Law Schools as Knowledge Centers and Teaching A.I.

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

Our final CALI Spotlight preview highlights two articles. The first, written by Vern R. Walker et al explores what it would mean for law schools to be “knowledge centers.” In “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age,” the authors propose that law schools take on the central goal of becoming knowledge centers, much like research laboratories in linguistics and information science. By doing so, the authors contend that law schools can accomplish many of their traditional educational goals through innovative legal means.

The second article, written by Kevin D. Ashley, provides a guide and examples for using a seminar on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Law to teach lessons about legal reasoning and legal practice in the digital age. In “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar,” Ashley contends that AI and Law Seminars teach students fundamentals about law and legal reasoning by focusing them on the problems these issues pose for scientists attempting to computationally model legal reasoning. AI and Law Seminars simultaneously teach students how to utilize new digital documents technologies and enhance students’ understandings of legal principles.

Unfortunately, Walker and Ashley are unable to attend today’s symposium, but tune in at 9 am to watch the webcast.

Vern R. Walker is Professor of Law and the Director of the Research Laboratory for Law, Logic and Technology (LLT Lab) at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. A.J Durwin, Philip H. Hwang, Keith Langlais, and Mycroft Boyd are researchers at the LLT Lab, and JD candidates 2013.

Abstract

“This article explores what it would mean for law schools to be “knowledge centers” in the digital age, and to have this as a central mission. It describes the activities of legal knowledge centers as: (1) focusing on solving real legal problems in society outside of the academy; (2) evaluating the problem-solving effectiveness of the legal knowledge being developed; (3) re-conceptualizing the structures used to represent legal knowledge, the processes through which legal knowledge is created, and the methods used to apply that knowledge; and (4) disseminating legal knowledge in ways that assist its implementation. The Article uses as extended examples of knowledge centers in the digital age the research laboratories in the sciences, and in particular research laboratories in linguistics and information science. It uses numerous examples to suggest how law schools might implement the concept of a knowledge center.”

Kevin D Ashley is Professor of Law and Intelligent Systems, University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Senior Scientist for the Learning Research and Development Center. He is an expert in computer modeling of legal reasoning and cyberspace legal issues.

Abstract

“This article provides a guide and examples for using a seminar on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Law to teach lessons about legal reasoning and about legal practice in the digital age. Artificial Intelligence and Law is a subfield of AI/ computer science research that focuses on computationally modeling legal reasoning. In at least a few law schools, the AI and Law seminar has regularly taught students fundamental issues about law and legal reasoning by focusing them on the problems these issues pose for scientists attempting to computation- ally model legal reasoning. AI and Law researchers have designed programs to reason with legal rules, apply legal precedents, predict case outcomes, argue like a legal advocate and visualize legal arguments. The article illustrates some of the pedagogically important lessons that they have learned in the process.

As the technology of legal practice catches up with the aspirations of AI and Law researchers, the AI and Law seminar can play a new role in legal education. With advances in such areas as e-discovery, legal information retrieval (IR), and semantic processing of web-based information for electronic contracting, the chances are increasing that, in their legal practices, law students will use, and even depend on, systems that employ AI techniques. As explained in the Article, an AI and Law seminar invites students to think about processes of legal reasoning and legal practice and about how those processes employ information. It teaches how the new digital documents technologies work, what they can and cannot do, how to measure performance, how to evaluate claims about the technologies, and how to be savvy consumers and users of the technologies.”

 

Throughout the last two weeks, the CALI Spotlight Blog has previewed different symposium presentations. Look through our archive:

  • June 5, 2013: Marc Lauritsen, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata”
  • June 6, 2013: William E. Hornsby, Jr., “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games”
  • June 7, 2013: Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “If Only We Knew What We Know”
  • June 8, 2013: Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro, “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm”
  • June 10, 2013: Oliver R. Goodenough, “Developing an e-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise”
  • June 11, 2013: Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck and Kevin Mulcahy, “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: PReparing Students for the 21st Century Practice”
  • June 12, 2013: Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros, “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution”
  • June 13, 2013: Hybrid Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Tanina Rostain & Roger Skalbeck, Technology, Innovation and Law Practice: An Experiential Seminar at Georgetown University Law Center
    • Judith Wegner, Becoming a Professional at UNC School of Law
    • Sunrise Ayers, A2J Clinic at Concordia University School of law
  • June 14, 2013: Traditional Clinical Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Conrad Johnson, Mary Zulack & Brian Donnelly, Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School
    • Joe Rosenberg, Main Street Legal Services, Elder Law Clinic at CUNY School of Law
    • JoNel Newman & Melissa Swain, Medical Legal Clinic at University of Miami School of Law
  • June 15, 2013: Kevin D. Ashley, “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar;” and Vern R. Walker et al, “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age”

 

Professor Ashley and Professor Walker are unable to attend the in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, but their valuable contributions will be published with the printed edition of the Chicago-Kent Law Review that accompanies the live symposium.

 

 

 

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A2J Clinic Integration into Traditional Clinics

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

Yesterday, the CALI Spotlight Blog featured three participants from the Access to Justice Clinical Course Project that will be integrating A2J Author into their courses a part of a hybrid clinical experience. Three other participants in the A2J Clinic Project will integrate the use of this software into more traditional clinical courses.
“The A2J Author provides a different lens or perspective from which to view the interviewing process,” explains Professor Joe Rosenberg, director of the Elder Law Clinic at CUNY’s Main Street Legal Services. “It will be instructive to compare and contrast the approaches we use for client interviews with the A2J Author and consider client needs in both contexts.”
Rosenberg’s Elder Law Clinic focuses primarily on guardianship issues and, over the last few years, students in Rosenberg’s clinic have developed a packet of information to provide some assistance those who cannot gain full representation from the clinic. Next year, as part of the A2J Clinic Project, students in the clinic will work to update this information and develop A2J Guided Interviews to provide further assistance to these self-represented litigants. Rosenberg plans to connect this development work with the interviewing, counseling, ethical and substantive legal work that students undertake.
In the Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law, taught by Conrad Johnson, Brian Donnelly, and Mary Marsh Zulack, students are divided into working groups and assigned to help a certain legal aid agency or court address a specific legal problem. Throughout the semester, the students develop a thorough understanding of the legal issue involved through in person meetings with a subject matter expert. Then they research the legal systems available before developing a solution that can be implemented by the requesting legal aid. In the past, students in this clinic have developed A2J Guided Interviews for use by the housing courts as well as a web-site explaining how a person reclaims property seized by the police.
Students in the Health Rights Clinic at the University of Miami, a Medical-Legal Partnership, work directly with patients at Miami-area hospitals to address the legal needs that arise as a result of their health care. JoNel Newman and Melissa Swain teach their students about substantive law in areas such as public benefits, advanced directives, and immigration. For many of these issues, they have already developed flowcharts and written manuals to help students assist their clients. After automating these processes, students in the clinic will be able to take on more clients. Finally, because of the diverse population of students and clients in the Miami area, all of their forms are developed in English, Spanish, and Haitian/Creole.
Throughout the last two weeks, the CALI Spotlight Blog has previewed different symposium presentations. Look through our archive:
• June 5, 2013: Marc Lauritsen, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata”
• June 6, 2013: William E. Hornsby, Jr., “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games”
• June 7, 2013: Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “If Only We Knew What We Know”
• June 8, 2013: Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro, “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm”
• June 10, 2013: Oliver R. Goodenough, “Developing an e-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise”
• June 11, 2013: Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck and Kevin Mulcahy, “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: PReparing Students for the 21st Century Practice”
• June 12, 2013: Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros, “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution”
• June 13, 2013: Hybrid Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
o Tanina Rostain & Roger Skalbeck, Technology, Innovation and Law Practice: An Experiential Seminar at Georgetown University Law Center
o Judith Wegner, Becoming a Professional at UNC School of Law
o Sunrise Ayers, A2J Clinic at Concordia University School of law
• June 14, 2013: Traditional Clinical Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
o Conrad Johnson, Mary Zulack & Brian Donnelly, Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School
o Joe Rosenberg, Main Street Legal Services, Elder Law Clinic at CUNY School of Law
o JoNel Newman & Melissa Swain, Medical Legal Clinic at University of Miami School of Law
• June 15, 2013: Kevin D. Ashley, “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar;” and Vern R. Walker et al, “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age”
Professor Ashley and Professor Walker are unable to attend the in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, but their valuable contributions will be published with the printed edition of the Chicago-Kent Law Review that accompanies the live symposium.

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Technology, Innovation and Law Practice at Georgetown

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

The Access to Justice Clinical Course Project launched in January at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools. During that AALS event in New Orleans, CALI® officially unveiled a panel of six participating law school clinics whose faculty members would be developing a new clinical course or modifying an existing course to use A2J Author® to teach modern legal skills. The participants were chosen for their unique course models, in hopes that a set of disparate models would inspire faculty at other law schools to adapt one or more of these models into their own course(s).
Representatives from all six participating law school clinics will be on hand during Saturday’s symposium, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law to discuss their course model. The first hour will focus on the three clinics below, which operate as a hybrid clinic and classroom models. For more information.
Tanina Rostain and Roger Skalbeck have been teaching a course called Technology, Innovation and Law Practice at Georgetown for the last two years. This past Spring they expanded the course from a 2-credit seminar to a 3-credit practicum. As part of this course, students are matched up with a legal aid organization that needs assistance and they work with representatives from that organization to develop a platform, application, or automated system that increases access to justice. Throughout the semester, students also receive training on public speaking before delivering their final project as a venture-capital pitch as part of their annual Iron Tech lawyer competition.
Becoming a Professional at UNC Chapel Hill is a course taught by Judith Wegner that challenges students to develop their professional identities. The course is designed with two sections (one based at the University of Cincinnati and one at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill), co-taught with Dean Louis Bilionis at Cincinnati, and practitioner-adjuncts at each site. Students develop their own project throughout the semester that addresses an area of law in which they are interested. All students will not be required to develop projects that use A2J Guided Interviews; however Wegner plans to identify a handful of projects ahead of time that would likely interest her public service-minded students.
The A2J Clinic at Concordia Law with Jodi Nafzger & Sunrise Ayres will be the law schools first clinical offering. Nafzger, director of experiential learning and career services, will teach the course alongside Ayres, a staff attorney for Idaho Legal Aid Services. The course is designed so that students will learn the principles of automated document assembly, while also developing an understanding of the substantive law involved with a specific area of law relevant to serving legal aid clients. The students in the clinic will work closely with ILAS to develop new A2J Guided Interviews to serve the self-represented litigants throughout Idaho.

Throughout the next two weeks, as the live symposium approaches, the CALI Spotlight Blog will preview another symposium presentation each day:

  • June 5, 2013: Marc Lauritsen, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata”
  • June 6, 2013: William E. Hornsby, Jr., “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games”
  • June 7, 2013: Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “If Only We Knew What We Know”
  • June 8, 2013: Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro, “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm”
  • June 10, 2013: Oliver R. Goodenough, “Developing an e-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise”
  • June 11, 2013: Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck and Kevin Mulcahy, “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: PReparing Students for the 21st Century Practice”
  • June 12, 2013: Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros, “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution”
  • June 13, 2013: Hybrid Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Tanina Rostain & Roger Skalbeck, Technology, Innovation and Law Practice: An Experiential Seminar at Georgetown University Law Center
    • Judith Wegner, Becoming a Professional at UNC School of Law
    • Sunrise Ayers, A2J Clinic at Concordia University School of law
  • June 14, 2013: Traditional Clinical Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Conrad Johnson, Mary Zulack & Brian Donnelly, Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School
    • Joe Rosenberg, Main Street Legal Services, Elder Law Clinic at CUNY School of Law
    • JoNel Newman & Melissa Swain, Medical Legal Clinic at University of Miami School of Law
  • June 15, 2013: Kevin D. Ashley, “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar;” and Vern R. Walker et al, “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age”

Professor Ashley and Professor Walker are unable to attend the in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, but their valuable contributions will be published with the printed edition of the Chicago-Kent Law Review that accompanies the live symposium.

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Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% solution

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros argue that law schools should add Access to Justice and Technology Clinics to their curricula. With “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% solution,” Staudt and Medeiros detail Chicago-Kent’s Justice and Technology Practicum, and explain how such clinical courses teach students traditional legal competencies, emerging technical skills, as well as other essential lessons in 21st-century lawyering, while simultaneously building A2J Guided Interviews for use by self-represented litigants.

Ronald W. Staudt is Professor of Law at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law and Director of the Center for Access to Justice & Technology. Staudt is a fellow, board member and president of the College of Law Practice Management. He has written numerous articles on incorporating law and technology, including “Access to Justice: Meeting the Needs of Self-Represented Litigants.” Andrew Medeiros is the Access to Justice Fellow at the Center for Access to Justice & Technology. He is also the vice-chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Law Practice Management & Technology committee.

Law practice is an increasingly technological profession, and it is incumbent upon law schools to provide practical guidance on how to serve modern clients. Moreover, despite the efficiency of modern information technology and an oversupply of new JDs, our legal system fails to meet the legal needs of ordinary people, particularly those of low or modest incomes. By teaching students to use and deploy technology to assist in law practice, law schools can better prepare their students for practice in the modern age, as well as assist in expanding access to the legal system. In this article, the authors present the theory behind using technology to increase access to justice, as well as a practical guide on how law schools can implement technology-centric clinical courses.

Abstract
“This article argues that law schools should add Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: a new type of clinical course that teaches law students how to use and deploy technology to assist law practice. If widely adopted, these clinics will help law students learn core competencies needed in an increasingly technological profession while simultaneously building tools and content to help low income, self-represented litigants overcome serious barriers in their pursuit of justice. In our prototype course at Chicago-Kent, Justice and Technology Practicum, students use A2J Author to build A2J Guided Interviews and in the process students learn legal research, writing and analysis, while also developing important skills such as project management and planning, collaboration, and empathy. In addition to teaching students how to use specific document assembly and automation tools, the course exposes students to an array of technology tools and skills, providing a better understanding of the transformative effect information technology has on the legal practice. Now through CALI’s Access to Justice Clinical Course Project, faculty at six other law schools are designing courses that will build on this experience to be shared with all CALI law schools.”

Staudt and Medeiros will expand on this article while presenting during the live, in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. For more information.

Throughout the next two weeks, as the live symposium approaches, the CALI Spotlight Blog will preview another symposium presentation each day:

  • June 5, 2013: Marc Lauritsen, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata”
  • June 6, 2013: William E. Hornsby, Jr., “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games”
  • June 7, 2013: Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “If Only We Knew What We Know”
  • June 8, 2013: Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro, “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm”
  • June 10, 2013: Oliver R. Goodenough, “Developing an e-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise”
  • June 11, 2013: Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck and Kevin Mulcahy, “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: PReparing Students for the 21st Century Practice”
  • June 12, 2013: Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros, “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution”
  • June 13, 2013: Hybrid Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Tanina Rostain & Roger Skalbeck, Technology, Innovation and Law Practice: An Experiential Seminar at Georgetown University Law Center
    • Judith Wegner, Becoming a Professional at UNC School of Law
    • Sunrise Ayers, A2J Clinic at Concordia University School of law
  • June 14, 2013: Traditional Clinical Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Conrad Johnson, Mary Zulack & Brian Donnelly, Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School
    • Joe Rosenberg, Main Street Legal Services, Elder Law Clinic at CUNY School of Law
    • JoNel Newman & Melissa Swain, Medical Legal Clinic at University of Miami School of Law
  • June 15, 2013: Kevin D. Ashley, “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar;” and Vern R. Walker et al, “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age”

Professor Ashley and Professor Walker are unable to attend the in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, but their valuable contributions will be published with the printed edition of the Chicago-Kent Law Review that accompanies the live symposium.

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Thinking like a lawyer, designing like an architect: preparing students for the 21st century practice

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

Thinking like a lawyer, designing like an architect: preparing students for the 21st century practice

Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck, and Kevin G. Mulcahy suggest that building legal expert system apps furthers pedagogic goals associated with traditional law school curriculum and clinical teaching. In “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: Preparing Students for the 21st Century Practice,” 88 CHI.-KENT L. REV. 743 (2013) (forthcoming) the authors present the rationale and design of courses in which students create such legal expert system apps. The authors argue that, by exposing students to principles of systems design, these courses prepare them for the emerging challenges of 21st century practice.

Tanina Rostain is Professor of Law and Research Director for the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown University Law Center. Her scholarship focuses on legal ethics in the context of corporate and tax practice. Roger Skalbeck, Adjunct Professor and Associate Law Librarian at Georgetown University Law Center, specializes in technology management in law libraries. While Kevin G. Mulcahy is Director of Education for Neota Logic.

In designing legal expert systems apps, students engage in careful legal analysis and anticipate the problems and questions a typical user will have. Students also learn to communicate legal concepts in precise and plain language, which deepens students’ understanding of the concepts they communicate. The authors contend that the process of such app creation teaches essential skills of analysis and expression while generating technological skills that befit the modern lawyer.

Abstract
“Various law schools—Chicago-Kent Law School, New York Law School, Vermont Law School, and Georgetown Law Center among them—are beginning to offer innovative classes in which students learn to build legal expert systems intended to enhance access to the legal system. Working in platforms that do not require technical expertise, students are able to build apps that incorporate rules-based logic, factor balancing, and mathematical operations to implement the reasoning of a regulatory regime. In this essay, we suggest that teaching students to design apps furthers pedagogic goals associated with the traditional law school curriculum and clinical teaching. In designing legal expert systems, students are required to engage in careful legal analysis and anticipate the problems and questions a typical user will have. Students also need to learn to communicate legal concepts and categories in precise and plain language. Contrary to the traditional law school curriculum, however, which emphasizes case-by-case analysis, in clinics that focus on building legal expert systems, students learn to develop systemic solutions to legal problems. By exposing students to principle of systems design, these classes prepare them for the emerging challenges of 21st century practice.”

The authors will expand on this article while presenting during the live, in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. For more information.

Throughout the next two weeks, as the live symposium approaches, the CALI Spotlight Blog will preview another symposium presentation each day:

  • June 5, 2013: Marc Lauritsen, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata”
  • June 6, 2013: William E. Hornsby, Jr., “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games”
  • June 7, 2013: Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “If Only We Knew What We Know”
  • June 8, 2013: Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro, “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm”
  • June 10, 2013: Oliver R. Goodenough, “Developing an e-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise”
  • June 11, 2013: Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck and Kevin Mulcahy, “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: PReparing Students for the 21st Century Practice”
  • June 12, 2013: Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros, “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution”
  • June 13, 2013: Hybrid Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Tanina Rostain & Roger Skalbeck, Technology, Innovation and Law Practice: An Experiential Seminar at Georgetown University Law Center
    • Judith Wegner, Becoming a Professional at UNC School of Law
    • Sunrise Ayers, A2J Clinic at Concordia University School of law
  • June 14, 2013: Traditional Clinical Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Conrad Johnson, Mary Zulack & Brian Donnelly, Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School
    • Joe Rosenberg, Main Street Legal Services, Elder Law Clinic at CUNY School of Law
    • JoNel Newman & Melissa Swain, Medical Legal Clinic at University of Miami School of Law
  • June 15, 2013: Kevin D. Ashley, “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar;” and Vern R. Walker et al, “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age”

Professor Ashley and Professor Walker are unable to attend the in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, but their valuable contributions will be published with the printed edition of the Chicago-Kent Law Review that accompanies the live symposium.

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Developing an E-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

Oliver R. Goodenough recognizes that law schools can attract more students by adding to the value of traditional legal education. Simply put, as the market for legal services contracts, modern students desire to learn not only a set of policy, argumentation and analytic approaches to law, but also the knowledge and skills that a lawyer should have for an effective and rewarding career. In “Developing an E-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise,” 88 CHI.-KENT L. REV. 845 (2013) (forthcoming), Goodenough proposes that legal educators get over the idea that law school is not a trade school and teach graduates the skills necessary to become effective lawyers. “If teaching our graduates how to be effective within the law’s critical work is teaching them a trade, then we should embrace the label, not shun it,” Goodenough explains.

Oliver R. Goodenough, Professor of Law at Vermont Law School and a Faculty Fellow with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, is an expert in the impact of digital technology on law. He has focused on using the Internet to create digital business organizations and to provide improved legal support for innovation and entrepreneurship. In a recent visit to LegalTech New York with a group of students, Goodenough realized that the development of legal technology is not simply supporting legal work, but that this activity “is legal work.”

Law practice technology is now an established and massive industry. New lawyers can both look to e-Lawyering as an expanding job market, and expect modern information technology to be an important aspect of positions in all fields of law. While teaching students to “think like a lawyer” continues to be valuable, law schools in the 21st century should add to the value of the educations they offer if they hope to attract the best and brightest students. Goodenough explains that this can be done through a combination of substantive law courses that discuss relevant technology principles such as e-discovery or document assembly as well as specialty courses that develop specific legal technology skills.

Abstract
“Legal education is in the midst of significant change, where much of how and what we have taught is under scrutiny. As we reform our curriculums in this moment of change, we should be guided by considerations of value added, values added, economic sustainability. It is no longer enough for our programs to target bar passage, doctrinal coverage, a shared language of argument, and skills and perspectives, important as these may be. Practice in the foreseeable future requires us to add new knowledge and competencies. Law and technology is an area that is ripe for expansion, with the possibility of satisfying all of these criteria. It also provides ample room for scholarly examination. Creating opportunities for learning how technology is shaping legal practice should be a priority for any school looking to provide a useful education for the lawyers of the present, let alone the future.”

Goodenough will expand on this article while presenting during the live, in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. For more information.

Throughout the next two weeks, as the live symposium approaches, the CALI Spotlight Blog will preview another symposium presentation each day:

  • June 5, 2013: Marc Lauritsen, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata”
  • June 6, 2013: William E. Hornsby, Jr., “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games”
  • June 7, 2013: Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “If Only We Knew What We Know”
  • June 8, 2013: Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro, “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm”
  • June 10, 2013: Oliver R. Goodenough, “Developing an e-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise”
  • June 11, 2013: Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck and Kevin Mulcahy, “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: PReparing Students for the 21st Century Practice”
  • June 12, 2013: Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros, “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution”
  • June 13, 2013: Hybrid Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Tanina Rostain & Roger Skalbeck, Technology, Innovation and Law Practice: An Experiential Seminar at Georgetown University Law Center
    • Judith Wegner, Becoming a Professional at UNC School of Law
    • Sunrise Ayers, A2J Clinic at Concordia University School of law
  • June 14, 2013: Traditional Clinical Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Conrad Johnson, Mary Zulack & Brian Donnelly, Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School
    • Joe Rosenberg, Main Street Legal Services, Elder Law Clinic at CUNY School of Law
    • JoNel Newman & Melissa Swain, Medical Legal Clinic at University of Miami School of Law
  • June 15, 2013: Kevin D. Ashley, “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar;” and Vern R. Walker et al, “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age”

Professor Ashley and Professor Walker are unable to attend the in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, but their valuable contributions will be published with the printed edition of the Chicago-Kent Law Review that accompanies the live symposium.

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The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm – Stephanie Kimbro and Richard S. Granat

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

With “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm” 88 CHI.-KENT L. REV. 757 (2013) (forthcoming), Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro analyze a deficiency in one area of traditional law school curricula and propose a solution to fix it. Because modern employers do not provide on-the-job training in law practice management, new lawyers enter the workforce without this critical knowledge. This article presents a survey of the law practice management skills required of the lawyers in the 21st Century and proposes new approaches to teaching this subject in law schools.

Richard S. Granat is Co-Chair of the eLawyering Task Force of the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association, the Founder and President of DirectLaw, Inc., a virtual law firm provider, and the Managing Partner of Granat Legal Services, P.L.L.C., a Maryland virtual law firm. Stephanie Kimbro is a member of Burton Law LLC and the recipient of the 2009 ABA Keane Award for Excellence in eLawyering.

Staff management, financial management, office management, and marketing are all essential aspects of law practice. While law practitioners used to gain training in these critical fields from employment with traditional law firms, roles with such traditional firms are increasingly rare for new members of the bar. Additionally, the Internet and information technology are transforming the practice of law and the management of law firms. Granat and Kimbro propose that law schools can better prepare their students for the modern legal practice environment by providing training in law practice management and law practice technology.

Abstract
“The teaching of law practice management in law schools is becoming more critical for our profession. Employment with a traditional law firm used to provide the training and mentorship necessary to practice law. As a result of fewer employment prospects with traditional law firms, law students are now faced with the prospect of entering into law practice without this critical training and knowledge base soon after they become members of the bar.
Additionally, the Internet and information technology is transforming the practice of law and, as a result, the management of law firms is also being transformed. Lawyers must understand the benefits and risks of information technology in law practice in order to ethically and efficiently serve clients and to develop a productive legal career that allows them to compete in a changed legal marketplace. This article presents a survey of the practice management skills required of the 21st century lawyer and proposes new approaches to the teaching of this subject in law schools.”

Richard Granat will expand on this article during the live, in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. For more information.

Throughout the next two weeks, as the live symposium approaches, the CALI Spotlight Blog will preview another symposium presentation each day:

  • June 5, 2013: Marc Lauritsen, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata”
  • June 6, 2013: William E. Hornsby, Jr., “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games”
  • June 7, 2013: Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “If Only We Knew What We Know”
  • June 8, 2013: Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro, “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm”
  • June 10, 2013: Oliver R. Goodenough, “Developing an e-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise”
  • June 11, 2013: Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck and Kevin Mulcahy, “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: PReparing Students for the 21st Century Practice”
  • June 12, 2013: Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros, “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution”
  • June 13, 2013: Hybrid Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Tanina Rostain & Roger Skalbeck, Technology, Innovation and Law Practice: An Experiential Seminar at Georgetown University Law Center
    • Judith Wegner, Becoming a Professional at UNC School of Law
    • Sunrise Ayers, A2J Clinic at Concordia University School of law
  • June 14, 2013: Traditional Clinical Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Conrad Johnson, Mary Zulack & Brian Donnelly, Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School
    • Joe Rosenberg, Main Street Legal Services, Elder Law Clinic at CUNY School of Law
    • JoNel Newman & Melissa Swain, Medical Legal Clinic at University of Miami School of Law
  • June 15, 2013: Kevin D. Ashley, “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar;” and Vern R. Walker et al, “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age”

Professor Ashley and Professor Walker are unable to attend the in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, but their valuable contributions will be published with the printed edition of the Chicago-Kent Law Review that accompanies the live symposium.

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If Only We Knew What We Know – Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

In “If Only We Knew What We Know,” 88 CHI.-KENT L. REV. 729 (2013) (forthcoming), Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly examine the broader themes surrounding law and technology raised in this symposium by looking at lawyering and knowledge management. Most lawyering duties, if not all, can be understood within the context of gathering, managing and presenting information. This article explains both the theory and practice of an IT-based clinical course in legal knowledge management.

Conrad Johnson has been a professor at Columbia Law School since 1989. Among numerous accomplishments, Johnson co-founded the Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic, a path breaking offering that explores the impact of technology on law practice and the profession through client work and collaborative projects with major public interest legal organizations and prominent jurists. Brian Donnelly is a lecturer and Director of Educational Technology at Columbia Law School, and also co-founded the Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic. Donnelly is responsible for the design and operation of Columbia Law School’s world-class classroom technology, curriculum-based Internet initiatives and the integration of technology into teaching and learning.

The first part of Johnson and Donnelly’s submission provides a brief summary of the basic lawyering paradigm used in the Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic—that all lawyering can be understood within the context of gathering, managing and presenting information. The knowledge management aspect is positioned as the foundation for “reflection in action,” a concept that has been widely recognized within clinical legal education. By managing legal knowledge through the use of information technology, students must convert tacit and conceptual knowledge into explicit and practical information. Such conversions expand and deepen students’ material understandings.

The second part of the article considers the merits of the A2J Author® software as an expert legal knowledge management system. Finally, a brief case study is presented on how the Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic used A2J Author in conjunction with partners in the New York Court system to address pressing needs on the parts of pro se litigants.

Abstract
“This article contributes to the broader themes surrounding law and technology raised in this symposium by taking a look at lawyering and knowledge management. This topic is presented both as a theory and with a case study. The first part provides a brief summary of the basic lawyering paradigm used in the Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School—that all lawyering activities can be understood within the context of gathering, managing and presenting information. The second category of the paradigm is expanded upon to review the activity of managing knowledge. Then, knowledge management is positioned as the foundation for “reflection in action,” a concept that has been widely recognized within clinical legal education.
What follows is to consider the A2J application as an example of an expert system. Then, finally, a brief case study is presented on how the Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic used the A2J application in conjunction with partners in the New York Court system to address a pressing need on the part of pro se litigants.”

Johnson and Donnelly will expand on this article while presenting during the live, in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. For more information.

Throughout the next two weeks, as the live symposium approaches, the CALI Spotlight Blog will preview another symposium presentation each day:

  • June 5, 2013: Marc Lauritsen, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata”
  • June 6, 2013: William E. Hornsby, Jr., “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games”
  • June 7, 2013: Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “If Only We Knew What We Know”
  • June 8, 2013: Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro, “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm”
  • June 10, 2013: Oliver R. Goodenough, “Developing an e-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise”
  • June 11, 2013: Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck and Kevin Mulcahy, “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: PReparing Students for the 21st Century Practice”
  • June 12, 2013: Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros, “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution”
  • June 13, 2013: Hybrid Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Tanina Rostain & Roger Skalbeck, Technology, Innovation and Law Practice: An Experiential Seminar at Georgetown University Law Center
    • Judith Wegner, Becoming a Professional at UNC School of Law
    • Sunrise Ayers, A2J Clinic at Concordia University School of law
  • June 14, 2013: Traditional Clinical Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Conrad Johnson, Mary Zulack & Brian Donnelly, Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School
    • Joe Rosenberg, Main Street Legal Services, Elder Law Clinic at CUNY School of Law
    • JoNel Newman & Melissa Swain, Medical Legal Clinic at University of Miami School of Law
  • June 15, 2013: Kevin D. Ashley, “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar;” and Vern R. Walker et al, “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age”

Professor Ashley and Professor Walker are unable to attend the in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, but their valuable contributions will be published with the printed edition of the Chicago-Kent Law Review that accompanies the live symposium.

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William E. Hornsby, Jr. – Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

The American Legal System falls short of providing access to justice for all. With “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services through Online Games,” 88 CHI.-KENT L. REV. 917 (2013) (forthcoming), William E. Hornsby, Jr. proposes that law schools can alleviate this problem by developing online games that would increase engagement with the law and improve understanding of the circumstances under which legal solutions are available.

Will Hornsby is staff counsel at the American Bar Association, where he has provided support to the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services since 1990. Since joining the ABA staff in 1988, he has also supported the Standing Committee on Professionalism, the Commission on Responsibility in Client Development, the Committee on Research on the Future of the Law, and the ABA Presidential Commission on Access to Lawyers. Hornsby has authored an array of materials including books, white papers and law review articles at the intersection of technology and legal practice. He is also an adjunct professor at the John Marshall Law School Center for Information and Privacy Law.

Hornsby observes that people often do not recognize when they have a problem for which a legal solution is available, and therefore do not seek out lawyers or other assistance from the justice system. The costs of legal services deter some. For many, however, it is lack of engagement, rather than affordability, that causes people to forego legal solutions. While technology has addressed efficiencies in the legal process and has driven down costs, it has not sufficiently fulfilled its potential for creating engagement. Hornsby’s submission to the Chicago-Kent Law Review offers a way that law schools could increase engagement and close the justice gap.

Abstract
“By all measures, the American Legal System falls short of providing access to justice for all. Legal needs studies show that people often do not recognize when they have a problem for which there is a legal solution and therefore do not seek out lawyers or the justice system to provide assistance with their problems. Some assert that the costs of legal services are beyond the means of many people. While that is true for the poor in some areas of law, both the marketplace and specific programs, such as lawyer referral modest means panels, provide affordable legal services for many types of legal matters. For many, it is not affordability but lack of engagement that causes people to forego legal solutions. Technology has addressed efficiencies in the legal process, once again driving down costs, but has not fulfilled its potential for creating engagement. Even though the public finds the courtroom a focal point of popular culture, from novels to movies to daytime television, the legal profession has not done a good job of using the Internet to engage the public about their legal needs. The Army has used Massive Multi-player Online Games (MMOGs) to engage potential recruits and in fact serve as an effective recruiting tool. Others have used MMOGs as platforms to explore societal crises such as petroleum dependency and crowd- source solutions to medical issues. Law schools, which are leading the creative use of technology for legal matters, are well-positioned to take the lead in the development of online gaming to advance engagement in ways that enable people to recognize the circumstances under which they have legal solutions to their problems.”

Hornsby will expand on this article while presenting during the live, in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. For more information.

Throughout the next two weeks, as the live symposium approaches, the CALI Spotlight Blog will preview another symposium presentation each day:

  • June 5, 2013: Marc Lauritsen, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata”
  • June 6, 2013: William E. Hornsby, Jr., “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games”
  • June 7, 2013: Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “If Only We Knew What We Know”
  • June 8, 2013: Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro, “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm”
  • June 10, 2013: Oliver R. Goodenough, “Developing an e-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise”
  • June 11, 2013: Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck and Kevin Mulcahy, “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: PReparing Students for the 21st Century Practice”
  • June 12, 2013: Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros, “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution”
  • June 13, 2013: Hybrid Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Tanina Rostain & Roger Skalbeck, Technology, Innovation and Law Practice: An Experiential Seminar at Georgetown University Law Center
    • Judith Wegner, Becoming a Professional at UNC School of Law
    • Sunrise Ayers, A2J Clinic at Concordia University School of law
  • June 14, 2013: Traditional Clinical Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Conrad Johnson, Mary Zulack & Brian Donnelly, Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School
    • Joe Rosenberg, Main Street Legal Services, Elder Law Clinic at CUNY School of Law
    • JoNel Newman & Melissa Swain, Medical Legal Clinic at University of Miami School of Law
  • June 15, 2013: Kevin D. Ashley, “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar;” and Vern R. Walker et al, “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age”

Professor Ashley and Professor Walker are unable to attend the in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, but their valuable contributions will be published with the printed edition of the Chicago-Kent Law Review that accompanies the live symposium.

 

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Marc Lauritsen – Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

Marc Lauritsen, co-editor of the “Justice, Lawyering, and Legal Education in the Digital Age” symposium, believes that the application of unauthorized practice of law regulations to restrict the use of automated legal systems is bad public policy. But he also argues in his submission to the symposium, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata,” 88 CHI.-KENT L. REV. 945 (2013) (forthcoming), that such restrictions by courts could also be a violation of the programmers’ First Amendment rights.

After developing an understanding of the ways that automated systems could impact the legal services market through 20 years as a lawyer and an educator, Lauritsen founded Capstone Practice Systems to build legal systems for some of the top legal departments in the world. Since, he has become one of the foremost experts on the use of information technology in the legal profession and lectures nationally on the future of law and technology.

Large law firms seek to meet their clients’ needs more efficiently. Small law firms are competing with web entities such as LegalZoom and RocketLawyer for the latent legal market. Legal aid organizations have built a cadre of automated forms to provide more efficient legal services to the poor. However, the future of these initiatives is threatened by the possibility that the development and use of automated legal systems could be the unauthorized practice of law.

Abstract
“Legal work is increasingly doable by artificial systems built out of software. Providers in both commercial and non-profit contexts are making such systems available for direct use by consumers. Some lawyers and policy makers understandably worry that these developments pose dangers for users and may inappropriately intrude on the prerogatives of the legal profession. This article reviews the extent to which software-based legal assistance systems can or should be suppressed as the unauthorized practice of law in light of constitutional rights of free expression and the social good of access to justice.”

After Lauritsen retraces the case law, the conclusion might seem logical: “There should no more be limits about what we can code about and publish than what we can write about and publish.” But, until the courts and legislatures act to protect legal programming as they have legal publishing, the question will continue to plague legal programmers.

Lauritsen will expand on this article while presenting during the live, in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. For more information.

Throughout the next two weeks, as the live symposium approaches, the CALI Spotlight Blog will preview another symposium presentation each day:

  • June 5, 2013: Marc Lauritsen, “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata”
  • June 6, 2013: William E. Hornsby, Jr., “Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services Through Online Games”
  • June 7, 2013: Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “If Only We Knew What We Know”
  • June 8, 2013: Richard S. Granat and Stephanie Kimbro, “The Teaching of Law Practice Management and Technology in Law Schools: A New Paradigm”
  • June 10, 2013: Oliver R. Goodenough, “Developing an e-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise”
  • June 11, 2013: Tanina Rostain, Roger Skalbeck and Kevin Mulcahy, “Thinking Like a Lawyer, Designing Like an Architect: PReparing Students for the 21st Century Practice”
  • June 12, 2013: Ronald W. Staudt and Andrew P. Medeiros, “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution”
  • June 13, 2013: Hybrid Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Tanina Rostain & Roger Skalbeck, Technology, Innovation and Law Practice: An Experiential Seminar at Georgetown University Law Center
    • Judith Wegner, Becoming a Professional at UNC School of Law
    • Sunrise Ayers, A2J Clinic at Concordia University School of law
  • June 14, 2013: Traditional Clinical Courses of the A2J Clinic Project
    • Conrad Johnson, Mary Zulack & Brian Donnelly, Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic at Columbia Law School
    • Joe Rosenberg, Main Street Legal Services, Elder Law Clinic at CUNY School of Law
    • JoNel Newman & Melissa Swain, Medical Legal Clinic at University of Miami School of Law
  • June 15, 2013: Kevin D. Ashley, “Teaching Law and Digital Age Legal Practice with an AI and Law Seminar;” and Vern R. Walker et al, “Law Schools as Knowledge Centers in the Digital Age”

Professor Ashley and Professor Walker are unable to attend the in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, but their valuable contributions will be published with the printed edition of the Chicago-Kent Law Review that accompanies the live symposium.

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