Legally Binding Smart Contracts? 10 Law Firms Join Enterprise Ethereum Alliance

“Today, the alliance announced that ten law firms and four legal institutions that specialize in blockchain technology have joined the group. New members include Cooley, Debevoise & Plimpton, Hogan Lovells, Holland & Knight, Jones Day, Morrison Foerster, Perkins Coie, Shearman & Sterling and Cardozo Law School’s Blockchain Project.

With the news, the new members have also joined the alliance’s Legal Industry Working Group, chaired by Aaron Wright, co-director of the Cardozo Law School’s Blockchain Project.

However, the chairman of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance board of directors, Julio Faura, told CoinDesk the law firms will be working to ensure that blockchain-based technologies are more than just compliant with the financial system, but also with the power delivery and telecommunications industries.

(…) Not only is more being expected from smart contract code, but the workflows within institutions are being reimagined. And as smart contracts are entrusted with increasingly sophisticated tasks, Faura expects lawyer’s roles will grow, not shrink as some have worried.”