From DSC:
I value our constitutional democracy and I want to help preserve it. If you are an American, I encourage you to do the same. I’m not interested in living under an authoritarian government. The founders of this great nation developed an important document that integrated a system of checks and balances between the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government. The rule of law was important then, and it should still be important now. That’s why I’m posting the following two items.


Several Hundred Law Professors File Amicus Brief Defending Biglaw Firms Against Trump’s Executive Order Attacks — from jdjournal.com by Maria Lenin Laus

In an unprecedented show of solidarity, over 300 law professors from leading American law schools have filed an amicus brief condemning former President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting major law firms. The professors argue that the orders—issued in retaliation for the firms’ clients, diversity initiatives, and legal work opposing Trump policies—represent a dangerous abuse of executive power and a direct violation of constitutional protections.

The amicus brief, filed in support of the law firms’ challenge, was signed by professors from nearly every top-tier U.S. law school, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, NYU, and the University of Chicago. The professors argue that Trump’s orders:

  • Violate the First Amendment by penalizing firms for the viewpoints they express through advocacy and representation;
  • Undermine the rule of law by discouraging legal professionals from taking on controversial or unpopular clients;
  • Set a dangerous precedent for political retaliation against attorneys and the institutions of justice.

Law school deans around the country react to Trump’s undercutting the legal foundations/principles of our nation — from linkedin.com by Georgetown University Law Center

“We write to reaffirm basic principles: The government should not punish lawyers and law firms for the clients they represent, absent specific findings that such representation was illegal or unethical. Punishing lawyers for their representation and advocacy violates the First Amendment and undermines the Sixth Amendment.

We thus speak as legal educators, responsible for training the next generation of lawyers, in condemning any government efforts to punish lawyers or their firms based on the identity of their clients or for their zealous lawful and ethical advocacy.”


For related postings, also see:

President’s Third Term Talk Defies Constitution and Tests Democracy — from nytimes.com by Peter Baker (DSC: This is a free/gifted article for you.)
The 22nd Amendment is clear: President Trump has to give up his office after his second term. But his refusal to accept that underscores how far he is willing to consider going to consolidate power.

“This is in my mind a culmination of what he has already started, which is a methodical effort to destabilize and undermine our democracy so that he can assume much greater power,” Representative Daniel Goldman, Democrat of New York and lead counsel during Mr. Trump’s first impeachment, said in an interview.

“A lot of people are not talking about it because it’s not the most pressing issue of that particular day,” he said on Friday as stock markets were plunging in reaction to Mr. Trump’s newly declared trade war. But an attack on democracy, he added, “is actually in motion and people need to recognize that it is not hypothetical or speculative anymore.”

Mr. Trump’s autocratic tendencies and disregard for constitutional norms are well documented. In this second term alone, he has already sought to overrule birthright citizenship embedded in the 14th Amendment, effectively co-opted the power of Congress to determine what money will be spent or agencies closed, purged the uniformed leadership of the armed forces to enforce greater personal loyalty and punished dissent in academia, the news media, the legal profession and the federal bureaucracy.

BigLaw gives up on its future — from jordanfurlong.substack.com by Jordan Furlong
By putting business ahead of the rule of law when faced with assaults on their independence, many large US law firms have tarnished their reputations. Tomorrow’s lawyers could make them pay the price.

Two young Skadden associates, Rachel Cohen and Brenna Trout Frey, resigned from the firm, the former before its deal with Trump and the latter afterwards. “If my employer cannot stand up for the rule of law,” wrote Ms. Frey, “then I cannot ethically continue to work for them.” There might’ve been other public resignations I haven’t seen, but I’m confident there have been private ones from both firms, as well as intense efforts by other associates to find positions elsewhere.

This is the risk these firms are taking: It matters to young lawyers when their law firms fail to defend the rule of law. And it matters especially to young lawyers who are women and members of visible minorities when law firms jettison their vaunted diversity, equity, and inclusion programs under pressure from the government.

 

Uplimit raises stakes in corporate learning with suite of AI agents that can train thousands of employees simultaneously — from venturebeat.com by Michael Nuñez|

Uplimit unveiled a suite of AI-powered learning agents today designed to help companies rapidly upskill employees while dramatically reducing administrative burdens traditionally associated with corporate training.

The San Francisco-based company announced three sets of purpose-built AI agents that promise to change how enterprises approach learning and development: skill-building agents, program management agents, and teaching assistant agents. The technology aims to address the growing skills gap as AI advances faster than most workforces can adapt.

“There is an unprecedented need for continuous learning—at a scale and speed traditional systems were never built to handle,” said Julia Stiglitz, CEO and co-founder of Uplimit, in an interview with VentureBeat. “The companies best positioned to thrive aren’t choosing between AI and their people—they’re investing in both.”


Introducing Claude for Education — from anthropic.com

Today we’re launching Claude for Education, a specialized version of Claude tailored for higher education institutions. This initiative equips universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration—ensuring educators and students play a key role in actively shaping AI’s role in society.

As part of announcing Claude for Education, we’re introducing:

  1. Learning mode: A new Claude experience that guides students’ reasoning process rather than providing answers, helping develop critical thinking skills
  2. University-wide Claude availability: Full campus access agreements with Northeastern University, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and Champlain College, making Claude available to all students
  3. Academic partnerships: Joining Internet2 and working with Instructure to embed AI into teaching & learning with Canvas LMS
  4. Student programs: A new Claude Campus Ambassadors program along with an initiative offering API credits for student projects

A comment on this from The Rundown AI:

Why it matters: Education continues to grapple with AI, but Anthropic is flipping the script by making the tech a partner in developing critical thinking rather than an answer engine. While the controversy over its use likely isn’t going away, this generation of students will have access to the most personalized, high-quality learning tools ever.


Should College Graduates Be AI Literate? — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie (behind a paywall)
More institutions are saying yes. Persuading professors is only the first barrier they face.

Last fall one of Jacqueline Fajardo’s students came to her office, eager to tell her about an AI tool that was helping him learn general chemistry. Had she heard of Google NotebookLM? He had been using it for half a semester in her honors course. He confidently showed her how he could type in the learning outcomes she posted for each class and the tool would produce explanations and study guides. It even created a podcast based on an academic paper he had uploaded. He did not feel it was important to take detailed notes in class because the AI tool was able to summarize the key points of her lectures.


Showing Up for the Future: Why Educators Can’t Sit Out the AI Conversation — from marcwatkins.substack.com with a guest post from Lew Ludwig

The Risk of Disengagement
Let’s be honest: most of us aren’t jumping headfirst into AI. At many of our institutions, it’s not a gold rush—it’s a quiet standoff. But the group I worry most about isn’t the early adopters. It’s the faculty who’ve decided to opt out altogether.

That choice often comes from a place of care. Concerns about data privacy, climate impact, exploitative labor, and the ethics of using large language models are real—and important. But choosing not to engage at all, even on ethical grounds, doesn’t remove us from the system. It just removes our voices from the conversation.

And without those voices, we risk letting others—those with very different priorities—make the decisions that shape what AI looks like in our classrooms, on our campuses, and in our broader culture of learning.



Turbocharge Your Professional Development with AI — from learningguild.com by Dr. RK Prasad

You’ve just mastered a few new eLearning authoring tools, and now AI is knocking on the door, offering to do your job faster, smarter, and without needing coffee breaks. Should you be worried? Or excited?

If you’re a Learning and Development (L&D) professional today, AI is more than just a buzzword—it’s transforming the way we design, deliver, and measure corporate training. But here’s the good news: AI isn’t here to replace you. It’s here to make you better at what you do.

The challenge is to harness its potential to build digital-ready talent, not just within your organization but within yourself.

Let’s explore how AI is reshaping L&D strategies and how you can leverage it for professional development.


5 Recent AI Notables — from automatedteach.com by Graham Clay

1. OpenAI’s New Image Generator
What Happened: OpenAI integrated a much more powerful image generator directly into GPT-4o, making it the default image creator in ChatGPT. Unlike previous image models, this one excels at accurately rendering text in images, precise visualization of diagrams/charts, and multi-turn image refinement through conversation.

Why It’s Big: For educators, this represents a significant advancement in creating educational visuals, infographics, diagrams, and other instructional materials with unprecedented accuracy and control. It’s not perfect, but you can now quickly generate custom illustrations that accurately display mathematical equations, chemical formulas, or process workflows — previously a significant hurdle in digital content creation — without requiring graphic design expertise or expensive software. This capability dramatically reduces the time between conceptualizing a visual aid and implementing it in course materials.
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The 4 AI modes that will supercharge your workflow — from aiwithallie.beehiiv.com by Allie K. Miller
The framework most people and companies won’t discover until 2026


 

Five Legal Tech Insights From New York — from artificiallawyer.com by Richard Tromans
A week spent in Manhattan gave Artificial Lawyer plenty to think about. Here are five insights inspired by a series of ‘New York moments’, often about legal AI.

On the way back from Paddington the cab driver was also questioned on the topic. He replied with wisdom: ‘When they made Heathrow Express a lot of us feared it would take away work. The funny thing is, it pushes more people to Paddington and generates a steady flow of fares. Before, you might spend ages getting to Heathrow with one passenger and sometimes have to drive all the way back with no fare.’

The end result: the effort to increase speed and efficiency ended up making the taxi drivers of London much happier and their lives more flexible. Whereas the taxi drivers of New York remain stuck doing huge, one-off journeys, while the general public suffers high costs and slow – and unpredictable – travel times.

Now, one wonders where there could be a connection to how the legal world works…..?


ABA TECHSHOW 2025 to spotlight future of legal technology — from americanbar.org
Artificial intelligence, cloud-based practice management, data privacy and e-discovery will be among the hot topics featured at the American Bar Association TECHSHOW 2025, which spotlights the most useful and practical technologies available in the legal industry, April 2-5 in Chicago.


Legaltech leaders roundtable: The challenges and emerging best practices of GenAI adoption — from legaltechnology.com

One of the key themes to emerge was the need to encourage creativity and open mindedness  around use cases. Conan Hines, Fried Frank’s director of practice innovation, said: “I felt a lot of ‘imaginative play’ vibes. This is where we give lawyers secure AI tools and support to explore the possibilities. The support is even more interesting as innovative teams are complementing their current staff with behavioural science and anthropological approaches to unlock this potential.”


Inhouse World Is Embracing Legal AI – Survey — from artificiallawyer.com

 

Here is the link to this item on Linkedin.com


Also see:

Our Law Firm Won’t Cave to Trump. Who Will Join Us? — from nytimes.com by John W. Keker, Robert A. Van Nest, and Elliot R. Peters (DSC: This is a gifted article.)

If lawyers and law firms won’t stand up for the rule of law, who will?

Beyond the Perkins Coie executive order, Mr. Trump has issued similar, and equally unlawful, executive orders directed at other law firms that have represented causes or people he doesn’t like, including because they have sued him, investigated him or contributed in some way to civil and criminal legal matters brought against him. That includes executive orders in recent days targeting the firms WilmerHale and Jenner & Block. He also issued a memorandum directed across the board at lawyers and law firms that have taken on causes he disfavors, including the pro bono representation of political asylum seekers.

We applaud Jenner & Block’s and WilmerHale’s lawsuits, filed Friday, challenging the administration’s executive orders.

To the shock and dismay of many in our profession, the law firm Paul, Weiss, with a tradition of fighting for justice — and also the subject of one of Mr. Trump’s executive orders — chose not to fight for itself or for our legal system. Instead, the firm capitulated, agreeing to direct $40 million worth of free legal work to causes Mr. Trump supports. (Mr. Trump said on Friday that another major firm, Skadden, Arps, had agreed to a similar arrangement to avoid an executive order punishing it.) Paul, Weiss’s choice was particularly disappointing because it further empowered Mr. Trump’s attack on our profession and because Perkins Coie had already charted an alternative path, with a high likelihood of success.


 

 

 

It’s the end of work as we knew it
and I feel…

powerless to fight the technology that we pioneered
nostalgic for a world that moved on without us
after decades of paying our dues
for a payday that never came
…so yeah
not exactly fine.


The Gen X Career Meltdown — from nytimes.com by Steeven Kurutz (DSC: This is a gifted article for you)
Just when they should be at their peak, experienced workers in creative fields find that their skills are all but obsolete.

If you entered media or image-making in the ’90s — magazine publishing, newspaper journalism, photography, graphic design, advertising, music, film, TV — there’s a good chance that you are now doing something else for work. That’s because those industries have shrunk or transformed themselves radically, shutting out those whose skills were once in high demand.

“I am having conversations every day with people whose careers are sort of over,” said Chris Wilcha, a 53-year-old film and TV director in Los Angeles.

Talk with people in their late 40s and 50s who once imagined they would be able to achieve great heights — or at least a solid career while flexing their creative muscles — and you are likely to hear about the photographer whose work dried up, the designer who can’t get hired or the magazine journalist who isn’t doing much of anything.

In the wake of the influencers comes another threat, artificial intelligence, which seems likely to replace many of the remaining Gen X copywriters, photographers and designers. By 2030, ad agencies in the United States will lose 32,000 jobs, or 7.5 percent of the industry’s work force, to the technology, according to the research firm Forrester.


From DSC:
This article reminds me of how tough it is to navigate change in our lives. For me, it was often due to the fact that I was working with technologies. Being a technologist can be difficult, especially as one gets older and faces age discrimination in a variety of industries. You need to pick the right technologies and the directions that will last (for me it was email, videoconferencing, the Internet, online-based education/training, discovering/implementing instructional technologies, and becoming a futurist).

For you younger folks out there — especially students within K-16 — aim to develop a perspective and a skillset that is all about adapting to change. You will likely need to reinvent yourself and/or pick up new skills over your working years. You are most assuredly required to be a lifelong learner now. That’s why I have been pushing for school systems to be more concerned with providing more choice and control to students — so that students actually like school and enjoy learning about new things.


 

 




Students and folks looking for work may want to check out:

Also relevant/see:


 

The Third Horizon of Learning Shifting beyond the Industrial Model — from gettingsmart.com by Sujata Bhatt & Mason Pashia

Over 24 blog posts, we have sketched a bold vision of what this next horizon of education looks like in action and highlighted the many innovators working to bring it to life. These pioneers are building new models that prioritize human development, relationships, and real-world relevance as most valuable. They are forging partnerships, designing and adopting transformative technologies, developing new assessment methods, and more. These shifts transform the lived experiences of young people and serve the needs of families and communities. In short, they are delivering authentic learning experiences that better address the demands of today’s economy, society, and learners.

We’ve aggregated our findings from this blog series and turned it into an H3 Publication. Inside, you’ll find our key transformation takeaways for school designers and system leaders, as well as a full list of the contributing authors. Thank you to all of the contributors, including LearnerStudio for sponsoring the series and Sujata Bhatt at Incubate Learning for authorship, editing and curation support throughout the entirety of the series and publication.
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8 Weeks Left to Prepare Students for the AI-Enhanced Workplace — from insidehighered.com by Ray Schroeder
We are down to the final weeks left to fully prepare students for entry into the AI-enhanced workplace. Are your students ready?

The urgent task facing those of us who teach and advise students, whether they be degree program or certificate seeking, is to ensure that they are prepared to enter (or re-enter) the workplace with skills and knowledge that are relevant to 2025 and beyond. One of the first skills to cultivate is an understanding of what kinds of services this emerging technology can provide to enhance the worker’s productivity and value to the institution or corporation.

Given that short period of time, coupled with the need to cover the scheduled information in the syllabus, I recommend that we consider merging AI use into authentic assignments and assessments, supplementary modules, and other resources to prepare for AI.


Learning Design in the Era of Agentic AI — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr Philippa Hardman
Aka, how to design online async learning experiences that learners can’t afford to delegate to AI agents

The point I put forward was that the problem is not AI’s ability to complete online async courses, but that online async courses courses deliver so little value to our learners that they delegate their completion to AI.

The harsh reality is that this is not an AI problem — it is a learning design problem.

However, this realisation presents us with an opportunity which we overall seem keen to embrace. Rather than seeking out ways to block AI agents, we seem largely to agree that we should use this as a moment to reimagine online async learning itself.



8 Schools Innovating With Google AI — Here’s What They’re Doing — from forbes.com by Dan Fitzpatrick

While fears of AI replacing educators swirl in the public consciousness, a cohort of pioneering institutions is demonstrating a far more nuanced reality. These eight universities and schools aren’t just experimenting with AI, they’re fundamentally reshaping their educational ecosystems. From personalized learning in K-12 to advanced research in higher education, these institutions are leveraging Google’s AI to empower students, enhance teaching, and streamline operations.


Essential AI tools for better work — from wondertools.substack.com by Jeremy Caplan
My favorite tactics for making the most of AI — a podcast conversation

AI tools I consistently rely on (areas covered mentioned below)

  • Research and analysis
  • Communication efficiency
  • Multimedia creation

AI tactics that work surprisingly well 

1. Reverse interviews
Instead of just querying AI, have it interview you. Get the AI to interview you, rather than interviewing it. Give it a little context and what you’re focusing on and what you’re interested in, and then you ask it to interview you to elicit your own insights.”

This approach helps extract knowledge from yourself, not just from the AI. Sometimes we need that guide to pull ideas out of ourselves.

 

From DSC:
Look out Google, Amazon, and others! Nvidia is putting the pedal to the metal in terms of being innovative and visionary! They are leaving the likes of Apple in the dust.

The top talent out there is likely to go to Nvidia for a while. Engineers, programmers/software architects, network architects, product designers, data specialists, AI researchers, developers of robotics and autonomous vehicles, R&D specialists, computer vision specialists, natural language processing experts, and many more types of positions will be flocking to Nvidia to work for a company that has already changed the world and will likely continue to do so for years to come. 



NVIDIA’s AI Superbowl — from theneurondaily.com by Noah and Grant
PLUS: Prompt tips to make AI writing more natural

That’s despite a flood of new announcements (here’s a 16 min video recap), which included:

  1. A new architecture for massive AI data centers (now called “AI factories”).
  2. A physics engine for robot training built with Disney and DeepMind.
  3. partnership with GM to develop next-gen vehicles, factories and robots.
  4. A new Blackwell chip with “Dynamo” software that makes AI reasoning 40x faster than previous generations.
  5. A new “Rubin” chip slated for 2026 and a “Feynman” chip set for 2028.

For enterprises, NVIDIA unveiled DGX Spark and DGX Station—Jensen’s vision of AI-era computing, bringing NVIDIA’s powerful Blackwell chip directly to your desk.


Nvidia Bets Big on Synthetic Data — from wired.com by Lauren Goode
Nvidia has acquired synthetic data startup Gretel to bolster the AI training data used by the chip maker’s customers and developers.


Nvidia, xAI to Join BlackRock and Microsoft’s $30 Billion AI Infrastructure Fund — from investopedia.com by Aaron McDade
Nvidia and xAI are joining BlackRock and Microsoft in an AI infrastructure group seeking $30 billion in funding. The group was first announced in September as BlackRock and Microsoft sought to fund new data centers to power AI products.



Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says we’ll soon see 1 million GPU data centers visible from space — from finance.yahoo.com by Daniel Howley
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says the company is preparing for 1 million GPU data centers.


Nvidia stock stems losses as GTC leaves Wall Street analysts ‘comfortable with long term AI demand’ — from finance.yahoo.com by Laura Bratton
Nvidia stock reversed direction after a two-day slide that saw shares lose 5% as the AI chipmaker’s annual GTC event failed to excite investors amid a broader market downturn.


Microsoft, Google, and Oracle Deepen Nvidia Partnerships. This Stock Got the Biggest GTC Boost. — from barrons.com by Adam Clark and Elsa Ohlen


The 4 Big Surprises from Nvidia’s ‘Super Bowl of AI’ GTC Keynote — from barrons.com by Tae Kim; behind a paywall

AI Super Bowl. Hi everyone. This week, 20,000 engineers, scientists, industry executives, and yours truly descended upon San Jose, Calif. for Nvidia’s annual GTC developers’ conference, which has been dubbed the “Super Bowl of AI.”


 

Who does need college anymore? About that book title … — from Education Design Lab

As you may know, Lab founder Kathleen deLaski just published a book with a provocative title: Who Needs College Anymore? Imagining a Future Where Degrees Won’t Matter.

Kathleen is asked about the title in every media interview, before and since the Feb. 25 book release. “It has generated a lot of questions,” she said in our recent book chat. “I tell people to focus on the word, ‘who.’ Who needs college anymore? That’s in keeping with the design thinking frame, where you look at the needs of individuals and what needs are not being met.”

In the same conversation, Kathleen reminded us that only 38% of American adults have a four-year degree. “We never talk about the path to the American dream for the rest of folks,” she said. “We currently are not supporting the other really interesting pathways to financial sustainability — apprenticeships, short-term credentials. And that’s really why I wrote the book, to push the conversation around the 62% of who we call New Majority Learners at the Lab, the people for whom college was not designed.” Watch the full clip

She distills the point into one sentence in this SmartBrief essay:  “The new paradigm is a ‘yes and’ paradigm that embraces college and/or other pathways instead of college or bust.”

What can colleges do moving forward?
In this excellent Q&A with Inside Higher Ed, Kathleen shares her No. 1 suggestion: “College needs to be designed as a stepladder approach, where people can come in and out of it as they need, and at the very least, they can build earnings power along the way to help afford a degree program.”

In her Hechinger Report essay, Kathleen lists four more steps colleges can take to meet the demand for more choices, including “affordability must rule.”

From white-collar apprenticeships and micro-credential programs at local community colleges to online bootcamps, self-instruction using YouTube, and more—students are forging alternative paths to GREAT high-paying jobs. (source)

 

Introducing NextGenAI: A consortium to advance research and education with AI — from openai.com; via Claire Zau
OpenAI commits $50M in funding and tools to leading institutions.

Today, we’re launching NextGenAI, a first-of-its-kind consortium with 15 leading research institutions dedicated to using AI to accelerate research breakthroughs and transform education.

AI has the power to drive progress in research and education—but only when people have the right tools to harness it. That’s why OpenAI is committing $50M in research grants, compute funding, and API access to support students, educators, and researchers advancing the frontiers of knowledge.

Uniting institutions across the U.S. and abroad, NextGenAI aims to catalyze progress at a rate faster than any one institution would alone. This initiative is built not only to fuel the next generation of discoveries, but also to prepare the next generation to shape AI’s future.


 ‘I want him to be prepared’: why parents are teaching their gen Alpha kids to use AI — from theguardian.com by Aaron Mok; via Claire Zau
As AI grows increasingly prevalent, some are showing their children tools from ChatGPT to Dall-E to learn and bond

“My goal isn’t to make him a generative AI wizard,” White said. “It’s to give him a foundation for using AI to be creative, build, explore perspectives and enrich his learning.”

White is part of a growing number of parents teaching their young children how to use AI chatbots so they are prepared to deploy the tools responsibly as personal assistants for school, work and daily life when they’re older.

 

Are Entry-Level Jobs Going Away? The Hidden Workforce Shift — from forbes.com by Dr. Diane Hamilton; via Ryan Craig

The problem is that these new roles demand a level of expertise that wasn’t expected from entry-level candidates in the past. Where someone might have previously learned on the job, they are now required to have relevant certifications, AI proficiency, or experience with digital platforms before they even apply.

Some current and emerging job titles that serve as entry points into industries include:

  • Digital marketing associate – This role often involves content creation, social media management, and working with AI-driven analytics tools.
  • Junior AI analyst – Employees in this role assist data science teams by labeling and refining machine learning datasets.
  • Customer success associate – Replacing traditional customer service roles, these professionals help manage AI-enhanced customer support systems.
  • Technical support specialist – While this role still involves troubleshooting software, it now often includes AI-driven diagnostics and automation oversight.
 

2025 Survey of College and University Presidents
Learn about presidents’ takes on topics such as financial confidence, the 2024 election’s impact on higher ed & more.

Inside Higher Ed’s 2025 Survey of College and University Presidents was conducted by Hanover Research. The survey asked presidents from 298 public and private, largely nonprofit two- and four-year institutions timely questions on the following issues:

  • General financial and economic confidence, plus mergers and acquisitions
  • Politics, policy and the 2024 election’s impact on higher education
  • Public perceptions of higher ed and the value of a degree
  • Campus speech
  • Race on campus
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Environmental sustainability goals
  • Campus health and wellness, including student mental health
  • Management, governance and the hardest part about being a president
 

From DSC:
I realize that I lose a lot of readers because I put some scripture from the Bible on this blog and I mention the names of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and our Heavenly Father here as well. I address matters of faith from time to time. So I have hesitated greatly to put anything out here re: politics. I will lose further readership most likely.

But I can no longer be silent on the matter of Donald Trump and the Republican Administration* as a whole. Like many others, I’m very disappointed that our nation elected him — and I think it’s time we Americans took a long, hard look in the mirror on that one.

  • Donald Trump scorns the Constitution and he seeks to destroy our democracy — something many people have given their lives to develop and support. 
  • He orchestrated the January 6, 2021 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol building. His supporters called for the life of the (then-current) Vice President if he didn’t do what they wanted him to do.
  • Speaking of the insurrection…Donald Trump is a convicted felon and would have likely lost several more court cases had he not been able to make a MOCKERY of our judicial system. His money, power, and position were able to postpone many of those court cases. As a relevant aside here, who knows how many people were given access to confidential records of the U.S. (for a price no doubt). He should be in jail right now. You and I would have been thrown in jail a looooong time ago. But Donald Trump laughs at justice — he distorts justice. 
  • He acts like a toddler — at most, a junior high school student.
  • He bullies people and nations.
  • He threatens retribution if someone doesn’t agree with him.
  • He belittles people and nations.
  • He creates massive division, not unity. He reminds me of Adolph Hitler.
  • He is an embarrassment to the United States. He has destroyed so much diplomatic work and goodwill on the global stage. Our allies — or perhaps I should say former allies now — were shocked to recently hear about Donald Trump’s stances on many things.
  • And the tariffs aren’t helpful either. They create barriers and will likely increase prices here in the U.S.
  • I can’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth. For a President of the United States to exhibit this characteristic over and over again, it sets a horrible example for the younger generations to see. It further establishes a culture in America that is NOT the type of culture I want to live in or have my descendants live in. I do not support the type of culture that Donald Trump creates. 

I, for one, apologize to the rest of the world that our nation elected him as President. This was a massive mistake.

So I’m beginning to think that the LORD allowed Donald Trump to become President NOT to make America Great Again (MAGA) — as that whole campaign seems to be a lie too — but rather to HUMBLE America. 

By the way, I don’t think Donald Trump is a Christian — at all. Besides his hatred of the truth as well as the other items listed above…if he were truly a Christian, he would not have balked at the Bishop’s urging him to be compassionate to others (at his Inauguration). He would have listened to her wisdom. Plus, he would have put his hand on the Bible when he took his oaths.

Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 1:19 is highly relevant to the United States right now. And so is 2 Chronicles 7:14:

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
.

* In the past, I have voted for members of the Republican and Democratic Parties — Presidents, VPs,
Governors, Senators, Representatives, and more. But when Karl Rove
& Company started
playing too many games for my taste, I moved towards
voting mostly for Democrats. 

To the Futurist Jack Uldrich:
Thank you for your posting entitled “A Special Edition: Jack Uldrich’s Friday Future 15: Truth, Compassion and Love.” It got me to finally write this posting that I’ve been meaning to write for several weeks now.


 

5 Legal Tech Trends Set to Impact Law Firms in 2025 — from programminginsider.com by Marc Berman

The legal industry is experiencing swift changes, with technology becoming an ever more crucial factor in its evolution. As law firms respond to shifting client demands and regulatory changes, the pace of change is accelerating. Embracing legal tech is no longer just an advantage; it’s a necessity.

According to a Forbes report, 66% of legal leaders acknowledge this trend and intend to boost their investments in legal tech moving forward. From artificial intelligence streamlining workflows to cloud computing enabling globalized legal services, the legal landscape is undergoing a digital revolution.

In this article, we’ll explore five key legal tech trends that will define how law firms operate in 2025.


GenAI, Legal Ops, and The Future of Law Firms: A Wake-Up Call? — from echlawcrossroads.com by Stephen Embry

A new study from the Blickstein Group reveals some distributing trends for law firms that represent businesses, particularly large ones. The Study is entitled  Legal Service Delivery in the Age of AI. The Study was done jointly by FTI Technologies, a consulting group, and Blickstein. It looks at law department legal operations.

The Findings

GenAI Use by Legal Ops Personnel

The responses reflect a bullish view of what GenAI can do in the legal marketplace but also demonstrate GenAi has a ways to go:

  • Almost 80% of the respondents think that GenAI will become an “essential part of the legal profession.
  • 81% believe GenAi will drive improved efficiencies
  • Despite this belief, only some 30% have plans to purchase GenAI tools. For 81%, the primary reason for obtaining and using GenAI tools is the efficiencies these tools bring.
  • 52% say their GenAI strategy is not as sophisticated as they would like or nonexistent.

The biggest barrier to the use of GenAI among the legal ops professions is cost and security concerns and the lack of skilled personnel available to them.


Voting Is Closed, Results Are In: Here are the 15 Legal Tech Startups Selected for the 2025 Startup Alley at ABA TECHSHOW — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

Voting has now closed and your votes have been tallied to pick the 15 legal tech startups that will get to participate as finalists in the ninth-annual Startup Alley at ABA TECHSHOW 2025, taking place April 2-5 in Chicago.

These 15 finalists will face off in an opening-night pitch competition that is the opening event of TECHSHOW, with the conference’s attendees voting at the conclusion of the pitches to pick the top winners.


Balancing innovation and ethics: Applying generative AI in legal work — from legal.thomsonreuters.com

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has brought a new wave of opportunities to the legal profession, opening doors to greater efficiency and innovation. Its rapid development has also raised questions about its integration within the legal industry. As legal professionals are presented with more options for adopting new technologies, they now face the important task of understanding how GenAI can be seamlessly — and ethically — incorporated into their daily operations.


Emerging Trends in Court Reporting for 2025: Legal Technology and Advantages for Law Firms — from jdsupra.com

The court reporting industry is evolving rapidly, propelled by technological advancements and the increasing demand for efficiency in the legal sector. For 2025, trends such as artificial intelligence (AI), real-time transcription technologies, and data-driven tools are reshaping how legal professionals work. Here’s an overview of these emerging trends and five reasons law firms should embrace these advancements.


 
© 2025 | Daniel Christian