Australian National University (ANU) law school in collaboration with Ripple are set to begin two new courses in its master’s program to explore the effects blockchain would have on the legal profession.

With the courses being co-developed by Ripple Blockchain Research Initiative primarily aimed at partnering universities to analyze new trends and developments in the distributed ledger technology (DLT) cryptocurrencies digital payments.

Australian National University before now has already taken undergraduate courses critically analyzing the relationship between blockchain and law, just like many other universities in Australia are doing.

The University of Melbourne and the University of Southern Queensland are said to be taking courses related to DLT and blockchain as other universities have joined it with other courses to be taken as topics in lecture rooms.

The courses are being developed with the assistance of Ripple’s Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) — a program that seeks to collaborate with universities to examine emerging trends and developments in distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrency and digital payments.

How ANU and Ripple Blockchain Courses will work?

Reportedly, the blockchain units will be run and developed by Scott Chamberlain, an entrepreneurial fellow at the ANU law school. The designed courses are going to determine if blockchain and smart contracts can aid automating decentralized legal processes and resolving disputes.

Chamberlain, who is passionate about the potentials, likened it to eBay platform which can solve consumer law disputes without having to engage the court.

Blockchain technology can help professional legal practitioners to streamline and simplify their transactional work, digitally sign and immutably store legal agreements. Using scripted text, smart contracts, and automated contract management reduces excessive time spent preparing, personalizing, and maintaining standard law documents.