Intellectual Property Law

History of Computer/IT Law (2001-20??)

By Michael Scott

Fifth Epoch (2001-20??)

The dot com bust had an enormous impact on the computer industry, as well as those lawyers who serviced that industry. Funding for start-ups disappeared, initial public offerings dried up, and a large percentage of the Internet industry found itself struggling to survive. Lawyers found themselves working more on bankruptcies, mergers and acquisitions and restructurings than helping new business ventures get off the ground. While there had been periods of time in the first four epochs where economic downturns and retrenchment had occurred, nothing compared to the dot com bust.

The enormous growth in the Internet industry had attracted a new generation of lawyers. By 2001, the majority of computer lawyers had been in practice for less than 10 years, and had never experienced an economic downturn. They were ill-prepared to deal with this catastrophic change of circumstances. It was a period of reflection, where everyone in the industry had to take stock. One of the most important steps was to go back to fundamentals. What makes for a successful company? What is the attorney?s role in making a company successful? (More after the jump.)

Full post as published by Singularity on July 18, 2007 (boomark / email).