Tech Survey 2022 — from lawtechnologytoday.org

Excerpt:

The ABA Legal Technology Survey Report is the most comprehensive study available of lawyers’ actual technology use, spanning a vast range of topics from security and basic office software to technology budgets, marketing tools, and much more. The survey has been published annually for more than 20 years. The 2022 edition features five volumes, each with detailed charts, tables, and trends.

TechReport 2022: Technology Budget and Planning — from lawtechnologytoday.org by Taylor Young

Excerpt:

Each year the American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Resource Center surveys ABA members to discover how lawyers are using technology in their practices nationwide. The 2022 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report is published in five volumes:  Online Research, Technology Basics & Security, Law Office Technology, Marketing & Communication Technology, Litigation Technology & E-Discovery. The published results represent one of the most comprehensive technology surveys of lawyers available.

2022 ABA Tech Survey provides information on attorney use of iPhones and iPads — from legaltechmonitor.com by Jeff Richardson

Excerpt:

For over three decades, the ABA has conducted an annual survey of lawyers to find out what legal technology they use.   These results are released every year by the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center.  The 2022 report was just released (edited by Taylor Young, and researched by Taylor Young and Joshua Poje).  There are five volumes, and you can purchase a copy using this page of the ABA website.

I have been looking at these reports every year since 2010 because they have been the best source of statistics on the use of mobile technology by lawyers.  (My reports on the prior ABA surveys are located here: 202120202019201820172016201520142013201220112010.)

AALS Selects 2023 Scholarly Papers Competition Winner — from aals.org

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Washington, DC (November 22, 2022) – The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) has announced the winner of the 2023 AALS Scholarly Papers Competition for law school faculty members in the field for five years or fewer.

The competition’s selection committee recognized the following outstanding paper:

    • Nicole Summers, Associate Professor, Georgetown University Law Center, “Civil Probation.”  

In “Civil Probation,” Summers investigates the outcomes of eviction settlements. Based on her empirical findings, she advances a novel theory of “civil probation” within the eviction legal system. The article will be published in an upcoming issue of Stanford Law Review.

“With eviction complaints comprising nearly a quarter of all civil filings, it’s crucial we develop policies that address the myriad ways tenants are systemically disadvantaged in the cases and ultimately harmed. I am very grateful to my mentors and colleagues for encouraging and supporting me in this project.”
 

 

 

From DSC:
I received an email the other day re: a TytoCare Exam Kit. It said (with some emphasis added by me):

With a TytoCare Exam Kit connected to Spectrum Health’s 24/7 Virtual Urgent Care, you and your family can have peace of mind and a quick, accurate diagnosis and treatment plan whenever you need it without having to leave your home.

Your TytoCare Exam Kit will allow your provider to listen to your lungs, look inside your ears or throat, check your temperature, and more during a virtual visit.

Why TytoCare?

    • Convenience – With a TytoCare Exam Kit and our 24/7/365 On-Demand Virtual Urgent Care there is no drive, no waiting room, no waiting for an appointment.
    • Peace of Mind – Stop debating about whether symptoms are serious enough to do something about them.
    • Savings – Without the cost of gas or taking off work, you get the reliable exams and diagnosis you need. With a Virtual Urgent Care visit you’ll never pay more than $50. That’s cheaper than an in-person urgent care visit, but the same level of care.

From DSC:
It made me reflect on what #telehealth has morphed into these days. Then it made me wonder (again), what #telelegal might become in the next few years…? Hmmm. I hope the legal field can learn from the healthcare industry. It could likely bring more access to justice (#A2J), increased productivity (for several of the parties involved), as well as convenience, peace of mind, and cost savings.


 

 

The Justice Gap: The Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-income Americans — from the Legal Services Corporation

Legal Services Corporation’s 2022 Justice Gap Report provides a comprehensive look at the differences between the civil legal needs of low-income Americans and the resources available to meet those needs. LSC’s study found that low-income Americans do not get the help they need for 92% of their civil legal problems, even though 74% of low-income households face at least one civil legal issue in a single year.

The consequences that result from a lack of appropriate counsel can be life-altering – low-income Americans facing civil legal problems can lose their homes, children and healthcare, among other things. Help can be hard to access, so LSC is working to bridge this “justice gap” by providing pro bono civil legal aid for those in need. Find out more about LSC’s work to ensure equal justice for all by tuning in to the rest of the Justice Gap video series.

For more information on the Justice Gap, visit https://justicegap.lsc.gov/.

Also relevant/see:

.

Legal Services Corporation’s 2022 Justice Gap Report provides a comprehensive look at the differences between the civil legal needs of low-income Americans and the resources available to meet those needs.

 

This Copyright Lawsuit Could Shape the Future of Generative AI — from wired.com by Will Knight
Algorithms that create art, text, and code are spreading fast—but legal challenges could throw a wrench in the works.

Excerpts:

A class-action lawsuit filed in a federal court in California this month takes aim at GitHub Copilot, a powerful tool that automatically writes working code when a programmer starts typing. The coder behind the suit argues that GitHub is infringing copyright because it does not provide attribution when Copilot reproduces open-source code covered by a license requiring it.

Programmers have, of course, always studied, learned from, and copied each other’s code. But not everyone is sure it is fair for AI to do the same, especially if AI can then churn out tons of valuable code itself, without respecting the source material’s license requirements. “As a technologist, I’m a huge fan of AI ,” Butterick says. “I’m looking forward to all the possibilities of these tools. But they have to be fair to everybody.”

Whatever the outcome of the Copilot case, Villa says it could shape the destiny of other areas of generative AI. If the outcome of the Copilot case hinges on how similar AI-generated code is to its training material, there could be implications for systems that reproduce images or music that matches the style of material in their training data. 

Also legal-related, see:


Also related to AI and art/creativity from Wired.com, see:


 

Table of Experts: Trends in Higher Education — from bizjournals.com by Holly Dolezalek. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal held a panel discussion recently about trends in higher education.

Excerpts (which focus on law schools/the legal profession):

Anthony Niedwiecki: The legal profession and legal education are very conservative. Covid showed they can, and we as institutions can, change. At Mitchell Hamline, we were the first law school in the country to offer a partially online JD degree. We’ve had that experience since 2015, which has really helped us through Covid. But I think the biggest thing I’ve learned from our students through this process is the need for flexibility. We thought students would want to go back into the classroom at some point and be around people. No! They voted by the classes they signed up for: They signed up for the classes that were online. Some students want to be on campus, some online. So we’ve had to develop our program around different types of modalities we may not have given any thought to before. The students in the online program range in age all the way up to 73 years old. They’ve been in careers, they’re accountants, they’re doctors, they’re health care professionals, elected officials. The other thing is office hours — students like online office hours because it’s convenient, and they can be in an office where other people are talking and learn from it.

 The lesson I take from that, in some ways, even applying it to the law school, is having that partnership with people who want to hire students to make sure that they’re actually involved with the students. We’re finding they help mentor those students, help us make sure we have the right courses in place, and give them opportunities to do internships and externships. So we’ve been starting to partner with some national professional organizations that are attached to the law.
 

2022 Winners of the LegalTech Breakthrough Awards — from legaltechbreakthrough.com

Categories include:

  • Case Management
  • Client Relations
  • Data & Analytics
  • Documentation
  • Legal Education
  • Practice Management
  • Legal Entity Management
  • Legal Research
  • Online Dispute Resolution
  • Contract Management
  • eDiscovery
  • Marketplaces
  • RegTech
  • Leadership

Also see:

With the cost of international air travel rising sharply, remote hearings are a practical alternative to in-person proceedings. International travel is expensive, and the virtual option means that it is no longer necessary to count travel as a “cost of doing business” when pursuing an international dispute. The widespread use of technology in global dispute resolution proceedings gives attorneys and their clients the option to participate remotely, which is a compelling cost saver for all parties. 

  • Most debt lawsuits get decided without a fight. Michigan leaders want to change the rules. — from mlive.com by Matthew Miller
    Excerpt:
    Most of the 1.9 million debt collection cases filed in Michigan’s district courts over the past decade or so never went to trial. Usually, the defendants don’t show up to court, and debt collectors win by default, according to data compiled by the Michigan Justice for All Commission. In most cases, the courts end up garnishing defendants’ wages, income tax returns or other assets, sometimes on the basis of complaints that include little more than the name of the creditor, an account number and the balance due.

And both debt lawsuits and garnishment are more common for people living in primarily Black neighborhoods, regardless of their income.

Members of the Commission say Michigan’s rules around debt collection lawsuits don’t do enough to protect regular people, who sometimes don’t find out they’ve been sued until they see money coming out of their paychecks.

They say those rules need to change.

An early participant in the Law Society of BC’s Innovation Sandbox, the Clinic offers the in-person and virtual help of 25 articling students located in 15 different BC communities —from Tofino to Cranbrook— with the support of 15 supervising lawyers, four staff and dozens of local mentors. Together, they provide fixed-fee services in a wide range of areas covering everyday legal problems.

 

Yale and Harvard’s Law Schools Are Ditching the ‘U.S. News’ Rankings. Will Others Follow? — from chronicle.com by Francie Diep

Excerpt:

Yale Law School — long ranked No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report — is quitting the magazine’s rankings, it announced Wednesday. Hours after that announcement, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Law School said it would do the same.

“U.S. News stands in the way of progress for legal education and the profession,” said Heather Gerken, Yale Law School’s dean. “It’s made it harder for law schools to admit and support low-income students, and it’s undermining efforts to launch a generation to serve. Now is the time to take a step.”

Also related/see:

Some other legal-related items include:

IAALS Releases New Allied Legal Professionals Landscape Report and Resource Center in an Effort to Increase Legal Options for the Public — iaals.du.edu

Excerpt:

IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver, announced today that it released its new Allied Legal Professionals landscape report, along with an accompanying online Knowledge Center. With generous support from the Sturm Family Foundation, this project seeks to help standardize a new tier of legal professionals nationally, with the goal of increasing the options for accessible and affordable legal help for the public.

“Today, the majority of Americans are faced with a very serious access to justice problem—not only low-income populations, as many people believe. And the pandemic has only made matters worse in recent years,” says Jim Sandman, chair of IAALS’ board of advisors and President Emeritus of the Legal Services Corporation. “For example, studies show that around 40–60% of the middle class have legal needs that remain unmet. Simply put: people want legal help, and they are not getting the help they need.”

Legal Innovators: An Ecosystem of Change Agents! — from artificiallawyer.com

The expanding role of technology in the law firm business model (338) — from legalevolution.org by Kenneth Jones
Legal technology is slowly becoming core to the legal business. It’s time to commit to a cross-functional team approach.

Excerpt:

The premise of this post is that individual capabilities and excellence (either legal or technical) standing alone are not enough to ensure long-term, sustainable success.  No superstar technologist or lawyer is equipped to do it all, as there are too many specialties and functional roles which need to be filled.  Rather, a better approach is to construct team-based, cross-functional units that offer greater operational efficiency while building in layers of redundancy that reduce the potential for surprises, errors, or disruption.  Cf Post 323 (Patrick McKenna’s “rules of engagement” for high-performing legal teams).

 

Californians approve big funding boost for arts education — from apnews.com by Julie Watson; with thanks to Goldie Blumenstyk for this resource

Excerpt:

SAN DIEGO (AP) — California voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure backed by a celebrity lineup that included Barbra Streisand and Los Angeles-born rappers will.i.am and Dr. Dre that could pump as much as $1 billion a year from the state’s general fund into arts education.

Supporters said it would benefit public school programs that go beyond the traditional art, theater, dance and music classes to include graphic design, computer coding, animation, music composition and script writing.

Also from Goldie Blumenstyk:

 

You Don’t Need a Law Degree to Transform Legal Operations — from news.bloomberglaw.com by Memme Onwudiwe and Tom Stephenson

Excerpt:

While the future of legal innovation remains unclear, it is apparent that law schools must evolve to meet students’ technological needs. At the very least, lawyers and legal professionals must have more collaborative conversations on the broader educational need for legal technology.

Legal operations professionals have a unique opportunity to emphasize the importance of designing and implementing a business solution ecosystem to guide greater efficiency and decision-making. If data and trends tell us anything, law firms and corporate law departments must adapt to achieve better business outcomes, while law schools have to change the way they teach in our modern digital economy.

Also relevant/see:

 

Taking stock as the world population hits 8 billion — from mckinsey.com

Excerpt:

November 13, 2022 Projections show the global population will surpass 8 billion people on November 15, and in 2023, India is expected to surpass China to become the world’s most populous nation. It was only 11 years ago that the world reached the last billion; these milestones generate considerations of resource allocation, food security, climate change, and more. Already, one in nine people can’t get enough to eat every day, even while 33 to 40 percent of our food is lost or wasted each year, according to research from senior partners Clarisse Magnin and Björn Timelin. As we continue to grow, how can we support an unprecedented population while raising the quality of life for all? Explore our insights to learn more about how to avoid a food crisis, common misconceptions around global migration, the future of an aging population, and more.

Also see:

EIEIO’s e-newsletter of 11/13/22  where it says:

This week on Tuesday, it’s projected that a baby will be born somewhere on Planet Earth that brings the population to 8 billion people. Notably, the global population reached 7 billion people just eleven years ago. When I was born, in 1962, there was 3 billion people, and the United States had a population of 180 million versus roughly 335 million today.

.

What we know from Nobel Laureate Economist James Heckman out of the University of Chicago is that $1 invested in early childhood education produces a $7 return in economic gain. Moreover, while investment in education produces a compelling return at all stages, the earlier you invest in education, the higher the return.

 

The Law Of The Metaverse — from forbes.com by Charles Lew

Excerpts:

As the metaverse becomes a fully realized, interoperable and persistent platform, the need for a codified and clearly defined system of applicable laws will be tremendous.

The applicability and sufficiency of existing intellectual property laws are being tested as we speak in the metaverse. Heavyweight companies such as Walmart, Hermès, Nike and Roblox are all actively seeking judicial determinations as to their respective trademark rights in the metaverse.

Also relevant/see:

Virtual rights for virtual goods? — from lexology.com

Excerpt:

Why does this matter to you?
If you buy a music album and receive a digital file, is this a purchase of digital goods? What if you listen to the same album on a streaming service? If you buy virtual sneakers for your metaverse avatar, is this a purchase of digital goods or just a part of the service provided by the metaverse operator? As purchasing habits increasingly move online or into the digital space, and especially with the rise in popularity of “metaverses”, the need for clarity and regulation in this area will become more and more apparent.

Brick by Brick: Understanding IP Rights in Metaverse Buildings — from mayerbrown.com

Building a virtual world often involves just that—buildings. But developers of metaverse properties may not know which legal rights are at issue. Can a virtual world incorporate a rendition of a real-life building without infringing on the rights of real-life property owners? Does the architect, owner, or user of a brick-and-mortar building have any rights to assert against a twin building in the metaverse? How does the developer of a virtual building take the building from one virtual world to another?

The answer depends on—and may vary based on—who is asserting the rights, whether copyrights or trademarks are at issue, and whether any of these rights have been assigned to another party.

These questions all remain unsettled in the context of the metaverse, so developers should proceed with caution until courts put their own stake in the ground on these issues.


Also relevant/see:


 

The Digital Divide 2.0: Navigating Digital Equity and Health Equity in Education — from edsurge.com by Mordecai I. Brownlee

Excerpt:

Luckily, we don’t have to do this work alone. Mainstream awareness of the access gap is growing, which has encouraged corporations like AT&T and Comcast and organizations like United Way to respond by creating employee and community campaigns to bring forth solutions.

Such awareness has also inspired a surge in federal, state and local governments discussing solutions and infrastructure upgrades. For example, nationally, the Affordable Connectivity Program is an FCC benefit program aimed at providing affordable broadband access for work, school, health care and more. It is important to note that participants must meet the Federal Poverty Guidelines eligibility standards to receive such benefits.

Also relevant/see:

Can Colleges Reach Beyond Campus to Foster ‘Digital Equity’ in Communities? — from edsurge.com by Rebecca Koenig

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

So his organization is working with the city of Orangeburg and Claflin University to extend the university’s broadband out into the surrounding community at affordable rates. And because research from McKinsey suggests that more than 80 percent of HBCUs are located in “broadband deserts,” it’s a strategy that may work elsewhere in the country, too.

“That makes HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions, and universities more broadly, really interesting and powerful partners in bridging the digital divide,” Ben-Avie said.

 

Virtual or in-person: The next generation of trial lawyers must be prepared for anything — from reuters.com by Stratton Horres and Karen L. Bashor

A view of the jury box (front), where jurors would sit in and look towards the judge's chair (C), the witness stand (R) and stenographer's desk (L) in court room 422 of the New York Supreme Court

Excerpt:

In this article, we will examine several key ways in which COVID-19 has changed trial proceedings, strategy and preparation and how mentoring programs can make a difference.

COVID-19 has shaken up the jury trial experience for both new and experienced attorneys. For those whose only trials have been conducted during COVID-19 restrictions and for everyone easing back into the in-person trials, these are key elements to keep in mind practicing forward. Firm mentoring programs should be considered to prepare the future generation of trial lawyers for both live and virtual trials.

From DSC:
I think law firms will need to expand the number of disciplines coming to their strategic tables. That is, as more disciplines are required to successfully practice law in the 21st century, more folks with technical backgrounds and/or abilities will be needed. Web front and back end developers, User Experience Designers, Instructional Designers, Audio/Visual Specialists, and others come to my mind. Such people can help develop the necessary spaces, skills, training, and mentoring programs mentioned in this article. As within our learning ecosystems, the efficient and powerful use of teams of specialists will deliver the best products and services.

 

From DSC:
I virtually attended the Law 2030 Conference (Nov 3-4, 2022). Jennifer Leonard and staff from the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School put together a super conference! It highlighted the need for change within the legal industry. A major shout out to Jennifer Leonard, Theodore Ruger (Law School Dean), and others!

I really appreciate Jen’s vision here, because she recognizes that the legal industry needs to involve more disciplines, more specialists, and others who don’t have a JD Degree and/or who haven’t passed the Bar. On Day 1 of the conference (in the afternoon), Jen enlisted the help of several others to use Design Thinking to start to get at possible solutions to our entrenched issues.

America, our legal system is being tightly controlled and protected — by lawyers. They are out to protect their turf — no matter the ramifications/consequences of doing so. This is a bad move on many lawyers part. It’s a bad move on many Bar Associations part. Lawyers already have some major PR work to do — but when America finds out what they’ve been doing, their PR problems are going to be that much larger. I’d recommend that they change their ways and really start innovating to address the major access to justice issues that we have in the United States.

One of the highlights for me was listening to the powerful, well-thought-out presentation from Michigan’s Chief Justice Bridget McCormack — it was one of the best I’ve ever heard at a conference! She mentioned the various stakeholders that need to come to the table — which includes law schools/legal education. I also appreciated Jordan Furlong’s efforts to deliver a 15-minute presentation (virtual), which it sounded like he worked on most of the night when he found out he couldn’t be there in person! He nicely outlined the experimentation that’s going on in Canada.

Here’s the recording from Day 1:

 


Jeff Selingo’s comments this week reminded me that those of us who have worked in higher education for much of our careers also have a lot of work to do as well.


 

Addendum on 11/8/22:

 


 

“Unleash all this creativity”: Google AI’s breathtaking potential — from axios.com by Jennifer Kingson

Excerpt:

Google’s research arm on Wednesday showed off a whiz-bang assortment of artificial intelligence (AI) projects it’s incubating, aimed at everything from mitigating climate change to helping novelists craft prose.

Why it matters: AI has breathtaking potential to improve and enrich our lives — and comes with hugely worrisome risks of misuse, intrusion and malfeasance, if not developed and deployed responsibly.

Driving the news: The dozen-or-so AI projects that Google Research unfurled at a Manhattan media event are in various stages of development, with goals ranging from societal improvement (such as better health diagnoses) to pure creativity and fun (text-to-image generation that can help you build a 3D image of a skirt-clad monster made of marzipan).

The “1,000 Languages Initiative”: Google is building an AI model that will work with the world’s 1,000 most-spoken languages.

  • AI “can have immense social benefits” and “unleash all this creativity,” said Marian Croak, head of Google Research’s center of expertise on responsible AI.
  • “But because it has such a broad impact on people, the risk involved can also be very huge. And if we don’t get that right … it can be very destructive.”

    And as Axios’ Scott Rosenberg has written, society is only just beginning to grapple with the legal and ethical questions raised by AI’s new capacity to generate text and images.
 
© 2024 | Daniel Christian