The Artificial Lawyer Guide to Legal Tech – Autumn 2022 — from artificiallawyer.com
Excerpt:
It’s been a wild ride the last couple of years, but what should we be looking out for as we move into the Autumn of 2022? Here are some thoughts from Artificial Lawyer.
Mixed reactions as ABA considers tossing LSAT mandate — from highereddive.com by Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
Comments are pouring in from law professors, students and test prep companies as the association ponders chucking the exam requirement.
Excerpt:
The American Bar Association’s proposal to remove requirements that applicants submit entrance exam scores — notably the Law School Admission Test — has so far drawn a mixed reaction from legal professionals and academics.
Pro Bono Net Launches Redesigned LawHelp.org — from connectingjusticecommunities.com by Jessica Darling
Excerpt:
Pro Bono Net is pleased to announce the launch of the redesigned and expanded LawHelp.org, the national gateway to nonprofit legal aid resources and referrals in the U.S. This inviting and inclusive redesign allows users to more easily find and access help for fundamental legal needs.
LawHelp.org was created to help people without lawyers understand their rights, make informed decisions, and connect to help in their local community. This national platform provides referrals to trusted civil legal aid resources in every U.S. state and territory, including a network of 20 statewide legal information portals developed using the LawHelp platform.
Fantastic podcasts in this list and in the replies. Grateful that @mch_tweets included #HowILawyer. Love being a part of this learning/sharing/storytelling ecosystem! https://t.co/6GHTbLL0Sg
— Jonah Perlin (@JonahPerlin) August 17, 2022
I would highly recommend reading “Assessing America’s Access to Civil Justice Crisis” by R. Sandefur and J. Teufel to understand the data and varied responses to this question: https://t.co/AOcRl2LGrC
— Matthew Burnett (he, him) (@mjburnett) August 26, 2022
#ILTACON22 Day One Roundup: News from DISCO, Docket Alarm, LexFusion, Relativity and Reveal — from legaltechmonitor.com by Bob Ambrogi
Excerpt:
[8/22/22] kicks off the first full day of ILTACON22, the annual conference of the International Legal Technology Association. Already, the day has brought a slew of news announcements from legal technology companies.
Here is a roundup of news announced this morning.
ABA’s Profile of the Legal Profession for 2022 — from americanbar.org
Here’s What the Legal Profession Looks Like in 2022 — from legaltechmonitor.com by Laura Bagby
Excerpt:
White, male attorneys continue to make up the majority of lawyers in the U.S., according to the ABA’s Profile of the Legal Profession, an annual report on diversity in the legal profession that was released last month.
However, the number of female attorneys and those from underrepresented ethnic and racial communities is growing, especially among law students and associates.
California Takes Up Law Firm Ownership Fight After ABA Sidesteps — from news.bloomberglaw.com by Sam Skolnik
Excerpt:
The fight to overhaul law firm ownership limits is moving to California after the American Bar Association sided against major changes.
State lawmakers are set to vote before the end of the month on legislation that would allow the California bar to test new legal service models to make them more affordable. An amended version of the bill would still prevent non-lawyer companies from co-owning firms, however, and ban the sharing of legal fees with non-lawyers.
Founded Just Eight Months Ago, Redgrave Data Reports ‘Enormous’ Growth in its E-Discovery and Data Services Company — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi
Excerpt:
Now, eight months after its launch, Redgrave Data is reporting that it has seen enormous growth, bringing on multiple anchor clients that include some of the world’s largest tech companies — although it is not naming names — and says it plans to establish a “significant presence” in Germany by the end of the year to serve clients there and globally.
Increasing Access to Justice — from law.upenn.edu
Excerpt:
By his second year of law school, Willis had created the idea for the Fellowship and, with the support of several key partners, was able to launch the program and begin to pursue the mission of connecting people dedicated to using innovative ideas to expand access to the justice system.
To ensure that the program remained truly inclusive and diverse, Willis has prioritized building relationships with law student affinity groups at different schools across the country. Having personally served on the board for the National Black Law Students Association, Willis knows the value of those personal connections and prioritizes promoting equity within the access to justice technology space.
“The goal really is to try to build community around this group of innovators who will address these structural issues within our legal system to really improve services for the most vulnerable populations and communities,” Willis said. “There’s always more work to be done, but I’m really proud of the changemakers who have come through the program and who are really making a name for themselves and working on important impact work.”
Also relevant/see:
As States Toy With Reform, Legal Tech Cos. Fill Justice Gap — from law360.com by Sarah Martinson; with thanks to Penn Law Future of the Profession Initiative
Excerpt:
More than 100 legal technology companies have formed in the last 10 years to provide legal assistance to millions of Americans who can’t afford an attorney, helping to bridge a gap in access to justice, while less than a handful of states have taken action to expand the practice of law.
According to the Legal Services Corporation’s 2022 Justice Gap Study, low-income Americans do not get adequate legal help for 92% of their substantial civil legal problems and the cost of legal assistance is a barrier.
America’s Lawyerless Courts — from americanbar.org by Anna E. Carpenter, Colleen F. Shanahan, Jessica K. Steinberg, and Alyx Mark
Excerpt:
Our research reveals an unavoidable truth: The civil justice system is broken in state civil courts. There is a massive disconnect between what courts were designed to do—solve legal disputes through lawyer-driven, adversarial litigation—and what these courts are asked to do today—help people without lawyers navigate complex social, economic and interpersonal challenges, most of which are deeply tied to structural inequality. As one judge we observed told a courtroom full of litigants, “This courtroom is like the emergency room.”
Five key findings from our work highlight the scope and nature of the crisis: State civil courts are primarily lawyerless, traditional adversary litigation has largely disappeared, the judicial role is not working, the law is not developing, and people’s court experiences amplify inequality and human suffering.
How will the Metaverse Influence Business and Legal Processes? — from jdsupra.com
Excerpt:
While some will be hesitant to use the metaverse and adoption is difficult to predict, it is not going away and will undoubtedly affect internal processes, business dealings, case strategy, and more. Organizations should start thinking about the possibilities now to be better prepared for future challenges. Below are some predictions on how the metaverse will influence operations, strategy, and investments across different areas of the enterprise.
Lawyers & the Metaverse — from joetechnologist.com by Elizabeth Beattie and Joseph Raczynski
Excerpt:
In a new Q&A interview, Thomson Reuters’ technologist and futurist Joseph Raczynski offers his insight about the Metaverse and how it will impact the legal industry.
I have likely spoken to thousands of lawyers over the last several years. They are extraordinarily bright, but with one limiting factor — their dedication to their craft. This means that they do not have the time to lift their heads to see what is coming. All these emerging technologies will impact their practices in some way, as well as the business of law. At a minimum, lawyers need the opportunity to focus on the big four: AI, blockchain, workflow, and the grab bag of general emerging technology. There are a multitude of places to learn about these things, but I would include some of the classics such as Google Alerts, Twitter threads on these topics, and magazines like Wired, which should be a staple for everyone.
These legal issues should be on college business officers’ radars — from highereddive.com by Rick Seltzer
A panel at the National Association of College and University Business Officers’ annual meeting covered legal questions spanning many offices on campus.
Let’s not presume that virtual hearings are the best solution in family law — from canadianlawyermag.com by John Silvester
Excerpts:
Proponents argue that virtual hearings are less expensive for clients, leading to enhanced access to justice for those who cannot afford to pay for their lawyers to travel to a courthouse and then sit and wait for hearings to commence. Sounds reasonable, right?
Not so fast.
…
Virtual hearings are advantageous in some scenarios, but there are at least three reasons why moving to an almost entirely virtual legal world may prove problematic.
LawNext Podcast: CALI Executive Director John Mayer on Using Tech to Advance Legal Education and Access to Justice — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi and John Mayer
Excerpt:
In this episode of LawNext, Mayer joins host Bob Ambrogi to discuss the history and mission of CALI and to share his thoughts on the use of technology to enhance legal education. They also talk about how and why A2J Author was developed and how it is used by courts and legal services organizations to help those who are without legal representation. Mayer also shares his thoughts on the future of innovation in law and on the future of CALI.
Louisiana Approves Virtual Custody Services and Proposes Virtual Currency Business Licensing Rules — from natlawreview.com by Moorari Shah and A.J. S. Dhaliwal
Excerpt:
Recently, the Louisiana lawmakers and regulators have taken steps to legalize operations in the state involving virtual currencies. On June 15, the Louisiana governor signed a bill that, effective August 1, 2022, will allow financial institutions and trust companies to provide virtual currency custody services to their customers as long as they satisfy certain requirements on risk-management and compliance. On June 20, the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions (OFI) published proposed rules on licensing and regulation of virtual currency businesses in the state pursuant to the Louisiana Virtual Currency Business Act, which went into effect on August 1, 2020.
From DSC:
Given:
…I think we’ve run out of time to effectively practice law in the U.S. — at least in terms of dealing with emerging technologies. Consider the following items/reflections.
Inside one of the nation’s few hybrid J.D. programs — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
Shannon Gardner, Syracuse law school’s associate dean for online education, talks about the program’s inaugural graduates and how it has evolved.
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
In May, Syracuse University’s law school graduated its first class of students earning a Juris Doctor degree through a hybrid program, called JDinteractive, or JDi. The 45 class members were part of almost 200 Syracuse students who received a J.D. this year, according to a university announcement.
The private nonprofit, located in upstate New York, won approval from the American Bar Association in 2018 to offer the three-year hybrid program.
The ABA strictly limits distance education, requiring a waiver for colleges that wish to offer more than one-third of their credits online. To date, the ABA has only approved distance education J.D. programs at about a dozen schools, including Syracuse.
Many folks realize this is the future of legal education — not that it will replace traditional programs. It is one route to pursue a legal education that is here to stay. I did not see it as pressure, and I think, by all accounts, we have definitely proven that it is and can be a success.
Shannon Gardner, associate dean for online education
From DSC:
It was March 2018. I just started working as a Director of Instructional Services at a law school. I had been involved with online-based learning since 2001.
I was absolutely shocked at how far behind law schools were in terms of offering 100% online-based programs. I was dismayed to find out that 20+ years after such undergraduate programs were made available — and whose effectiveness had been proven time and again — that there were no 100%-online based Juris Doctor (JD) programs in the U.S. (The JD degree is what you have to have to practice law in the U.S. Some folks go on to take further courses after obtaining that degree — that’s when Masters of Law programs like LLM programs kick in.)
Why was this I asked? Much of the answer lies with the extremely tight control that is exercised by the American Bar Association (ABA). They essentially lay down the rules for how much of a law student’s training can be online (normally not more than a third of one’s credit hours, by the way).
Did I say it’s 2022? And let me say the name of that organization again — the American Bar Association (ABA).
Not to scare you (too much), but this is the organization that is supposed to be in charge of developing lawyers who are already having to deal with issues and legal concerns arising from the following technologies:
I don’t think there’s enough time for the ABA — and then law schools — to reinvent themselves. We no longer have that luxury. (And most existing/practicing lawyers don’t have the time to get up the steep learning curves involved here — in addition to their current responsibilities.)
The other option is to use teams of specialists, That’s our best hope. If the use of what’s called nonlawyers* doesn’t increase greatly, the U.S. has little hope of dealing with legal matters that are already arising from such emerging technologies.
So let’s hope the legal field catches up with the pace of change that’s been accelerating for years now. If not, we’re in trouble.
* Nonlawyers — not a very complimentary term…
I hope they come up with something else.
Some use the term Paralegals.
I’m sure there are other terms as well.
From DSC:
There is hope though. As Gabe Teninbaum just posted the resource below (out on Twitter). I just think the lack of responsiveness from the ABA has caught up with us. We’ve run out of time for doing “business as usual.”
Law students want more distance education classes, according to ABA findings — from abajournal.com by Stephanie Francis Ward
Excerpt:
A recent survey of 1,394 students in their third year of law school found that 68.65% wanted the ability to earn more distance education credits than what their schools offered.
Trends in State Courts — from ncsc.org
Excerpt:
Trends in State Courts is an annual, peer-reviewed publication that highlights innovative practices in critical areas that are of interest to courts, and often serves as a guide for developing new initiatives and programs and informing and supporting policy decisions. Trends in State Courts is the only publication of its kind and enjoys a wide circulation among the state court community.
Trends in State Courts 2022
External events continue to drive change and innovation in the courts. The 2022 edition of Trends in State Courts highlights post-pandemic eviction courts and eliminating racism and bias in the courts.
Also from ncsc.org:
The key role of non-lawyer practitioners — by Dimarie Alicea-Lozada
Excerpt:
Over the last 20 years, a variety of different states have developed efforts to try to provide for non-lawyer practitioners with varying degrees of success. The intention was simple: provide affordable legal services to those who cannot afford an attorney but need help. With 1 out of 10 people in the United States involved in newly filed cases each year and 3 out of 5 in civil cases not having a lawyer, state courts have been trying to help people who otherwise will not be able to afford access legal representation. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, several states have made changes in this area.
Oregon gets it done! ?
Non-lawyer licensing movement gains steam with Oregon approval https://t.co/tXrJasoR41 #legalinnovation
— Natalie Anne Knowlton (@natalalleycat) July 20, 2022
Criminal Justice Algorithm Predicts Risk of Biased Sentencing — from courttechbulletin.blogspot.com
Excerpt:
A new algorithm aims to assess the likelihood of defendants being treated unfairly in court.
The tool considers details that ought to be immaterial to the ruling — such as the judge’s and defendant’s gender and race — and then predicts how likely the judge is to award an unusually long sentence. This can suggest when socio-demographic details may be swaying judgments, resulting in especially punitive treatments.
If I were you I’d be following what @LXStudio_Legal is up to. Knowing the smart folks involved, the initiatives to come are likely to be exciting and much needed for the legal ecosystem. #legaltech #business
— Colin S. Levy (@Clevy_Law) July 16, 2022
Also relevant/see:
What is Norton Rose Fulbright’s LX Studio? — from artificiallawyer.com
Excerpts:
‘From tiny acorns, mighty oak trees grow’ so the saying goes, and it’s fair to say that US-based LX Studio, the new innovation project of global firm Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF), is very much still an acorn – but it has plenty of potential.
Artificial Lawyer spoke to Jeff Cody, Managing Partner for the US side of 3,700-lawyer NRF, which was formed by the merger of the UK’s Norton Rose and America’s Fulbright & Jaworski in 2013, to find out some more.
But, with a more optimistic outlook one might say that this is a beginning; and that although the US is home to many pioneering legal tech companies and ALSPs, the reality is that few law firms in the US have dedicated innovation groups which mirror the full range of what NRF has in the UK, for example.
If you are a lawyer or law prof, you should read this piece about lawyered vs. lawyerless civil procedure + courts. @shanahanlawprof and @PamelaBookman, kudos to you for this piece and the underlying article! https://t.co/zHSjdIChTf
— Anna Enisa Carpenter (@ACarpenterProf) July 11, 2022
5 reasons why legal tech matters — from lawyer-monthly.com by Colin Bohanna
Excerpt:
5. Technology can improve access to justice
Using technology can help to increase access to justice in a number of ways. The increased adoption of videoconferencing technology seen during the pandemic has had a positive impact on those who have traditionally struggled to access legal services. That includes those living in rural areas, who may not live in proximity to a lawyer qualified to deal with their specific matter; those working in precarious situations that may not enable them to travel to meet a lawyer or who may have family- or elder-care responsibilities; and people with disabilities who may have mobility issues that make travel difficult.
Tech can also play an essential role in the support of legal aid. We know there’s a perception that the level of paperwork, admin, and invoicing requirements means the burden of conducting legal aid is high. As Clio is committed to transforming the legal industry, we offer a legal aid solution as part of our practice management software at no extra cost in order to increase access to justice, for all. It helps to cut legal aid processes drastically so that legal aid providers can focus on their client work and make legal aid work more financially viable.
Also relevant/see:
Top 10 Legal Operations Trends in 2022. — from jdsupra.com
Key legal operations trends for 2022
1. Growing legal operations teams
2. Formalizing the legal operations function
3. Implementing a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) program
4. Finding new ways to improve processes
5. Insourcing more work
6. Strengthening vendor management
7. Expanding the use of data analytics tools
8. Increasing technology investments
9. Strengthening the law department’s technology acumen
10. Improving data security
