In the current hype about Legal Tech, one has to bear in mind that it is only the latest in a long line of forms of collaboration between law and computer or information science. This paper reviews the long history of research at the intersection of law and computer science, with a focus on German-language Legal Informatics. It aims to identify some of the key paradigms, insights, and findings from more than seven decades. It argues that they can still help today in describing, explaining as well as shaping the interrelationship between law and automated information processing, i.e., the conditions, applications, and implications of the use of computers in law and society.
