This document proposes creating a fully digital global court and alternative dispute resolution system called ByTheCourt.org that maximizes the use of technology including artificial intelligence. It aims to reduce costs and delays, improve access to justice, and handle a wide variety of cases from small claims to disputes between governments. Over time, the system could replace certain functions of existing court systems by efficiently handling routine matters online.

1. ByTheCourt.org
World
Future
Society
THE
FUTURE
OF
COURTS
–
Convicted
by
a
Robot
–
REALLY?
Herb Rubenstein Founder – herb@sbizgroup.com
July 26– San Francisco

2. Concept
for
ByTheCourt.org
• Create
a
100%
digital,
global
court
and
alterna>ve
dispute
resolu>on
system
• Maximize
use
of
technology,
including
ar>ficial
intelligence,
to
aid
in
decision
making
• Provide
media>on
services
as
well
as
“dispute
avoidance
services”
• Apply
local
law,
relax
rules
of
civil
procedure
/
evidence
the
way
the
American
Arbitra>on
Associa>on
does;
demys>fy
and
simplify
legal
process;
expand
access
2

3. CURRENT
SITUATION
• Court
systems
are
clogged
causing
delays
and
expense;
government
sponsored
court
systems
are
out
of
the
reach
of
people
all
over
the
world
in
civil
cases
• Long
delays
in
the
court
system
• No
one
has
tapped
ar>ficial
intelligence
and
modern
technology
to
allow
for
filing
claims
by
cell
phone,
voice
recogni>on,
and
geVng
decisions
very
quickly
• Court
=
building;
future:
Court
=
Globe
3

4. Court
=
Globe
• Rules
of
Evidence
–
Throw
us
all
you
got
• Rules
of
Civil
Procedure
–
Make
requests
and
provid
informa>on
• Use
all
available
informa>on
on
the
web
to
decide
every
case;
show
tracks
of
all
informa>on
searched
via
ar>ficial
intelligence/cogni>ve
compu>ng
• Plus
all
informa>on
given
by
lawyers
• Every
case
has
a
mediator
or
judge
or
both;
could
have
a
jury
• All
decisions
rendered
via
smart
phone
or
video
4

5. Small
Cases
To
Government
to
Government
Disputes
• VISA
story
with
Dee
Hock
• Work
with
ar>ficial
intelligence
agent
(Watson
or
other)
to
learn
how
to
handle
more
and
more
types
of
cases
over
>me
• Can
even
have
juries
and
try
criminal
cases
• ALL
VOLUNTARY
SYSTEM
–
so
no
plans
to
use
this
to
convict
people
and
throw
them
in
jail
• But,
it
could
get
there
someday
5

6. Criminal
Cases
• Easier
to
get
witnesses
and
evidence
• Quicker,
ogen
two
to
three
years’
delay
in
going
to
trial,
incarcerated
• Beier
bonding
systems,
far
greater
use
of
collateral
• Proba>on
and
parole
–
all
electronic
monitoring,
cheaper,
fairer,
predic>ve
analy>cs
to
help
steer
people
away
from
proba>on
revoca>on
6

7. Handling
of
Evidence
• All
evidence
will
be
handled
in
the
cloud
and
no
chance
of
evidence
being
lost,
contaminated,
or
tampered
with
• Rules
of
evidence
are
changed
to
eliminate
discovery
and
eviden>ary
disputes
that
are
>me
consuming
and
wasteful
• All
evidence
preserved
and
to
the
extent
the
par>es
allow,
available
for
use
in
other
cases
7

8. Improvements
Over
Current
Court
System
• Reduce
cost
and
delays,
improve
access
• Minors,
undocumented,
anyone
can
easily
par>cipate
in
system
and
receive
jus>ce
• No
expenditures
on
real
estate
or
transporta>on
to
and
from
court
houses;
no
seVng
of
trial
dates
and
geVng
con>nued;
fewer
>me
delaying
tac>cs
allowed
• Asynchronous,
24x7
court
system,
easy
filing
of
documents
• Quick
appeal
with
two
levels
of
appeals
8

9. Expansions
Over
Time
• Will
create
a
“court
score”
like
a
credit
score
for
all
par>cipants
that
could
have
great
economic
value
in
this
more
transparent
world
• Will
eventually
peel
off
business
from
current
court
and
proba>on/parole
system
to
handle
rou>ne
maiers
on
line
rather
than
through
courts
9

10. Business
Model
(con’t)
• Rapid
resolu>on
of
disputes
will
increase
the
value
of
many
businesses,
improve
the
lives
of
many
in
the
world
• Can
handle
“class
ac>on
cases”
easily
with
individuals
filing
their
own
claims
electronically
at
very
low
cost
• Possible
early
introduc>on
of
ByTheCourt
in
Cuba
which
will
have
the
need
for
an
expanded
court
system
if
it
is
going
to
do
more
business
with
the
US
or
Estonia
which
is
very
advanced
using
virtual
systems;
Goal
190
Countries
in
20
years
10

11. Why
Now?
• Convergence
of
technology,
public
availability
of
laws,
computer
assisted
legal
research,
• Government
courts,
benefit
delays,
are
not
sustainable,
and
people
are
losing
faith
in
them
• Micro
sales
and
low
fees
can
generate
huge
revenues
from
a
global
enterprise
• Once
court
system
is
built,
there
would
be
great
barriers
to
entry,
strong
switching
costs,
we
would
able
to
embed
our
court
system
into
businesses
and
organiza>ons,
would
have
organic
demand
growth,
low
sales
costs,
large
self-­‐
service
component,
high
loyalty
• Backlog
of
1,000,000
social
security
disability
cases
pending
and
backlog
is
growing
every
day
11

12. Ecosystem
Strengths
Analysis
• A
new
futurist
tool
for
predic>ng,
naviga>ng
and
preparing
for
the
future.
• Not
a
trends
analysis,
or
scenario
planning
approach,
or
three
horizons,
or
foresight
analysis,
but
includes
aspects
of
each
type
of
futurist
tool
• Five
steps
to
the
ESA
–
Ecosystem
Strengths
Analysis
12

13. Five
Steps
• STEP
1
-­‐
Iden>fy
the
poten>al
futuris>c
poten>al
occurrence
by
sector,
key
players,
key
drivers,
economic
analysis
(cost
savings
or
value
enhancement),
poli>cal
analysis,
technology
capabili>es,
environmental
impacts,
legal
changes
necessary,
expert
commentary
on
likelihood
of
new
occurrence
like
www.techcast.org
created
by
Bill
Halal
• Preiy
common
form
of
analysis
-­‐
PESTEL
13

14. Step
2
• Develop
an
STATIC
Ecosystem
Map
of
key
players
in
the
sector
and
weigh
if/when
they
are/will
be
suppor>ve
of
the
innova>on
or
new
thing
– Assess
rela>ve
strengths
of
key
players
– Look
for
>pping
points
that
either
bring
in
new
players
(UBER,
AirBNB)
or
change
the
way
current
players
posi>on
themselves
on
the
issue
(Confederate
Flag)
– Chart
the
future
course
of
possible
>pping
points
14

15. Step
3
• Redraw
the
ecosystem
map
for
periods
of
one
year,
three
years,
five,
ten,
etc.
going
forward
and
assess
how
the
ecosystem
changes
and
how
strong
it
is
in
favor
or
against
a
change
(driverless
cars
–
Military
need
in
1980,
consumer
device
2020)
• Monitor
the
ecosystem
evolu>on
to
help
assess
likelihood
of
event/innova>on
coming
to
popularity
15

16. Step
4
• Be
able
to
say,
when
X
happens,
this
innova>on
will
become
“mainstream”
• Assess
economic
and
poli>cal
strength
of
each
ecosystem
element
and
see
how
it
evolves
with
changes
that
propel
the
innova>on
(renewable
energy
vs.
coal
and
fossil
fuels)
• Be
sure
to
do
this
interna>onally
as
well
as
na>onally
or
within
a
market
16

17. Step
5
• Discuss
how
to
help
the
ecosystem
winners
and
losers,
our
poten>al
clients,
at
each
step
of
the
way.
(Coal
companies
buy
renewable
companies
or
u>lity
like
Florida
Power
and
buys
coal
plant
just
to
shut
it
down
and
replace
power
genera>on
with
less
pollu>ng
ac>vi>es)
• Goal:
Avoid
stranded
assets,
but
up
assets
which
will
gain
in
value,
build
strengths
to
producing
new
good
or
service
that
ecosystem
supports
17

18. Courts
and
The
Ecosystem
Strenths
Analysis
• Major
players
in
the
Court
System
– Lawyers,
law
firms,
judges,
court
personnel,
court
builders,
maintenance
staff,
proba>on
officers,
laws,
rules
of
evidence
and
procedure
– All
dead
set
against
Digital
Court
System
now
– People
who
use
or
are
used
by
the
Courts
–
have
no
power
as
ecosystem
player
– Delays
and
problems
of
our
courts
only
hurt
the
people,
not
the
other
ecosystem
elements
in
our
legal
system
18

19. Ecosystem
Analysis
&
The
Courts
• No
change
in
the
current
system
possible
• American
Arbitra>on,
Modria
(ebay)
dispute
resolu>on
system
begin
and
flourish
• Technology
can
cut
the
cost
by
99%
of
all
li>ga>on
and
improve
“court
generated
delays”
by
99%
• Strong
economic
drivers
for
digital
court
system
–
needs
early,
big
adopters
19

20. Interna>onally
• US
unlikely
candidate
for
early
adop>on
–
Churchill
quote
• Countries
that
want
to
rid
judicial
system
of
bribery,
delays,
no
access
to
jus>ce
will
be
early
adopters
• Business
will
want
to
cut
the
cost
of
resolving
disputes
(ebay)
• People
will
gain
power
and
vote
with
their
pocketbooks
(Amer
Arbitra>on)
20

21. Unstoppable
Ecosystem
Elements
• 99%
rule
–
do
it
99%
beier,
cheaper,
quicker
you
eventually
win
–
UBER,
AirBNB,
Cellphones,
Online
Airplane
Tickets
• But
only
if
ecosystem
elements
have
the
power,
resources,
and
leadership
to
make
the
change
• Ecosystem
Strengths
Analysis
suggests
in
this
situa>on
–
100%
digital
courts
to
rise
in
third
world
and
spread,
eventually
to
US
21

22. Conclusion
• We
es>mate
one
year
and
X
dollars
to
build
prototype,
pilot
test,
and
be
ready
to
accept
cases
globally;
We
could
start
media>ons
sooner,
but
want
to
have
a
major
roll
out
when
we
start
and
be
able
to
protect
our
intellectual
property
• We
can
begin
to
screen
and
cer>fy
“judges,”
mediators
and
part
>me
personnel
to
supervise
each
case,
provide
customer
service
• We
can
build
a
global
network
as
the
founder,
Herb
Rubenstein,
teaches
at
the
Global
Energy
Management
Program
of
UC
Denver
• We
can
find
local
country
partners
and
ways
to
sell
our
big
data
without
compromising
the
privacy
and
security
of
our
court
system
• We
will
not
seek
adver>sing
revenue
in
our
business
model,
but
will
be
open
to
many
sources
of
revenue
where
we
create
value
22

23. Ecosystem
System
Suppor>ve
of
100%
Digital
Courts
• The
hundreds
of
thousands
of
judges
and
mediators
who
will
be
hired
by
digital
court
system
• The
technology
companies
that
will
be
the
backbone
(Verizon,
CISCO,
IBM,
etc.)
• People
who
want
faster,
cheaper
dispute
resolu>on
and
jus>ce
(Think
of
El
Chapo
–
embed
him
with
a
computer
chip
and
you
can
track
him
leaving
the
prison!)
23

24. Ecosystem
Supporters
(Con’t)
• Governments
who
want
to
end
bribery
in
their
court
systems
(very
few,
actually)
• Companies
who
want
fair
and
resolu>on
of
interna>onal
disputes
• Universi>es
to
train
the
judges
and
mediators
in
every
country
and
recer>fy
them
• Human
Resource
Companies
like
PriceWaterHouse
Coopers
who
might
employ
the
hundreds
of
thousands
of
judges
and
mediators
24

25. Conclusion
• Ideas
maier,
but
not
as
much
as
the
strength
of
ecosystems
• Ecosystems
drive
what
changes
or
does
not
change
• The
Futurist
Profession
should
pay
more
aien>on
to
ecosystem
strength
analysis
-­‐
“ESA”
• Forthcoming
white
papers
and
more
detailed
explana>on
of
the
ESA.
• Ques>ons
and
Comments
25

26. Contact
informa>on
• Herb
Rubenstein
• herb@sbizgroup.com
• 303.910.7961
• 347.916.1317
• Member
DC,
MD
and
VA
Bar
Associa>ons;
New
York
City
Bar
Associa>on
• Office:
255
Dean
Street,
Unit
1,
Brooklyn,
NY
11217
• Skype
-­‐
herbrubensteinr
26