This week, an article reported that law firm Reed Smith had let go 50 legal secretaries in recent months in an effort to consolidate some administrative functions in a central, 24-hour call center in Pittsburgh, PA. Why? Reed Smith now operates around the globe--which means around the clock--and mobile technology like Blackberries give attorneys the ability to easily handle their own messaging and scheduling.

This is instructive on how technology often makes the middle vanish through contradictory forces of consolidation and distribution. Technology allows certain jobs to be consolidated to achieve efficiencies: call centers in less expensive and remote locales are feasible because of the available bandwidth (data, voice, and video) connected to "customers" throughout the world via the Internet and cellular phones. Conversely, technology can also decentralize functions. Handheld devices with increased capabilities like the Blackberry and new iPhone will allow attorneys to accomplish more "in the field, " including duties like messaging and scheduling that were once centralized under the domain of legal secretaries.

Duties and job functions that fall into the middle area are most prone to the centrifugal forces IT unleashes, and the vaunted legal secretary may be the next target.