Smart Contracts, Dumb Lawyers

Distributed ledgers are changing the way contracts are executed and fulfilled. The role of lawyers will be affected by "contracts as code," and the legal profession is not prepared. With the best of intentions, many legal practitioners are actually getting in the way of the advancements that smart contracts offer, primarily due to lawyers' lack of understanding of the basic technology concepts underlying blockchain and smart contracts. We will take an enlightening and sometimes humorous look at the mistakes lawyers make when dealing with technology issues, with a particular focus on how regulations and laws are being drafted with limited understanding of the technology.