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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Symposium on Justice, Lawyering and Legal Education in the Digital Age

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

CALI_conferenceLogo_Gauge2013

“The legal profession is endangered. Law schools are in trouble. New lawyers are unprepared for economic and technological reality. There is a vast unmet need for legal services for low- and middle-income people,” according to IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law Professor Ronald W. Staudt and Marc Lauritsen, co-editors of the “Justice, Lawyering and Legal Education in the Digital Age” symposium.

Influential legal professors and practitioners working at the cross-section of information technology and the law dissect these overlapping problems and propose new solutions in the Chicago-Kent Law Review’s upcoming symposium. They also will elaborate on their submissions, answer questions and discuss these innovative ideas with attendees during an in-person symposium on June 15, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This half-day program will be held at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law in conjunction with the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI®)’s 2013 Conference for Law School Computing, which will be held at the law school from June 13 to June 15.

The editors of the symposium opine that they and their contributors “take it as a given [ . . . ] that the law firm economic model of the past 30 years is broken and that the U.S. needs fewer lawyers and lawyers who cost less.” However, they also see the value of teaching law students about technology.

Further, Staudt and Lauritsen observe two cross-cutting themes within the collected works:

  1. “Advanced information systems have rapidly become ubiquitous both in the subject matter of legal work and in the processes through which that work is done. The Legal Academy can no longer afford to give those systems as little attention as it presently does. Lawyers can no longer afford to have as little understanding of algorithms, ontologies, and other computational concepts as they do.”
  2. “By studying—or better yet, building—software systems that perform some of the tasks that lawyers and judges do, future (and present) legal professionals gain insight into emerging technologies at the center of modern law practice and also develop core competencies across a range of new and traditional lawyering skills.”

Contributors to the law review will be joined during the live symposium by participating faculty members from CALI’s Access to Justice Clinical Course Project to explore new solutions such as new law school courses that teach practical legal technology tools, while also addressing potential roadblocks facing these solutions.

For example, in “Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution,” Staudt and co-author Andrew P. Medeiros propose the addition of a new type of clinical course called the Access to Justice Technology Clinic (A2J Clinic). These A2J Clinic concept is based on a course taught by Staudt at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law where students learn traditional legal skills and new technical competencies, while building automated legal forms for use by self-represented litigants. However, in “Liberty, Justice, and Legal Automata,” Lauritsen tackles the legal implications of using software tools, such as those used by students in A2J Clinics, to develop automated legal systems. Such a practice could be construed as the unauthorized practice of law, but Lauritsen argues that such a conclusion would violate the First Amendment.

The “Justice, Lawyering, and Legal education in the Digital Age” symposium will be webcast, but seats are still available. For more information, visit conference.cali.org/2013/. The full conference fee will be reduced to $99 for those attending only the Saturday symposium. To take advantage of the reduced rate, select the “Check or money order” payment method upon check out. Then send an email to lvmolde@cali.org, informing CALI that you will only be attending the symposium.

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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Flipping The Legal Classroom Featured At #CALIcon13

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Elmer Masters

CALI_conferenceLogo_HwySign2013The flipped classroom concept has been seeing a lot more attention in law schools of late. The idea is that students learn basic concepts outside of the classroom, typically through reading or the use of recorded lectures or lessons, and then come to the classroom to learn how to apply their new knowledge, discuss key concepts in depth, and demonstrate mastery of the material. in many ways this not so different from the traditional Socratic method employed in many law school lecture halls.

This year’s CALI Conference for Law School Computing, June 13 – 15, 2013, at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law features a number of sessions devoted to the flipped classroom. Three sessions will explore the real world application of the concept in different law schools around the United States and Canada. Other sessions will explore topics related to changes in the way the law is being taught including developing and using electronic course materials, building distance education components for courses, the use of gaming theory in teaching law, and the use of collaborative tools.

The sessions the deal directly with the flipped classroom model are:

Other sessions that touch on changing how law is taught include:

If you are interested in changes happening in legal education today and in interacting with the folks putting those changes into practice in law schools around the country, you should be in Chicago for the 23rd Annual CALI Conference for Law School Computing, June 13 -15 2013 at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Did you know you can video archives of past CALIcons on the CALI Youtube channel?

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CALIcon Raffle and Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

There’s lots of great learning and social opportunities as CALIcon, but you also get the chance to win [cue game show announcer’s voice] lots of FABULOUS PRIZES.  iPads, Raspberry Pis, Chromebooks, giftcards…there is a veritable cornucopia of gifts for you to win! So now you’re probably wondering, “SARAH! HOW DO I GET IN ON THIS FABULOUS ACTION?”

Actually, you probably didn’t yell it because I’m sure you were raised right.

It’s easy to get involved in the CALIcon Raffle.  You will all be given a sheet of paper with instructions, circles and a spot to fill in your name and contact information.  This is your raffle ticket.  When you talk to one of our conference sponsors, they will give you a sticker to put on your sheet of paper.   Get five stickers, put the paper in a box at registration and you’re done!

Even if you don’t want to enter the raffle, I hope you take advantage of the wonderful opportunity having a vendor representative at a relatively small conference presents you.  They’re there to show you new products and advancements as well as listen to your needs and concerns about the products.  Four exhibitors – BePress, Bloomberg, ExamSoft and Lexis – will be having sessions along side of our conference programming for a more in depth conversation about their products and services.

We could probably host a CALIcon without having sponsors, but instead of an evening reception at the top of the Willis Tower, I’d be handing out Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches that I brought from home to all y’all.  And not fancy whole grain bread and chunky peanut butter, either.  So, if you get a chance when visiting with our sponsors, please do thank them for their support and attendance at CALIcon.  We really do appreciate it!

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CALIcon Hotel Block – Expires Soon!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Sarah Glassmeyer

5608359818_220bc882dbIf you’re coming to CALIcon, you’re going to need a place to sleep. We realized this when we were planning CALIcon, and made arrangements with the absolutely loverly Palmer House Hilton (the lobby of which is pictured here) to get our attendees a special rate.

Here’s the thing…when you make special deals like this with hotels, especially ones in high demand areas like downtown Chicago, you basically promise to buy the hotel rooms no matter what.  So if our attendees don’t fill up our block, we owe the Hilton a good chunk of change.  And this is Chicago.  You don’t skip out on your debts in Chicago…otherwise some burly guys may pick up John Mayer and take him on a one way trip to Cicero.

As a formerly tight budgeted academic, I know the tricks of checking for rooms in other places instead of going through the conference organizers.  However, I just checked Hotels.com and our special rate is actually lower than pretty much anything in the Loop.  So goin g through the Conference Hotel site to book your room is a win-win-win.  You get as cheap of a room as possible, CALI doesn’t have to spend money unnecessarily, and John Mayer gets to go home to his lovely wife and live into old age.

SOUNDS GREAT, DOESN’T IT?

Okay, here’s what you do: The hotel information on the conference site has all the instructions for making reservations online or by phone.  Be sure to use the group rate of CLS and/or tell them you’re with CALI.  And one more thing…YOU MUST DO THIS BY MAY 20, 2013.  That’s next Monday!  Time is running out!

GO GO GO.

Photo Credit: ZJemptv via Compfight cc

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