in the ether.
In an age where we can go online and examine objects from all over the world, we don’t need 3D printers to better understand concepts—and yet, we want them anyway. Likewise, even at a time when consumers can search for legal services entirely online, many still want to meet with a lawyer face-to-face. That’s why the appeal of 3D printers gives me comfort that the human element of the legal profession will live on for another day.
I’m pretty sure this is the first place you’ll see a post about 3D printers in a law firm. I was also the first to post about Pinterest for Lawyers and the pros and cons of Groupon for Lawyers. just so you know
3D printer image by Shutterstock.
