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Why law librarians are so important in a data-driven world [Cadmus]

On 03/07/2020, in analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Blockchain, bots, career development, data related items, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, library / librarians, technology (general), trends, UK, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Why law librarians are so important in a data-driven world — from Oxford University Press (blog.oup.com) by Femi Cadmus

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Looking ahead, the integration of technology in the work of law librarians will only increase. Over 90% of government law library employees say that artificial intelligence or machine learning has already affected their workflow by automating routine tasks. Over a quarter of law firms or corporations now have at least one active artificial intelligence initiative. Of those, more than half involve the library. It is therefore not surprising that the skills law library employees plan to develop in the next two years include artificial intelligence or machine learning, data analytics, and blockchain (in that order).

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[In the legal realm] 38 states have adopted the duty of technology competence [Ambrogi]

On 02/28/2020, in Access to Justice (A2J), law schools, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, technology (general), tools, United States, by Daniel Christian

38 states have adopted the duty of technology competence — from lawsitesblog.com by Bob Ambrogi

Excerpt:

In 2012, something happened that I called a sea change in the legal profession: The American Bar Association formally approved a change to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to make clear that lawyers have a duty to be competent not only in the law and its practice, but also in technology.

More specifically, the ABA’s House of Delegates voted to amend Comment 8 to Model Rule 1.1, which pertains to competence, to read as follows:

Maintaining Competence
To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology, engage in continuing study and education and comply with all continuing legal education requirements to which the lawyer is subject. (Emphasis added.)

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“Strategy is about folding the future back – it’s not about pushing the present forward!” [Govindarajan]

On 02/27/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Access to Justice (A2J), Daniel S. Christian, data related items, ideas, innovation, law schools, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, MBA, presentations, society, staying relevant, vision/possibilities, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

“Strategy is about folding the future back – it’s not about pushing the present forward!”

Vijay Govindarajan, keynote speaker
at today’s Law 2030 event;
also see the recording here

Law 2030

You can also find video of Day 1 here and Day 2 here.
The PowerPoint slides from each presenter are available at https://www.law2030.org.

From DSC:
The keynote at this morning’s Law 2030 event was done by Vijay Govindarajan, Coxe Distinguished Professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business. Vijay offered up a great presentation that reminded me to:

  • THINK BIG!
  • Establish a sizable possibility gap!
  • Have unrealistic goals!
  • Don’t limit your future accomplishments with current expectations!
  • Strive to live to your potential!

His keynote made me think of this graphic from a while back:

We need to think big!

Below is one of the slides from his talk:

Also see the Law2030 hashtag over on Twitter.

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5 items re: technology’s further integration into the legal realm

On 02/26/2020, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, change, changing business models, collaboration, communities of practice, computer science, Cost of legal services - including access, Daniel S. Christian, Europe, innovation, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, policy, RSS, social media, society, staying relevant, streams of content, technology (general), United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

The 2020 ABA Techshow

Also see:

EU Proposes Strict Regulations for AI — from futuretech360.com by John K. Waters

Excerpt:

The European Union this week unveiled its first proposed regulations for artificial intelligence (AI) technology, along with a strategy for handling personal digital data. The new regs provide guidance around such AI use cases as autonomous vehicles and biometric IDs.

Published online by the European Commission, the proposed regulations would apply to “high-risk” uses of AI in areas such as health care, transportation and criminal justice. The criteria to determine risk would include such considerations as whether a person might get hurt, say, by a self-driving car or a medical device, and how much influence a human has on an AI’s decision in areas like job recruiting and law enforcement.

 

 From DSC:
Here are two other example of AI’s further integration into the legal realm:

Casetext is Automating Litigation — from businesswire.com
Casetext’s new litigation automation technology, Compose, automates substantive legal work — and a substantial number of billable hours

Excerpt:

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Casetext, the legal technology company known for its groundbreaking A.I. legal research platform, today announces a new product that will define litigation automation: Compose. Compose, which automates the first draft of a legal brief, is poised to disrupt the $437 billion1 legal services industry and fundamentally change our understanding of what types of professional work are uniquely human.


UC Irvine School of Law To Integrate Blue J Legal’s AI-Enabled Tax Platform into Curriculum — from businesswire.com
First of its kind initiative aims to prepare graduate students for careers in tax law where AI will be integral to the decision-making process

The joint effort aims to demonstrate why advanced technological integration in higher education is important and how to leverage it, specifically in tax law.

 

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It is high time to reform the rules that govern the practice of law [Baxter]

On 02/22/2020, in 21st century, Access to Justice (A2J), change, ideas, law schools, leadership, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, society, United States, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

It is high time to reform the rules that govern the practice of law — from legalservicestoday.com by Ralph Baxter

Excerpt:

Current regulations create a closed system
The current regulatory model has created a closed legal services system. It limits who can participate in legal services in two fundamental ways.

First, only those who undergo the time and expense of law school and become licensed as “lawyers” are permitted to deliver legal services. It is a crime for anyone to do work that falls within the deliberately vague definition of “the practice of law” unless they have a lawyer license.

Second, only lawyers are permitted to participate in the financial rewards of a law firm. Investment by others is forbidden, as is sharing profits within a law firm with personnel who are not lawyers.

The consequences of these limitations are clear and profound. The first limitation causes the cost of legal service to be much higher than it otherwise would be; it also causes the law firm workforce to have less diverse backgrounds (as other businesses have) resulting in less creativity and agility.

The second limitation limits the capital law firms can raise, which, in turn, makes it harder for them to invest in new processes and technologies. The most successful firms in this closed system command high enough fees that they can generate their own capital. The majority of firms, however, would benefit from greater access to capital. This is particularly acute for firms which serve individuals and small businesses; in these practices the economic stakes of matters are relatively small, warranting lower fees, making the need for outside capital even greater.

Also see:

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Legal technology, today and tomorrow: Don’t get left behind [Betts]

On 02/21/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, career development, future, game-changing environment, ideas, innovation, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Legal technology, today and tomorrow: Don’t get left behind — from law.com by Jenn Betts
Staying on top of these developments is no longer enough to “future proof” your practice or your firm. It is imperative to look forward to avoid falling behind.

Excerpt:

Among other kinds of disruptive AI-powered tools already on the market are:

  • Artificial intelligence-enabled document review tools and platforms (which make review of discovery materials quicker and cheaper);
  • Artificial intelligence-enabled tools assisting organizations with selecting outside counsel (which promise more data-driven assessments of “fit” between the firm, client and case);
  • Artificial intelligence patent search engines (which make patent searching easier and more accurate); and
  • Artificial intelligence-powered systems delivering early-stage litigation services, such as drafting answers to complaints, discovery requests and responses, and litigation timelines (which decreases client costs and delivers greater efficiencies).

These tools raise interesting (and largely unanswered) practical and ethical issues relating to the scope of the practice of law, AI disclosure obligations to clients, confidentiality issues regarding client data and the necessity of independent judgment by attorneys.

The pace of development of AI and other advanced technologies is moving at an unprecedented pace.

From DSC:
I agree. The pace of change has changed. It’s now an exponential pace of change. This new pace is having an increasing impact on the legal industry.

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ABA passes access to justice measure after opposition fades [Sam Skolnik]

On 02/18/2020, in Access to Justice (A2J), law schools, leadership, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, policy, United States, using teams, by Daniel Christian

ABA passes access to justice measure after opposition fades — from news.bloomberglaw.com by Sam Skolnik

  • New York State Bar Association president lauds “powerfully important moment”
  • Vote followed several days of sometimes tense negotiations

Excerpt:

The American Bar Association passed a resolution encouraging state bars to explore innovative approaches to access to justice by voice vote on Monday, after several days of behind-the-scenes negotiations during which its passage seemed unclear.

Proponents of Resolution 115 prevailed in the House of Delegates vote during the ABA midyear meeting in Austin, Texas, in part because they were willing to adjust the proposal’s language to make it more palatable to detractors who had been concerned about its possible impact on legal industry independence. The House of Delegates is the policy-making arm of the ABA, composed of nearly 600 members, two-thirds of whom represent state, local, and specialty-focused bar groups.

Also see:

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Deloitte Legal to work with academic tech venture group [artificiallawyer.com]

On 02/18/2020, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Blockchain, career development, change, changing business models, emerging technologies, engineering, innovation, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, programming, UK, universities, using teams, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Deloitte Legal to work with academic tech venture group — from artificiallawyer.com

Excerpt:

Deloitte Legal is to collaborate with Conception X, a nine-month programme designed to train PhD students in technology entrepreneurship and to support them in building ventures based on their original research during their degree.

Conception X accepts applications across several research areas including artificial intelligence, machine learning, genetic engineering, blockchain and quantum computing. The first two cohorts, prior to the link-up with Deloitte, have seen the start-ups incorporated by PhD teams collectively raising a total of £5m and generating revenues of £2m.

 

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Online tool will help ‘Spot’ legal issues that people face [pewtrusts.org]

On 02/15/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Access to Justice (A2J), Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Cost of legal services - including access, ideas, innovation, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, society, technology (general), tools, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Online tool will help ‘Spot’ legal issues that people face — from .pewtrusts.org
Artificial intelligence can boost non-lawyers’ ability to navigate civil court system

Excerpt:

People looking for information on legal questions often start their searches online, without a good handle on the terminology. Today’s machine learning tools can help put nonlegal phrasing into context, using artificial intelligence to match people’s situations with specific legal issues, supplying accurate information and connections to potential services.

A team at the Legal Innovation and Technology (LIT) Lab at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, with funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts, is building an application programming interface, or API—known as Spot—that can serve as a computerized issue spotter. Spot could be used by legal services websites and others to help lay users, and its functionality will improve as it accumulates more data and real-life examples.

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What’s so bad about the billable hour? [Cohen]

On 02/15/2020, in ideas, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, workplace, by Daniel Christian

What’s so bad about the billable hour? — from bloomberg.com by Arianne Cohen
John Chisholm says it leads to unethical behavior and runaway costs.

Excerpts:

What would force a change in the model?
The Big Four professional firms [Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young, and KPMG] have exponentially increased their legal services over the last few years. While those firms predominantly billed by the hour, their foray into other services such as consulting means they have experimented with other pricing models. One of the Big Four will change its pricing model before any global law firm, and all will follow.
…
How does someone at a firm start a conversation about billing for deliverables that actually mean something to clients?
Try saying, “Recording time is inaccurate and nontransparent, and no one values it. Our clients value projects completed on time, revenue, and new intellectual property.”

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5 Things General Counsel Want from Law Firms They Are Not Getting [Savarino & others]

On 02/12/2020, in 21st century, career development, change, collaboration, communications, future, innovation, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, society, using teams, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

5 Things General Counsel Want from Law Firms They Are Not Getting — from linkedin.com by Julie Savarino and from “the excellent presentation at #LegalWeek2020 by ALM Media, LLC, Heather D. Nevitt, James Willer, Gina Passarella, Patrick Fuller & team”

(emphasis DSC)

  1. Direct, straightforward & practical legal advice & guidance they can take to their business leadership.
  2. A team of talented, diverse professionals (not just practicing #lawyers) that bring a wide range of solutions & options.
  3. Innovative technology options & support for legal tech & legal ops.
  4. Proactive communications & monitoring of their business, warnings of potential risks & legal issues & how the firm can support.
  5. Scanning the horizon for what’s coming/developing & future issues that the legal department needs to be aware of & ready to support.


From DSC:
#5 reminds me of the following graphic:

 

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BIGLAW 2040: What will happen when Gen Z is in charge? [Rodriguez]

On 02/10/2020, in 21st century, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, change, collaboration, Cost of legal services - including access, data related items, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, innovation, law schools, leadership, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, reinvent, strategy, using teams, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

BIGLAW 2040: What will happen when Gen Z is in charge? — from law360.com by Natalie Rodriguez

Excerpts:

The opportunities that BigLaw has begun offering associates to spend months-long stints working out of international offices will evolve from rare resume brags to almost standard career milestones for those interested in leadership positions.

“If you don’t have global experience, you’re not becoming a CEO anymore, and that’s going to be true of becoming a managing partner. If you want to be a global business, you’re going to have to understand the world,” Wilkins said.

The legal leaders of 2040 will also have to expand their circle — think data technicians, cybersecurity professionals, chief knowledge officers, legal tech and artificial intelligence systems engineers, all of whom are going to play much larger roles in the BigLaw ecosystem in the next few decades.

Addendum on 2/11/20:

The Skills Every Future Lawyer Needs — from law360.com by Erin Coe

Excerpt:

To provide those outcomes and solutions, many lawyers of the future will be responsible for building the systems that replace the old ways of working.

They will become legal knowledge engineers, legal risk managers, legal systems analysts, legal design thinkers and legal technologists, and they will be the ones solving clients’ problems, not through one-on-one advice, but through technology-delivered solutions, according to Susskind.

The challenge for existing lawyers is whether they are prepared over the next 20 years to retrain themselves for these new roles.

 

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American Bar Assn. President criticizes U.S. legal system as backward, resistant to change [Barnes]

On 02/09/2020, in 21st century, Access to Justice (A2J), ideas, innovation, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, policy, political science, society, sociology, technology (general), tools, United States, by Daniel Christian

American Bar Assn. President criticizes U.S. legal system as backward, resistant to change — from forbes.com by Patricia Barnes

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Judy Perry Martinez, president of the American Bar Association (ABA), has issued an unusually frank plea calling upon the legal profession to support reform of America’s backward legal system to better serve the public.

“We need new ideas,” said Martinez. “We are one-fifth into the 21st century, yet we continue to rely on 20th-century processes, procedures and regulations. We need to retain 20th-century values but advance them using 21st-century approaches that can increase access to justice.”

Martinez’ comments are contained in a letter appearing in the February-March 2020 issue of the ABA’s monthly magazine, The ABA Journal.

Martinez expressed frustration with resistance in the legal profession to state-level efforts to innovate in the provision of legal services.

Martinez was particularly critical of the lack of access to civil justice in the United States. She cited the World Justice Project’s ranking of the U.S. in the bottom tier with respect to access to and affordability of civil justice. She said the U.S. is tied for 99th place out of 126 countries. Additionally, Martinez said research by the Legal Services Corp. found that low-income Americans received inadequate or no professional legal help for 86% of their civil legal problems, including child custody, debt collection, eviction and foreclosure. She did not spare the criminal justice system. In many states, Martinez says, “overwhelming caseloads and inadequate resources for public defenders severely hamper the Sixth Amendment right to counsel for indigent criminal defendants.

 

From DSC:
I congratulate Judy Perry Martinez for her stance here, as she’s ultimately fighting for our society — especially for access to justice. Though I don’t know Judy, I appreciate the courage that it must have taken to pen that letter.

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Experts say 23% of lawyers’ work can be automated—law schools are trying to stay ahead of the curve [Hess]

On 02/09/2020, in analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, data related items, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, lifelong learning, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Experts say 23% of lawyers’ work can be automated—law schools are trying to stay ahead of the curve — from cnbc.com by Abigail Hess

Excerpts:

While law school graduates out-earn those with just a high school or bachelor’s degree on average, the legal profession is not immune to the same technological trends that have touched essentially every industry.

Advances in technology such as artificial intelligence allow modern software to scan legal documents, streamline communications and find relevant casework for lawyers. McKinsey estimates that 23% of work done by lawyers can be automated by existing technology.
…
Another way law schools are working to increase their value proposition is by offering more lifelong learning resources.

Greif argues that to a significant extent, law schools have always been centers of lifelong learning, through conferences and collaboration with local bar associations, but says that some schools have been ramping up their offerings.

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How Blockchain’s ‘paradigm shift’ puts more pressure on legal’s tech evolution [Dipshan]

On 02/04/2020, in 21st century, Blockchain, computer science, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, programming, Web3, by Daniel Christian

How Blockchain’s ‘paradigm shift’ puts more pressure on legal’s tech evolution — from law.com by Rhys Dipshan
As part of the Legalweek 2020 Q&A series, Legaltech News speaks with blockchain researcher and entrepreneur Bettina Warburg on blockchain’s potential disruption in the legal space, what attorneys most misunderstand about the technology, and more.

Excerpt:

Artificial intelligence may still take up much of spotlight these days, but it’s far from the only technology that can fundamentally alter how the legal industry, and the broader economy, operates.

Blockchain technology, for instance, has wide-reaching consequences for record keeping, contracting, data governance and identity management. And beyond that, it may even change how the digital economy functions and work as underlying driver for integrated, autonomously running machines. What all this means for attorneys is that specialization, technical skills, and more technology knowledge will likely become even more important than it is today.

We are not just in the days of Bitcoin, where one user transfers bitcoin to another user’s account. Instead, blockchain should be understood as part of an evolution toward a third generation Web (called Web3) that provides us with virtual machines that are stateful.

Web3 will be the basis of our transition from a digital economy to a decentralized economy. The economic opportunities of the decentralized economy can include wholly new business models: everything from fractionalized ownership and rights to assets that are secured digitally, to new kinds of verifiable and unique assets (such as virtual world avatars), to the ability for machines to transact with one another autonomously. A stateful virtual machine essentially allows us to have a shared verified reality upon which to transact digitally.

While it may sound futuristic, it is also the most obvious use for a digital infrastructure that can verify the transaction of value.

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