legislatures / government / legal

“The rise of the self-service [legal] delivery model” plus four other legal-related items

On 06/12/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, career development, change, communications, computer science, expectations, future, ideas, innovation, law schools, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, mobile technologies, programming, UK, United States, by Daniel Christian

How has your legal service delivery model changed as we look forward to post-pandemic life? — from legal.thomsonreuters.com

Excerpt:

The rise of the self-service delivery model
Self-service for legal clients was already a trend before COVID, a trend that accelerated during the shutdowns. Clients now expect to be able to find answers themselves to many of their basic legal questions. Call it the Google-fication of legal service delivery. Clients also want to be able to see their matter statuses without having to take the time to call their lawyers, possibly incurring a charge.

Below are some other legal-related items:

Law Schools Are Changing Thanks To Legal Tech — from lawyer-monthly.com
New digital skills courses are rapidly being added to undergraduate law degrees in the UK. While the first students are currently studying the digital skills course, it’s expected that further students will take part over the coming months. Here, we explore what digital skills courses in law schools are covering.

Pioneers and Pathfinders: Bob Ambrogi — from seyfarth.com by J. StephenPoor

Description of podcast:

For anyone following the rapidly evolving area of legal technology, today’s guest will be a familiar voice. Bob Ambrogi—lawyer, journalist, media consultant, and blogger—has been working at the intersection of law, media, and technology for 40 years. He is known internationally for his expertise in legal technology, legal practice, and legal ethics. He’s won numerous awards for his blog and his leading role on the cutting edge of change in the industry, including being named to Fastcase 50 and Legal Rebels Trailblazers. Before entering the blogosphere, Bob was an editor at a number of mainstream legal publications.

In today’s conversation, we talk about Bob’s journey as a journalist, his views on the current state of mainstream media, the potential of regulatory reform to further disrupt the industry, and the growing diversity of the legal technology industry.

***

>$425M in investment has poured into #contractmanagement in 2022. Here’s a ? on (i) possible reasons this is happening and (ii) where this market is going /1https://t.co/bYaWxOiY4Y

— Noah Waisberg (@nwaisb) May 17, 2022

Founders Forum invests in fintech-focused virtual law startup Chronos Law — from globallegalpost.com by Ben Edwards
Chronos will be rebranded Founders Law as part of the deal

Bohills said: “Most tech businesses require flexible legal services that don’t fit the traditional law firm model. I designed the firm to scale with the ambitious startups we support. This new investment will enable us to further recruit and satisfy the growing demand from the tech sector and its need for a new way to access legal advice.

An initiative to help educator preparation programs update their curriculum and methods

On 06/11/2022, in education, education reform, education technology, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, legislatures / government / legal, student teaching/teacher education, teachers, United States, by Daniel Christian

ED and ISTE Launch Initiative to Improve Tech Proficiency of New Teachers to Increase Digital Equity — from thejournal.com by Kristal Kuykendall

Excerpt:

The International Society for Technology in Education and the U.S. Department of Education today launched an initiative to help educator preparation programs update their curriculum and methods to ensure new teachers enter the workforce with the digital learning skills needed to lead equitable learning in modern tech-enabled classrooms, according to a news release.

Prioritizing Mental Health and Well-Being in the Workplace is Evolving and Driving Change in the Legal Profession [Lukasik]

On 06/10/2022, in career development, change, health, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legislatures / government / legal, society, student-related, surviving, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Prioritizing Mental Health and Well-Being in the Workplace is Evolving and Driving Change in the Legal Profession — from law.upoenn.edu by Daniel T. Lukasik, Esq.; with thanks to PennLaw’s Future of the Profession Initiative (from 6/9/22) for this resource

Excerpt:

I now know I was never the only one with a mental health problem. Over the past five years, numerous surveys have confirmed what I and others suspected: anxiety, burnout, depression, and problems with alcohol are rampant throughout the legal profession. Compared to the general population, the magnitude of lawyer distress is deeply troubling.

In a confidential ABA survey of 13,000 lawyers, twenty-eight percent reported they had experienced a problem with depression within the past twelve months, a rate four times that found in the general population. Yet, given this sobering fact, there’s good cause to feel optimistic about the profession’s future.

Today, there is nothing short of a revolution in the law at all levels regarding mental health.

Two other relevant items from PennLaw’s Future of the Profession Initiative from 6/9/22:

About one-fifth of lawyers and staffers considered suicide at some point in their careers, new survey says — from abajournal.com by Debra Cassens Weiss
Two-Thirds of Lawyers: ‘My Job has a Negative Impact on Mental Health’ — from artificiallawyer.com

From DSC:
I post this for:

Undergrad students within higher education — as you should go into a career in the legal profession with your eyes wide open.
For the rest of us in society — for a better understanding of others’ situations. If you know of a lawyer in the family or as a friend, you may want to check in with them as to how they are really doing.

They Need Legal Advice on Debts. Should It Have to Come From Lawyers? [nytimes] Case filed by Rohan Pavuluri & Robert Niles-Weed.

On 06/01/2022, in 21st century, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legislatures / government / legal, society, United States, by Daniel Christian

Last night, Judge Crotty published a landmark 33-pg opinion, ruling in favor of Upsolve in SDNY. This is a historic step towards achieving equal rights under the law. I’m grateful to people who have fought for decades to make this possible. Full opinion: https://t.co/SuTW6QH957 pic.twitter.com/bYIXDXgt28

— Rohan Pavuluri (@RPavuluri) May 25, 2022

The original article by @andylocal in the @nytimes when we first filed our challenge:

They Need Legal Advice on Debts. Should It Have to Come From Lawyers? — from nytimes.com
A nonprofit has filed a lawsuit in New York, hoping to clear the way for volunteers to help people defend themselves against debt collection suits.

Thalia Juarez for The New York Times.

Excerpt:

The Rev. John Udo-Okon, a Pentecostal minister in the Bronx, has a lot of congregants who are sued by debt collectors and don’t know what to do.

Like most of the millions of Americans sued over consumer debt each year, Pastor Udo-Okon’s congregants typically cannot retain a lawyer. When they fail to respond to the suit, they lose the case by default.

Also relevant/see:

Law Firms Branch Out Beyond Lawyers in Bid to Beat Out Rival Advisers — from wsj.com
Facing competitive pressure from consulting firms and others, old law firms try to pick up new tricks

“Clients increasingly were coming to us with a problem that they needed to solve and they really didn’t much care how we solved it,” Mr. Portnoy said. “Very often they were looking for something that was beyond the traditional tool kit.”

Above video from Steve Kerr’s statement on school shooting in Texas

From DSC:
Steve Kerr has it right. Powerful. Critically important.

“Enough!” “We can’t get numb to this!”

U.S. issues charges in first criminal cryptocurrency sanctions case [Hsu]

On 05/23/2022, in cryptocurrencies, emerging technologies, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, society, the downsides of how people use tech, United States, by Daniel Christian

U.S. issues charges in first criminal cryptocurrency sanctions case — from washingtonpost.com by Spencer S. Hsu
Federal judge finds U.S. sanctions laws apply to $10 million in Bitcoin sent by American citizen to a country blacklisted by Washington

Excerpt:

The Justice Department has launched its first criminal prosecution involving the alleged use of cryptocurrency to evade U.S. economic sanctions, a federal judge disclosed Friday.

Gensler warns as crypto crashes: ‘The public is not protected’ [Pimentel]

On 05/20/2022, in business, cryptocurrencies, economics, legislatures / government / legal, United States, by Daniel Christian

Gensler warns as crypto crashes: ‘The public is not protected’ — from protocol.com by Benjamin Pimentel
The SEC chair had sounded alarms about crypto’s risks, and now those risks are in plain sight.

Excerpt:

SEC Chair Gary Gensler warned Congress Wednesday that consumers and investors are vulnerable in an increasingly volatile crypto market now reeling from a sharp downturn.

Citing the recent collapse in the crypto market’s value, Gensler said, “This is a field that is now worth $1.2 trillion. Two weeks ago it was supposedly worth $2 trillion.”

“The public is not protected,” he testified at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on the proposed budget for the SEC and the FTC. “They don’t have the disclosures from these entrepreneurs.”

From DSC:
A topic for personal finance courses? Economics courses?

The Great Resignation: The toll taken on the legal field and what comes next [MacDonald]

On 05/18/2022, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), career development, change, changing business models, generational differences, health, Legal operations, legal reform, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, tools, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The Great Resignation: The toll taken on the legal field and what comes next — from abajournal.com by Thomas MacDonald

Excerpt:

The pandemic has reshaped thinking around the value of work. The Thomson Reuters Stellar Performance: Skills and Progression Mid-Year Survey uncovered three specific priorities legal professionals are factoring into their career decisions.

Balance: Young professionals are more in tune with work-life balance and place a higher value on mental well-being, leisure and other activities outside of work than previous generations.
Family: A higher percentage of the professional workforce are mothers. Likewise, men are taking a more active role in child-rearing than previous generations, as younger professionals juggle more domestic responsibilities across the board.
The Long Game: Many Generation X and millennial employees have long since conceded that their retirement will likely come much later in life than their elder counterparts. The prospect of working for an extra decade—or more—has tempered the enthusiasm for grinding away during their formative years.

Also relevant/see the following articles:

8 Legal Experts on the Future of the Billable Hour — from artificiallawyer.com

Excerpt:

Are you still billing by the hour? The reality is that most lawyers are and plenty will still be using it in the year 2032. However, many legal experts agree: the billable hour is under pressure, forcing lawyers to investigate other billing methods as well.

Laura Rosseel, Senior Associate at Cambrian, explains clearly why the billable hour is a topic for discussion: ‘There are countless arguments against working with billable hours. Invoicing based on billable hours puts the risk of both unpredictability in the scope of work as well as potential inefficiency on the client, instead of the law firm that is providing the service.

‘It does not differentiate based on the value of the task at hand, the urgency, or the time of day (or night), with which the task is carried out. Additionally, it is a performance metric for lawyers that favours working more over working better, and the relentless pressure is causing junior and mid-level lawyers to leave their firms.’

Digital exhaustion: Redefining work-life balance — from enterprisersproject.com by Irvin Bishop Jr.
Is your team suffering from the digital exhaustion that so often comes with remote and hybrid work? Consider these strategies to ease the stress

As workers continue to create and collaborate in digital spaces, one of the best things we can do as leaders is to let go. Let go of preconceived schedules, of always knowing what someone is working on, of dictating when and how a project should be accomplished – in effect, let go of micromanagement. Instead, focus on hiring productive, competent workers and trust them to do their jobs. Don’t manage tasks – gauge results. Use benchmarks and deadlines to assess effectiveness and success.

What did we learn at the CLOC Conference? — from zachabramowitz.substack.com by Zach Abramowitz
QR Codes, Outside Counsel Startups Make Great Shirts and Standing Out in a Sea of CLM

Some of the tools/products/vendors Zach mentioned were:

outside counsel management tools Persuit and JusticeBid
Justicebid.com
Legalmation.com

“Is the virtual courtroom the future of the justice system?” [Sonntag]+ seven other legal related items

On 05/11/2022, in 21st century, Canada, change, changing business models, India, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, policy, society, United States, Virtual courts and law firms, by Daniel Christian

Is the virtual courtroom the future of the justice system? — from deseret.com by Zakary Sonntag
Video proceedings have increased court access but raised questions of rights amid case backlog

Excerpt:

The justice system in Utah is straining under the weight of an immense backlog of criminal cases, especially serious felony cases, leaving many defendants to languish in custody as additional filings continue to accumulate.

The buildup began in 2020 after the Utah Supreme Court ordered the shutdown of in-person proceedings in response to the coronavirus, which left attorneys and judges to hash out settlements through a remote, Webex court process.

The pandemic’s impact on the legal sector and what emerging lawyers need to know — from timesofindia.indiatimes.com by Roma Priya

Excerpt:

For aspiring lawyers and law school graduates who have commenced practice recently, one of the best ways to stay relevant is to upskill yourself. Apart from the legal industry-related skills as a lawyer, such as in-depth knowledge about clients, the law, and other subjects, communication skills, problem solving and analytical skills, and tech skills are crucial.

Today, digitally-savvy lawyers are in high demand as technology continues to evolve and progress. And as the Indian Judiciary System gradually acquaints itself with cutting-edge technologies, emerging lawyers must do the same.

About one-fifth of lawyers and staffers considered suicide at some point in their careers, new survey says — from abajournal.com by Debra Cassens Weiss

A new survey of lawyers and staff members hailing mostly from BigLaw has found that anxiety, depression and isolation remain at concerning levels, despite a slight decrease in the percentages since the survey last year.

When is a legal department ready to transform? — from advisory.kpmg.us by Eric Gorman, Kimberly Majure, and Jeff Ikejiri
Explore the catalysts for change

…legal departments that identify and agree on a motive to change, and then are alert for opportunities to act, are legal departments that are ready to transform.

From DSC:
I saw the link to LitSoftware at the posting entitled, Three Lessons In Persuasive Trial Technology (from legaltechmonitor.com by Stephen Embry).. I thought it offered some interesting software:

The Top 3 Legal Technology Trends of 2022 — from lexology.com by Sean Heck

Excerpts:

Web-Based Contract Management Tools for Remote Legal Operations
Online, Web-Based Document Editing
Contract AI With Machine Learning for Intelligent CLM

Litera legal survey shows that technology is driving change in all aspects of M&A practice — from canadianlawyermag.com by Annabel Oromoni

Excerpt:

The global pandemic and the increasing reliance on technology to facilitate remote legal work and collaboration have accelerated the legal profession’s interest in technology-based solutions. A recent survey by Litera, a legal tech company, revealed that technology significantly impacts M&A practices in law firms.

Litera’s survey included insights from over 200 lawyers whose practices focus on M&A in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

David Curle, legal content and research lead at Litera, says the legal profession is fragmented, and Litera sought to receive responses about technology use, adoption, and spending from M&A lawyers specifically.

6 Types of Software for Your In-House Legal Team Needs — from jdsupra.com

Excerpt:

Most legal teams rely heavily on documents and communication for their work, and handling all the related operations may not be as simple as you would like it to be. Unless you change your approach to document management and start exploring tech solutions that improve team efficiency.

Automation software has helped many businesses and departments streamline all or most of their operations and improve their efficiency. The same can be done for a legal team.

In this article, let’s focus on the types of automation software for in-house counsel along with some of the top examples.

Addendum later on 5/11/22:

ANALYSIS: Lawyers’ Top Legal Tech Tools—And Biggest Blind Spots — from news.bloomberglaw.com by Racheal Pikulski, Princess Onyiri, and Lida Ouyang

Addendum later on 5/11/22:

The ABA is again trying to end LSAT requirements. Will it stick this time? — from highereddive.com by Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
A 2018 push to stop assessment mandates died amid worries for underserved law school applicants, but the accreditor is returning to the idea.

100 Universities established an OPM, Bootcamp or Pathways partnership in Q1 2022 — from holoniq.com
Bootcamps are directing more resources B2B and B2G, OPMs are growing existing partnerships further and evolving their technology and healthcare programs.

Excerpt:

Higher Education, like the broader economy, is awkwardly emerging from an almost exclusively digital, isolated and stimulus fuelled environment into… well it’s not clear yet. University Partnerships continued to be established at pace through Q1 2022, albeit at a much slower rate than through 2021.

Also relevant/see:

College contracts with OPMs need better oversight, watchdog says — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz

Excerpt from Dive Brief:

The U.S. Department of Education should strengthen oversight of colleges’ relationships with companies that help them launch and build online programs, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an auditing agency for Congress.

Addendum on 5/11/22:

2021 Global Learning Landscape — from globallearninglandscape.org

China is about to regulate AI—and the world is watching [Conrad]

On 05/09/2022, in analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), future, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, platforms, policy, privacy, society, sociology, by Daniel Christian

China is about to regulate AI—and the world is watching — from wired.com by Jennifer Conrad
Sweeping rules will cover algorithms that set prices, control search results, recommend videos, and filter content.

Excerpt:

Some provisions aim to address complaints about online services. Under the rules, for instance, companies will be prohibited from using personal characteristics to offer users different prices for a product; they also will be required to notify users, and allow them to opt out, when algorithms are used to make recommendations.

Companies that violate the rules could face fines, be barred from enrolling new users, have their business licenses pulled, or see their websites or apps shut down.

Some elements of the new regulations may prove difficult or impossible to enforce. It can be technically challenging to police the behavior of an algorithm that is continually changing due to new input, for instance.

Education Needs a Reset. We Can Start by Listening to Our Teachers. — from edsurge.com by Elissa Vanaver

Excerpts:

What too few politicians and parents are talking about, though, is the dire state of the career pipeline for teachers, the ones we’ll be depending on to lead the post-pandemic learning recovery in our classrooms over the next few years—not to mention for the next generation.

Valuing teachers is the systemic path to centering students. In order to move the needle, we must go beyond what teachers need to do to address root causes that require cultural and systemic change. Here are a few things it will take:

Understanding that teaching and learning are inherently relational and the power relationships have on student and teacher success.
Centering the joy of learning and making classrooms a place students and teachers want to be.
Creating an empowered teaching culture to advocate for children and encouraging creativity that optimizes engagement.
Fostering culturally responsive methods through continuous mentoring by exceptional, experienced educators.
Developing partnerships with quality teacher preparation programs for coherent and supportive career pathways.

From DSC:
When I used to work in customer service and also in technical support at Baxter Healthcare, I always thought that management should be listening closely to those employees who were on the front lines — i.e., those of us who were in regular contact with Baxter’s customers. Similarly, the teachers are on the front lines within education. We need to give them a huge say in what happens in the future of the preK-12 learning ecosystems. We also need the students’ voices to be heard big time.

Also popular last month from edsure.com, see:

Students Have Different Thinking Speeds. Inclusive Teaching Means Realizing That. — by Jeffrey R. Young

Remote court transcription technology enables virtual court appearances — from abajournal.com by Nicole Black

Excerpts:

That’s why it’s imperative to make certain remote options are available for all aspects of legal work since doing so is the only way to guarantee the justice system doesn’t come to a grinding halt. One way to prevent that is to take advantage of the virtual deposition transcription tools I discussed in last month’s column. In that article, I provided an overview of virtual deposition transcription products and services that rely on videoconferencing tools and software platforms to facilitate remote depositions.

Another way business continuity has been maintained since March 2020 is via virtual court proceedings. Remote court appearances are now more common since courts periodically shifted to partial or fully remote operations throughout the pandemic. Many judges have become accustomed to and appreciate the convenience of virtual court proceedings, and many expect them to continue even after the pandemic ends.

Because all signs point to the continuation of virtual court proceedings, I promised in last month’s article that I would focus on remote court proceeding options in this column. These include software platforms and artificial intelligence language-processing tools that facilitate remote court proceedings.

Nicole’s article mentioned the following vendor/product:

One-time jailhouse lawyer creates legal jobs program for the formerly incarcerated [Reynolds]

On 04/29/2022, in active learning, adult learning, career development, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legislatures / government / legal, real-world assignments, reinvent, society, staying relevant, surviving, United States, by Daniel Christian

One-time jailhouse lawyer creates legal jobs program for the formerly incarcerated — from abajournal.com by Matt Reynolds

Excerpts:

Devon Simmons, co-founder and project director of a new program helping those with past convictions find work as paralegals and other jobs in the legal profession, says there’s a wealth of untapped legal talent among formerly incarcerated people.
…
Simmons emerged from prison 15 years later. By that time, he was a product of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Prison-to-College Pipeline program and later graduated with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

“Once I came home, I would constantly see people unemployed who I had sat in the law library with,” Simmons says. “These individuals have legal expertise, but they’re not given the opportunity to utilize it. What if I could create a platform in which I could make that happen?”

College & Career Guide for Students with Disabilities [Julh, Keith, Nicholson, McGillis]

On 04/29/2022, in accessibility / UDL, colleges, community colleges, higher education, law schools, learner profiles, learning, legislatures / government / legal, liberal arts, neurodivergent/special needs, parents/guardians, participation, policy, student-related, tools, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

College & Career Guide for Students with Disabilities — from study.com by Jamie Julh, Lisa Keith, Nicole Nicholson, Taylor McGillis; with thanks to Alysson Webb for this resource

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Students with disabilities made up 19.4% of enrolled undergraduate students in the U.S. according to the most recent data release from the Department of Education (DoE). However, many of these students may be afraid to or not know how to advocate for themselves and obtain the assistance they need. Data on graduation rates for students with disabilities can be hard to come by, but based on a recent study by the DoE National Center of Education Statistics, only 54.2% had graduated with a bachelor’s degree after six years. One possible reason for this low graduation rate is that only 35% of students with disabilities chose to disclose those disabilities to the college or university they attended, and only 24% chose to utilize accommodations. This guide is intended to help students with disabilities learn about their rights, the laws that protect them, and the resources available to help them see through their goal of obtaining higher education.

Also relevant/see:

What is an accessibility statement and why have one? — from blog.usablenet.com
Accessible Typefaces, Fonts, and Text with Jared Smith [Associate Director of WebAIM] — from equalentry.com

Learning Ecosystems

“The rise of the self-service [legal] delivery model” plus four other legal-related items

They Need Legal Advice on Debts. Should It Have to Come From Lawyers? [nytimes] Case filed by Rohan Pavuluri & Robert Niles-Weed.

U.S. issues charges in first criminal cryptocurrency sanctions case [Hsu]

Gensler warns as crypto crashes: ‘The public is not protected’ [Pimentel]

“Is the virtual courtroom the future of the justice system?” [Sonntag]+ seven other legal related items

100 Universities established an OPM, Bootcamp or Pathways partnership in Q1 2022 [holoniq.com]

One-time jailhouse lawyer creates legal jobs program for the formerly incarcerated [Reynolds]

Categories

Tags