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Utah Supreme Court Votes to Approve Pilot Allowing Non-Traditional Legal Services
September 14, 2019
The Utah Supreme Court voted unanimously yesterday to approve the recommendations of a work group that called for “profoundly reimagining the way legal services are regulated in order to harness the power of entrepreneurship, capital, and machine learning in the legal arena.” In an email, Supreme Court Justice Deno Himonas, who cochaired the Utah Work Group on Regulatory Reform, said that the court voted unanimously to pursue the recommendations laid out in the work group’s report.
September 14, 2019
The Utah Supreme Court voted unanimously yesterday to approve the recommendations of a work group that called for “profoundly reimagining the way legal services are regulated in order to harness the power of entrepreneurship, capital, and machine learning in the legal arena.” In an email, Supreme Court Justice Deno Himonas, who cochaired the Utah Work Group on Regulatory Reform, said that the court voted unanimously to pursue the recommendations laid out in the work group’s report.
Moffitt on Settlement Malpractice
August 12, 2019
I have been totally remiss in singing the praises of Michael’s new article coming out shortly in the University of Chicago Law Reviewand now, as I am getting ready for class and rereading it, I want to recommend it even more. It’s wonderful empirical work–both creative and comprehensive–with a real impact for what lawyers should know and policy-makers should find troubling. I’ll be teaching this in both my ADR and Ethics classes. Here is the link. And here...
August 12, 2019
I have been totally remiss in singing the praises of Michael’s new article coming out shortly in the University of Chicago Law Reviewand now, as I am getting ready for class and rereading it, I want to recommend it even more. It’s wonderful empirical work–both creative and comprehensive–with a real impact for what lawyers should know and policy-makers should find troubling. I’ll be teaching this in both my ADR and Ethics classes. Here is the link. And here...
Automatically Extracting Meaning From Legal Texts: Opportunities and Challenges
August 2, 2019
This paper surveys three basic legal-text analytic techniques—ML, network diagrams, and question answering (QA)—and...
August 2, 2019
This paper surveys three basic legal-text analytic techniques—ML, network diagrams, and question answering (QA)—and...
Legal Intelligence Through Artificial Intelligence Requires Emotional Intelligence: A New Competency Model for the 21st Century Legal Professional
July 26, 2019
The nature of legal services is drastically changing given the rise in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Legal education and training models are beginning to recognize the need to incorporate skill building in data and technology platforms, but they have lost sight of a core competency for lawyers: problem-solving and decision-making skills to counsel clients on how best to meet their desired goals and needs. In 2014, Amani Smathers introduced the legal field to the concept...
July 26, 2019
The nature of legal services is drastically changing given the rise in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Legal education and training models are beginning to recognize the need to incorporate skill building in data and technology platforms, but they have lost sight of a core competency for lawyers: problem-solving and decision-making skills to counsel clients on how best to meet their desired goals and needs. In 2014, Amani Smathers introduced the legal field to the concept...
Dysfunctional Justice: What’s Wrong with the U.S. Legal System
July 20, 2019
Novelist Raymond Chandler once said, “The law isn’t justice. It’s a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer.” A new book by Bruce Cannon Gibney, a litigator turned venture capitalist, gives credence to that idea. The Nonsense Factory: The Making and Breaking of the American Legal System looks at how jurisprudence has decayed over the last 70 years as laws have become needlessly complex, clouded by politics...
July 20, 2019
Novelist Raymond Chandler once said, “The law isn’t justice. It’s a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer.” A new book by Bruce Cannon Gibney, a litigator turned venture capitalist, gives credence to that idea. The Nonsense Factory: The Making and Breaking of the American Legal System looks at how jurisprudence has decayed over the last 70 years as laws have become needlessly complex, clouded by politics...
Where do we go from Here? Transformation and Acceleration of Legal Analytics in Practice
July 15, 2019
The advantages of evidence-based decision-making in the practice and theory of law should be obvious: Don’t make arguments to judges that seldom persuade; Jurisprudential analysis ought to align with sound social science; Attorneys should pitch legal work to clients that demonstrably need it. Despite the appearance of simplicity, there are practical and attitudinal barriers to finding and incorporating data into the practice of law. This article evaluates the current technologies and systems...
July 15, 2019
The advantages of evidence-based decision-making in the practice and theory of law should be obvious: Don’t make arguments to judges that seldom persuade; Jurisprudential analysis ought to align with sound social science; Attorneys should pitch legal work to clients that demonstrably need it. Despite the appearance of simplicity, there are practical and attitudinal barriers to finding and incorporating data into the practice of law. This article evaluates the current technologies and systems...
Legal Analytics, Social Science, and Legal Fees: Reimagining “Legal Spend” Decisions in an Evolving Industry
July 12, 2019
To give you a feel for the power of legal analytics, imagine that you are the managing partner of a law firm. With a good...
July 12, 2019
To give you a feel for the power of legal analytics, imagine that you are the managing partner of a law firm. With a good...
Legal Theory Lexicon: The Prisoners’ Dilemma
June 28, 2019
One of the most useful tools in analyzing legal rules and the policy problems to which they apply is game theory. The basic...
June 28, 2019
One of the most useful tools in analyzing legal rules and the policy problems to which they apply is game theory. The basic...
Are Lawyers Citing the Best Cases to Courts?
June 17, 2019
Here is a question I've never thought about before: Are lawyers citing the best cases to courts? In other words, do the courts use the cases cited in the briefs, and how often do the courts use cases not mentioned in any brief? The answer may surprise you! Kevin Bennardo & Alexa Chew (UNC), Citation Stickiness. "This Article is an empirical study of what we call citation stickiness. A citation is sticky if it appears in one of the parties’ briefs and then again in the court’s...
June 17, 2019
Here is a question I've never thought about before: Are lawyers citing the best cases to courts? In other words, do the courts use the cases cited in the briefs, and how often do the courts use cases not mentioned in any brief? The answer may surprise you! Kevin Bennardo & Alexa Chew (UNC), Citation Stickiness. "This Article is an empirical study of what we call citation stickiness. A citation is sticky if it appears in one of the parties’ briefs and then again in the court’s...
Can The Accounting Firms Unseat Biglaw?
June 15, 2019
A hot conversation started around the legal industry — an industry where the bar for the term “hot” is apparently...
June 15, 2019
A hot conversation started around the legal industry — an industry where the bar for the term “hot” is apparently...
