legislatures / government / legal

Armies of delivery robots, drones, pods: Do we really want to create this kind of future?

On 08/22/2019, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assistive technologies, corporate / business world, emerging technologies, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, robotics, society, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, trends, by Daniel Christian

Autonomous robot deliveries are coming to 100 university campuses in the U.S. — from digitaltrends.com by Luke Dormehl

Excerpt:

Pioneering autonomous delivery robot company Starship Technologies is coming to a whole lot more university campuses around the U.S. The robotics startup announced that it will expand its delivery services to 100 university campuses in the next 24 months, building on its successful fleets at George Mason University and Northern Arizona University.

Postmates Gets Go-Ahead to Test Delivery Robot in San Francisco — from interestingengineering.com by Donna Fuscaldo
Postmates was granted permission to test a delivery robot in San Francisco.

And add those to ones formerly posted on Learning Ecosystems:

Amazon patents ‘surveillance as a service’ tech for its delivery drones — from theverge.com by Jon Porter
This futuristic driverless pod will soon be delivering pizza in Texas — from digitaltrends.com by Trevor Mogg
Amazon is creating detailed 3D models of suburbia to train its new delivery robots — from theverge.com by James Vincent
‘Eventually, we’ll be delivering around the world.’

From DSC:
I’m grateful for John Muir and for the presidents of the United States who had the vision to set aside land for the national park system. Such parks are precious and provide much needed respite from the hectic pace of everyday life.

Closer to home, I’m grateful for what my parents’ vision was for a place to help bring the families together through the years. A place that’s peaceful, quiet, surrounded by nature and community.

So I wonder what kind of legacy the current generations are beginning to create? That is…do we really want to be known as the generations who created the unchecked chaotic armies of delivery drones, delivery robots, driverless pods, etc. to fill the skies, streets, sidewalks, and more?

I don’t. That’s not a gift to our kids or grandkids…not at all.

Some interesting feedback re: the Bar Exam

On 08/20/2019, in Cost of legal services - including access, design, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, society, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Introduction

The National Conference of Bar Examiners’ (NCBE’s) Testing Task Force (TTF) is undertaking a comprehensive,future-focused study to ensure that the bar examination continues to test the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for competent entry-level legal practice in a changing legal profession. The collaborative study involves input from stakeholders at multiple phases and considers the content, format, timing, and delivery method for NCBE’s current tests, which make up all or part of the bar examination in most U.S. jurisdictions: the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). The study also includes the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), which is administered by NCBE and required for admission in most U.S. jurisdictions.

This Executive Summary provides a synthesis of the stakeholder listening sessions conducted during Phase 1 of the study between November 2018 and June 2019. The purpose of these sessions was to solicit input from various stakeholder groups about characteristics and considerations for the next generation of the bar examination. The sessions were facilitated by ACS Ventures LLC (ACS), an independent psychometric consulting firm. Summaries of the stakeholder input from the sessions are appended to this Executive Summary.

From DSC:
Hmmm…I wonder what some design thinking experts might say about the complexities involved here:

The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE)
The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)
The Multistate Performance Test (MPT)
The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)

A single platform to install, use & manage the abundance of legal tech products available

On 08/17/2019, in innovation, internet, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, tools, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Big Law ‘App Store’ Reynen Court Officially Launches, Announces Elevate Partnership — from law.com by Krishnan Nair and Zach Warren
Reynen Court’s aim is to provide law firms with a single platform to install, use and manage the abundance of legal tech products available to firms from various vendors.

Excerpt:

The company has now launched the platform, with Elevate agreeing to make three of its technologies available on Reynen Court’s legal tech app. These three products include a legal AI and document analytics platform called ContraxSuite; legal project management app, Cael Project; and a billing app called Cael BillPrep.

Elevate VP of software products Sharath Beedu said in a statement: “In essence, it’s a private, curated ‘app store’ where products are pre-packaged for easy installation within each firm’s respective IT environment. This enables firms to try new systems without using third-party cloud environments, which is prohibited by many of their clients.”

Also see:

Elevate Teams Up With Reynen Court For Launch — from by Krishnan Nair
As part of the link-up, Elevate will launch three of its legal tech products on Reynen Court’s app.

ABA Profile of the Legal Profession [americanbar.org]

On 08/16/2019, in law schools, legislatures / government / legal, society, by Daniel Christian

ABA Profile of the Legal Profession — from americanbar.org

Excerpt:

The state of the legal profession changes every year. Fortunately, the ABA has access to data that makes it possible to capture a snapshot of the profession at a moment in time and presents its first ABA Profile of the Legal Profession report.

View and download the report here.

New Michigan court program could let you resolve legal disputes for free online [Keith]

On 08/16/2019, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Cost of legal services - including access, ideas, internet, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, Michigan, society, by Daniel Christian

New Michigan court program could let you resolve legal disputes for free online — from freep.com by Emma Keith

Excerpts:

If you’ve got an issue with your landlord, a friend who owes you money or a serious problem with your neighbors, you may not have to take it to court.

Thanks to a new tool from the Michigan court system, some Michiganders can now solve civil disputes and small claims cases online.

MI Resolve offers users in certain Michigan counties a chance to go through an online resolution and mediation process whether or not their case has gotten to court.

The program is meant to increase equitable access to legal resources and respond to Michigan residents’ goals for their state courts, said Bridget McCormack, chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.
…
The program is meant to resolve small claims, contract disputes, neighborhood disputes, and small landlord/tenant matters. It won’t handle an eviction but will handle rent or maintenance issues.

Also see:

Legal tech can differentiate young lawyers at law firm interviews [Reed]

On 08/15/2019, in career development, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Legal tech can differentiate young lawyers at law firm interviews — from law.com by Dan Reed
This hiring season, law students interviewing with law firms should lead on legal tech.

Excerpt:

Law firm interview season is almost upon us. Traditionally, this is when hiring partners quiz law students on their awareness of the law and trends in the wider legal industry. But in today’s rapidly changing legal climate, students can expect to confront a new topic: legal tech.

Why cities are banning facial recognition technology [Wired.com]

On 08/08/2019, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, data related items, ethics, human-computer interaction (HCI), intelligent systems, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, pace of change, platforms, society, the downsides of how people use tech, United States, by Daniel Christian

A handful of US cities have banned government use of facial recognition technology due to concerns over its accuracy and privacy. WIRED’s Tom Simonite talks with computer vision scientist and lawyer Gretchen Greene about the controversy surrounding the use of this technology.

The most effective tech tools for lawyers? New survey says they ain’t what you think [Ambrogi]

On 08/07/2019, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Blockchain, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, corporate / business world, emerging technologies, innovation, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, tools, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The most effective tech tools for lawyers? New survey says they ain’t what you think — from lawsitesblog.com by Bob Ambrogi

Out [on 8/7/19] is the 2019 Aderant Business of Law and Legal Technology Survey, published by Aderant, a global provider of business management software for law firms.

From DSC:
It will be very interesting to see such a chart in just 2-3 years from now…#AI will be moving up the chart, guaranteed.

The Legal Industry is Starting to Collaborate — Why Now and Why It Matters [Cohen]

On 08/01/2019, in 21st century, collaboration, future, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, technology (general), by Daniel Christian

The Legal Industry is Starting to Collaborate — Why Now and Why It Matters — from forbes.com by Mark Cohen

Excerpt:

Law Is No Longer Is Immune To Broader Forces Driving Global Change
Law’s insularity—if not its culture—has changed during the past decade with the convergence of the global financial crisis, technology, and globalism. These powerful global macro-economic forces have produced legal disaggregation, segmentation, and a separation of legal practice from the business of delivering legal services-among, other things. Technology has enabled the creation of new legal delivery models whose DNA resembles business more than law.

Some common characteristics among leading new-model legal providers include: a flatter, corporate organizational structure; an economic model aligned with client value; tech-enabled platforms; focus on net promoter score (client satisfaction); institutional capital; agile, multi-generational, multidisciplinary, diverse workforces; data-driven internal and client-facing operations; proactive risk identification/mitigation; and a customer-centric focus. These providers are often referred to as “legal tech” companies. While they are tech-enabled, technology is only part of a broader, holistic process of customer-centric reorganization that drives enterprise value and responds to enterprise challenges.

Why more law schools are prioritizing technology integration [Zimmerman]

On 07/31/2019, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, higher education, innovation, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, tools, trends, United States, universities, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

Why more law schools are prioritizing technology integration — from edtechmagazine.com by Eli Zimmerman
Universities are investing in video conferencing, artificial intelligence and more to ensure future lawyers remain competitive and prepared.

Excerpt:

Lawyers are beginning to show interest in incorporating technology into practice — the American Bar Association has even dedicated an entirely new section of their website to available, relevant technologies. As this interest grows, law schools are incorporating innovative solutions into their curriculums to prepare students for legal careers that will involve more technology than ever before.

The push for a more technology-oriented law school experience comes as professionals and educators become more aware of the inevitable merge of traditional practice with the tools of tomorrow.

“If we can help students understand that technology, and specifically AI, can create a much more streamlined, efficacious means of connecting lawyers to consumers of legal services, and reorient or recalibrate what it means to provide legal services by lawyers, then that’s an enormous benefit for us as legal educators in educating our students to the value and capacity of law to provide access to justice,” says Daniel Rodriguez, former dean of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in a Legal AI News article.

Also see:

Client-Driven Innovation: The Future of Legal Technology — from lawtechnologytoday.org by Vishal Rajpara
Excerpt:
After nearly 20 years of steady innovation-focused primarily on e-discovery, legal technology appears to be entering a new phase. While the legal profession as a whole is still somewhat skeptical of technology and wary of change—especially when compared to other industries—most lawyers now accept the premise that automation and process optimization are essential to managing law firms and legal departments more efficiently in a dynamic, hypercompetitive business environment that is increasingly data-driven.

Advanced technologies built into the platform.
Artificial intelligence technologies like machine learning, natural language processing, and data analytics must be included in legal technology platforms rather than dangled as extras for an additional cost. The utility and power of these technologies have the potential to transform the industry if organizations can apply them—at a reasonable, predictable, and sustainable cost—to workflows where they make the most sense. These capabilities are game-changers that can be applied to nearly every facet of legal operations and litigation, whether it’s ECA and TAR in discovery or billing and invoicing or long-term multi-matter management. AI and analytics help organizations leverage data to understand the details of their operations, monitor trends, refine processes, and predict budget and resource requirements.

Governments take first, tentative steps at regulating AI [McCusker]

On 07/30/2019, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, society, technology (general), the downsides of how people use tech, tools, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Governments take first, tentative steps at regulating AI — from heraldnet.com by James McCusker
Can we control artificial intelligence’s potential for disrupting markets? Time will tell.

Excerpt:

State legislatures in New York and New Jersey have proposed legislation that represents the first, tentative steps at regulation. While the two proposed laws are different, they both have elements of information gathering about the risks to such things as privacy, security and economic fairness.

50 Twitter Accounts Lawyers Should Follow [Updated 2019]

On 07/30/2019, in law schools, legislatures / government / legal, by Daniel Christian

50 Twitter Accounts Lawyers Should Follow [Updated 2019] — from postali.com

Accounts are from the following areas:

Attorneys, Journalists & Legal Influencers
Legal Tech, Marketing Practice Management & Business Development
Legal Publications, News & Bar Associations

You’re already being watched by facial recognition tech. This map shows where [Schwab]

On 07/25/2019, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, emerging technologies, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, society, the downsides of how people use tech, trends, United States, by Daniel Christian

You’re already being watched by facial recognition tech. This map shows where — from fastcompany.com by Katharine Schwab
Digital rights nonprofit Fight for the Future has mapped out the physical footprint of the controversial technology, which is in use in cities across the country.

The coming deepfakes threat to businesses [Waddell & Kingson]

On 07/22/2019, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, corporate / business world, digital audio, digital video, emerging technologies, ethics, hearts -- matters of the heart, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, society, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, United States, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The coming deepfakes threat to businesses — from axios.com by Kaveh Waddell and Jennifer Kingson

Excerpt:

In the first signs of a mounting threat, criminals are starting to use deepfakes — starting with AI-generated audio — to impersonate CEOs and steal millions from companies, which are largely unprepared to combat them.

Why it matters: Nightmare scenarios abound. As deepfakes grow more sophisticated, a convincing forgery could send a company’s stock plummeting (or soaring), to extract money or to ruin its reputation in a viral instant.

Imagine a convincing fake video or audio clip of Elon Musk, say, disclosing a massive defect the day before a big Tesla launch — the company’s share price would crumple.

What’s happening: For all the talk about fake videos, it’s deepfake audio that has emerged as the first real threat to the private sector.

From DSC…along these same lines see:

Meet Hemingway: The Artificial Intelligence Robot That Can Copy Your Handwriting — from forbes.com by Bernard Marr

Learning Ecosystems

A single platform to install, use & manage the abundance of legal tech products available

ABA Profile of the Legal Profession [americanbar.org]

New Michigan court program could let you resolve legal disputes for free online [Keith]

Legal tech can differentiate young lawyers at law firm interviews [Reed]

The Legal Industry is Starting to Collaborate — Why Now and Why It Matters [Cohen]

50 Twitter Accounts Lawyers Should Follow [Updated 2019]

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