Large files of paper documents as the by-product of such interactions will be a thing of the past as electronic communication displaces the traditional forms. This, of course, is bad news for those scholars who spend long hours in archives searching through private papers of judges for nuggets of information that provide insight into the decision-making process. These are questions without easy answers. Katsh admits that the status quo will not be displaced with ease or speed. Paper presents a clear image and holds a current advantage in ease of reading.
Paper also is associated with permanence and authority.
For example, once an agreement has been reduced to writing, the resulting document is evidence of a mutual understanding that is not easily changed. The law particularly looks to written statutes and published court opinions for guidance and authority. In the electronic world, information is neither fixed nor permanent. It can be instantaneously transmitted and altered at any time with easy combinations of keystrokes. Traditional legal practice is uncomfortable with such speed and fluidity.