Volume 5 Issue 1

Technology Within the Legal Profession in New Mexico, USA

Professor Scott A. Taylor*

In the United States, cd-rom hardware and software for personal computers are the fastest growing segment of the computer market. With the offering of law-related cd-rom products, the American legal profession is beginning to use cd-rom as an important means of doing legal research. In 1990 New Mexico (USA) became the test market for one of the earliest law related cd-rom products, Law on Disc, published by the Michie Company, a major legal publisher. As of the beginning of 1994, New Mexico's Law on Disc has become the legal research tool of choice for 30-40% of the practicing lawyers in New Mexico. The commercial success of this cd-rom product is due in large part to its ease of use, price, and speed. Although law students at the University of New Mexico Law School are very proficient in their use of on-line legal research services (Lexis and Westlaw), most are completely ignorant of cd-rom and law related products, including Law on Disc.

* School of Law, University of New Mexico, 1117 Stanford Dr NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico USA 87131, email: taylor@law.unm.edu.