legislatures / government / legal

What to Know About the New Rules on Pell Grants for Prison Education [Mangan]

On 10/29/2022, in adult learning, career development, education, funding / grants, legislatures / government / legal, policy, society, sociology, United States, by Daniel Christian

What to Know About the New Rules on Pell Grants for Prison Education — from chronicle.com by Katherine Mangan

Excerpt:

The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday released final regulations that spell out how colleges can lay the groundwork for enrolling some of the more than 700,000 incarcerated people who are expected to become eligible next summer to apply for Pell Grants to pay for college.
…
The new prison-education initiative, which will take effect in July, will eventually replace the Second-Chance Pell Program, a pilot that began in 2015 under the Obama administration. Since then, it has grown to allow around 200 colleges to offer prison-education programs that are supported by Pell Grants, currently worth up to around $7,000 per year.

The Future Today Institute’s 15th Anniversary Tech Trends Report

Excerpt:

Future Today Institute’s 2022 Tech and Science Trends Report is now available. Downloaded more than 1 million times each year, FTI’s annual Tech Trends Report is a must-read for every industry. Learn the key trends impacting finance, insurance, transportation, healthcare, sports, logistics, telecom, work, government and policy, security, privacy, education, agriculture, entertainment, music, CPG, hospitality and dining, ESGs, climate, space and more. Discover critical insights. See what strategic action you can take on the futures, today.

How lawyers can unlock the potential of the metaverse — from abajournal.com by Victor Li

Excerpt:

One such firm is Grungo Colarulo, a personal injury law firm with offices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Last December, the firm announced that it had set up shop in the virtual world known as Decentraland.

Users can enter the firm’s virtual office, where they can interact with the firm’s avatar. They can talk to the avatar to see whether they might need legal representation and then take down a phone number to call the firm in the physical world. If they’re already clients, they can arrive for meetings or consultations.

Richard Grungo Jr., co-founder and name partner at Grungo Colarulo, told the ABA Journal in December 2021 that he could see the potential of the metaverse to allow his firm to host webinars, CLEs and other virtual educational opportunities, as well as hosting charity events.

Grungo joined the ABA Journal’s Victor Li to talk about how lawyers can use the metaverse to market themselves, as well as legal issues relating to the technology that all users should be aware of.

From DSC:
I post this to put this on the radars of legal folks out there. Law schools should join the legaltech folks in pulse-checking and covering/addressing emerging technologies. What the Metaverse and Web3 become is too early to tell. My guess is that we’ll see a lot more blending of the real world with the digital world — especially via Augmented Reality (AR).

We need to constantly be pulse-checking the landscapes out there and developing scenarios and solutions to such trends

7 Technologies that are Changing Healthcare — from digitalsalutem.com by João Bocas

In this article we are going to talk about the seven technologies that are changing healthcare:

Artificial Intelligence
Blockchain
Virtual Reality
Robots
Mapping technologies
Big Data
Neurotechnology

This startup 3D prints tiny homes from recyclable plastics — from interestingengineering.com by Nergis Firtina; with thanks to Laura Goodrich for this resource

Satellite Billboards Are a Dystopian Future We Don’t Need — from gizmodo.com by George Dvorsky; with thanks to Laura Goodrich for this resource
Brightly lit ads in orbit are technologically and economically viable, say Russian scientists. But can we not?

South Korea to Provide Blockchain-based Digital Identities to Citizens by 2024 — from blockchain.news by Annie Li; with thanks to Laura Goodrich for this resource

Excerpt:

South Korea plans to provide digital identities encrypted by blockchain with smartphones to citizens in 2024 to facilitate its economic development., Bloomberg reported Monday.

The South Korean government stated that with the expansion of the digital economy, the ID embedded in the smartphone is an indispensable emerging technology to support the development of data.

From DSC:
Interesting to see blockchain show up in the first item above on healthcare and also on this item coming out of South Korea for digital identities.

The Bruce Willis Deepfake Is Everyone’s Problem — from wired.com by Will Bedingfield; with thanks to Stephen Downes for this resource
There’s a fight brewing over how Hollywood stars can protect their identities. But it’s not just actors who should be paying attention.

Excerpts:

Yet the question of “who owns Bruce Willis,” as Levy put it, isn’t only a concern for the Hollywood star and his representatives. It concerns actors unions across the world, fighting against contracts that exploit their members’ naivety about AI. And, for some experts, it’s a question that implicates everyone, portending a wilder, dystopian future—one in which identities are bought, sold, and seized.

“This is relevant not just to AI contracts [for synthetic performances], but any contract involving rights to one’s likeness and voice,” says Danielle S. Van Lier, assistant general counsel, intellectual property and contracts at SAG-AFTRA. “We have been seeing contracts that now include ‘simulation rights’ to performers’ images, voices, and performances. These contract terms are buried deep in the boilerplate of performance agreements in traditional media.”

Addendum on 10/26/22:

Blockchain and the Future of Medical Technology: Trends in Medicine — from intelligenthq.com

Returning Joy to Teaching & Learning — from gettingsmart.com by Trace Pickering

Key Points

Too many school-based reform efforts continue to have educators implicitly standing with the standards against the students.
Pivot your perspective for a moment to the opposite.
What does a school where its educators stand with the students against the standards look like?

From DSC:
My hunch is that we need to cut — or significantly weaken the ties — between the state legislative bodies out there and our public school systems. We shouldn’t let people who know little to nothing about teaching and learning make decisions about how and what to teach students. Let those on the front lines — ie., the teachers and local school system leaders/staff — collaborate with the community on those items.

The Technology That Is Revolutionising How Business Gets Done [artificiallawyer.com]

On 10/19/2022, in Access to Justice (A2J), Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, future, game-changing environment, innovation, law schools, Legal operations, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, UK, by Daniel Christian

The Technology That Is Revolutionising How Business Gets Done — from artificiallawyer.com

Excerpt:

We are on the cusp of a revolution. Contract negotiation, with all the associated document redlines and email threads, is about to get a whole lot quicker. Today, artificial intelligence has the potential to save lawyers hours of intense editing – but only if they embrace the sector-wide behaviour change this could ignite.
…
Technology has reached the point that much of the initial legwork of perusing a contract can be done by a piece of software. Precision AI can scan a document and create a list of issues based on how a lawyer typically contracts. It is then up to the lawyer to accept or disregard those issues, but the point is that the initial editing time is greatly reduced.

For law school students: “What Kind of Law Do You Want to Practice?” [Dr. Marie-Amélie George]

On 10/19/2022, in career development, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, by Daniel Christian

Law students: Uncertain what kind of lawyer you want to be?

Law profs: Unsure how to advise them?

For the past 12 months, I've been leading the redesign of a website to help (https://t.co/qZqFM6mvVS).

It's geared to @WFULawSchool students, but the content applies widely.

?

— Dr. Marie-Amélie George (@ProfMAGeorge) October 18, 2022

World’s fastest internet network upgraded to 46 Terabit/s [inavateonthenet.net]

On 10/18/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, internet, IT in HE, legislatures / government / legal, telecommunications, by Daniel Christian

World’s fastest internet network upgraded to 46 Terabit/s — from inavateonthenet.net

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The Energy Sciences Network (Esnet), the fastest internet network in the US, has been upgraded to ESnet6, and now offers a bandwidth of 46 Terabits per second (Tbps).
…
To put this in to context, the average speed enjoyed by consumers at home is 100 or 200 Megabits per second (Mbps), ESnet6 is equivalent to 46 million Mbps.

This is another area where the incredibly slow pace of the American legal system is having a negative effect [Christian]

On 10/18/2022, in 21st century, art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, copyright/ownership/NFTs, Daniel S. Christian, innovation, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, pace of change, society, United States, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
This is another area where the slow pace of the American legal system is having a negative effect. The American Bar Association and the majority of the law school graduates (i.e., those who passed the Bar and have been practicing law in one form or another) for the last 30 years have a lot to do with this situation. They have stimied innovation and have protected their turf — at the increasing expense of the American people.

Online learning has been going on since the late 1990’s, yet the ABA STILL doesn’t let law schools have 100% online-based learning without their special consent.

Artists say AI image generators are copying their style to make thousands of new images — and it’s completely out of their control — from businessinsider.com by Beatrice Nolan

Excerpt:

OpenAI, a company founded by Elon Musk, just made its DALL-E image generator open to the public.
Artists say they work for years on their portfolios and people can now make copycat images in seconds.
But some AI companies argue that the new artworks are unique and can be copyrighted.

People are creating thousands of artworks that look like his using programs called AI-image generators, which use artificial intelligence to create original artwork in minutes or even seconds after a user types in a few words as directions.

Rutkowski’s name has been used to generate around 93,000 AI images on one image generator, Stable Diffusion — making him a far more popular search term than Picasso, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Vincent van Gogh in the program.

Several items from the Clio Cloud Conference plus other legal innovation/future-related items

On 10/16/2022, in Access to Justice (A2J), blogs / blogging / vlogging, future, innovation, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, marketing/social marketing, podcasting, strategy, telelegal, trends, United States, vendors, Virtual courts and law firms, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Many of the items below are from Laurence Colletti’s posting, Clio Cloud Conference – The Big Return

Clio Cloud 2022: Innovation in the Courts with Judge Schlegel — from legaltalknetwork.com by Laurence Colletti and Judge Scott Schlegel

Episode notes:

The pandemic was a driver for change in justice systems around the globe, but one court’s innovative and inexpensive approach is worth a closer look. Judge Scott Schlegel manages what may be one of the most advanced courts in the United States for delivering justice online. Tune in for his tips on how any jurisdiction in the country can modernize its justice system for under a thousand dollars. Go to https://www.onlinejudge.us/ for all of Judge Schlegel’s recommendations.

Clio Cloud 2022: The Benefits of a Legal Blog — from legaltalknetwork.com by Laurence Colletti and Teresa Matich, Kevin O’Keefe, and Iffy Ibekwe
Legal blog posts are great tools for building relationships with potential clients because they build trust, credibility, and allow you to create a personal connection with your clients.

LawNext Podcast: What Is Justice Tech? A Conversation with Maya Markovich — from lawnext.com by

Excerpt:

An increasing number of startups are defining themselves not as legal tech, but as justice tech. So what, exactly, is justice tech, who are some of the companies that represent it, and what is the business opportunity they present for potential investors? Our guest this week is Maya Markovich, executive director of the Justice Technology Association, an organization formed earlier this year to support companies in the justice tech sector.

Clio Cloud 2022: Insights from Clio’s 2022 Legal Trends Report — from legaltalknetwork.com by Laurence Colletti, Joshua Lenon, and Rio Peterson
Amid Inflation, Rising Interest Rates, and Volatile Employment Markets, Clio takes a look at How Global Trends have Impacted Business and Productivity among law firms.

Clio Cloud 2022: What Lies Ahead for Legal with Jack Newton — from legaltalknetwork.com by Laurence Colletti and Jack Newton

Episode notes:

The world of lawyering has surged in spite of the pandemic, but new adversity looms. Fears over inflation, war, hiring markets, and a recession have left many attorneys wondering how to prepare for the coming months. Jack Newton discusses the concept of anti-fragility and its place as a mental model for law firms as they face an uncertain future. Jack outlines how deliberate preparation can help your law firm thrive in the midst of opposition.

Jack Newton is CEO and co-founder of Clio.

Clio Cloud 2022: How Content Creation Can Grow Your Law Firm — from legaltalknetwork.com by Laurence Colletti

Also related, see:

Virtual Courts Are Not Going Away — from news.bloomberglaw.com by Jon David Kelley
As the pandemic winds down, courts are shifting to a hybrid approach that incorporates remote with live proceedings. Jon David Kelley of Kirkland says virtual courts can expand access to justice, but care should be taken to maintain credible representation.

Clio’s 2022 Legal Trends Report + six other legal-related items

On 10/12/2022, in experimentation, innovation, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, Microsoft, platforms, tools, trends, UK, United States, by Daniel Christian

Clio’s 2022 Legal Trends Report
Learn how lawyers are balancing the flexibility of hybrid work, and what clients look for when hiring a lawyer.

Also relevant/see:

Clio’s 2022 Legal Trends Report Finds Lawyers’ Business Growing But Fees Fail to Keep Pace — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

Top law schools have been slow to add women faculty members, research finds — from highereddive.com

Excerpt:

Law schools have increasingly sorted along gender lines, and the makeup of faculties has become a reflection of schools’ student population, according to preprint research published on the SSRN, an open access platform for early-stage research.

Five digital trends to watch in the legal tech sector — from information-age.com by Leanne Aldrich

Excerpt:

Technology is changing the legal sector. The UK government has recently announced that it is investing £4m to modernise the UK legal industry through its LawTechUK programme. The initiative is a part of a drive to keep the UK at the global forefront of legal services..

ILTA’s Annual Technology Survey: Highlights — from legaltechnology.com

What does it take to be a legal technologist? — legalfutures.co.uk

Excerpt:

When the first seeds of the legal technologist role were planted in the early 2010s, they took some time to germinate. A decade later, after a seemingly slow start, there has been an explosion of investment, awareness and new job opportunities in legal technology.

But as this new strand of the legal profession sets its roots deeper in the industry, what exactly does it take to be a legal technologist?

Shearman & Sterling Launches Legal Ops Service In Sign of the Times — from artificiallawyer.com

Excerpt:

In another sign of the changing times we are in, leading New York law firm Shearman & Sterling is formally launching a Legal Operations capability. The move follows fellow elite rival Cleary Gottlieb launching Cleary X, its innovation-focused legal delivery arm.

A decade ago many would not have expected New York’s top firms to be that bothered with anything other than high-end legal advisory and disputes work, but the legal world is evolving.

‘Legal Operations by Shearman’ will offer a range of services including legal tech help, data analytics, and inhouse department design, but may work with ALSPs and other groups when it comes to CLM onboarding, with these other providers handling actual implementation and with Shearman focused on the bigger legal ops picture.

#legal #trends #legaltech #lawyers #law #lawschools

The Future of Virtual Legal Proceedings Just Became More Certain with the Launch of Calloquy [Calloquy]

On 10/09/2022, in Access to Justice (A2J), ideas, innovation, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, vendors, Virtual courts and law firms, by Daniel Christian

The Future of Virtual Legal Proceedings Just Became More Certain with the Launch of Calloquy — from businesswire.com by Calloquy
Hundreds gathered in Atlanta to celebrate and hear from leading legal innovation voices about The Next Era of Litigation

Excerpts:

The event celebrated the launch of Calloquy’s new virtual legal proceeding platform, which offers distinct usability benefits on a foundation of world-class security and industry-specific videoconferencing technology, including:

The platform’s intuitive design delivers a virtual experience that is akin to conventional legal proceedings, with clearly marked titles for all participants and traditional seating arrangements. The participants in a remote deposition, for example, are organized with plaintiffs on one side and defendants on the other.
Robust collaboration tools, combined with role-based security, ensure that only the right people have access to only the right information—and only at the right time. Documents or comments cannot accidentally be passed to an adversary.
The platform’s integrated case management tools streamline the complex litigation process by enabling meetings and proceedings to be scheduled, exhibits to be managed and transcripts to be created and archived all in one place.

“My goal in starting Calloquy is to help drive ‘the next era of litigation’, which means improving the way all people experience the legal system, from the most high-profile commercial litigator to the most underserved defendant and the lawyer who works pro bono on their behalf.”

Nikolas Badminton – Elevate Festival 2022 Keynote [futurist.com]

On 10/09/2022, in Africa, business, Canada, future, game-changing environment, global / globalization, ideas, legislatures / government / legal, society, story, storytelling, strategy, United States, by Daniel Christian

Nikolas Badminton – Elevate Festival 2022 Keynote — futurist.com by Nikolas Badminton

Excerpts/words/phrases:

Shifting from “What is?” to “What if? (i.e., paradigm shifts)
Megatrends
Potential futures
Signals of change
Scenarios
Trajectories
Think about the good as well as the bad
Telling stories
Black swans/elephants
Making your organization more profitable and resilient

Two neighboring states — Oregon and California — have recently come to different conclusions on whether to license paralegals to provide some legal services.

On 10/04/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Access to Justice (A2J), change, changing business models, innovation, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, policy, society, United States, webinars, by Daniel Christian

Utah’s reforms offer model for serving low-income and indigent people, report suggests — from abajournal.com by Matt Reynolds

Excerpt:

The Utah model of reform allowing nonlawyers to offer legal services could be “critical” to serving people who can’t afford them, according to a Stanford Law School study published Tuesday.

The 59-page report by the school’s Deborah L. Rhode Center on the Legal Profession offers an early look at how regulatory changes in Arizona and Utah have impacted the delivery of legal services. It also examined who is being served by innovations in those states.

Also relevant, see this upcoming webinar:

Two neighboring states — Oregon and California — have recently come to different conclusions on whether to license paralegals to provide some legal services.

In July, the Oregon Supreme Court, with the support of the Oregon State Bar’s Board of Governors, approved a proposal to allow licensed paralegals to provide limited legal services in family law and landlord/tenant cases — two areas of law with large numbers of self-represented litigants. In August, the California legislature, after opposition from some lawyers’ groups, prohibited the State Bar of California from implementing, or even proposing, any loosening of existing restrictions on the unauthorized practice of law before 2025, effectively killing a proposal to permit licensing of paraprofessionals to provide limited legal services.

This webinar will explore how and why Oregon and California reached conflicting results and identify lessons learned from both experiences.

Register >>

Also relevant/see:

IAALS Panel Explores Alternative Paths to Legal Licensure — from iaals.du.edu

Redesigning Legal: Redesigning How We License New Lawyers from IAALS on Vimeo.

Also see the following items from Natalie Anne Knowlton (@natalalleycat) on Twitter

A new study shows that Utah and Arizona’s ongoing experiments with loosening attorney regulations are offering lawyers “a host of new opportunities to extend their reach” without triggering an increase in consumer complaints. By @JgreeneJenna https://t.co/IWfpvl8o5G pic.twitter.com/85ruA2K1DN

— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) October 4, 2022

“They may call it innovation; I call it shifting the profits of the legal industry to nonlawyers” – Stephen Younger via @ABAJournal https://t.co/lobRhQonu4

— Natalie Anne Knowlton (@natalalleycat) September 30, 2022

Learning Ecosystems

What to Know About the New Rules on Pell Grants for Prison Education [Mangan]

How lawyers can unlock the potential of the metaverse [Li]

For law school students: “What Kind of Law Do You Want to Practice?” [Dr. Marie-Amélie George]

World’s fastest internet network upgraded to 46 Terabit/s [inavateonthenet.net]

Several items from the Clio Cloud Conference plus other legal innovation/future-related items

Clio’s 2022 Legal Trends Report + six other legal-related items

The Future of Virtual Legal Proceedings Just Became More Certain with the Launch of Calloquy [Calloquy]

Nikolas Badminton – Elevate Festival 2022 Keynote [futurist.com]

Two neighboring states — Oregon and California — have recently come to different conclusions on whether to license paralegals to provide some legal services.

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