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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...
Public Sees Benefits to Resolving Civil Court Cases Online
August 6, 2019
The creators of this country’s civil legal system more than 200 years ago set up a system that had to be navigated by lawyers....
August 6, 2019
The creators of this country’s civil legal system more than 200 years ago set up a system that had to be navigated by lawyers....
Don’t Call Me a Lawyer—I am a “Legal Engineer”
August 3, 2019
“Traditionally, lawyers write memos and make oral arguments,” Burt says. “As legal engineers, our job is not to write...
August 3, 2019
“Traditionally, lawyers write memos and make oral arguments,” Burt says. “As legal engineers, our job is not to write...
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...
Inter-School Negotiation Exercise
July 28, 2019
FFOI Debra Berman offers to organize a fabulous practical DR Skills exercise that goes beyond the classroom and normal competitions. She writes: In recent times of declining class sizes, shrinking budgets, and extra focus on the bar exam, practical ADR skills training may not receive the attention it deserves. Students may leave law school without ever practicing a single negotiation or engaging in some form of legal communication with another law student or lawyer. ...
July 28, 2019
FFOI Debra Berman offers to organize a fabulous practical DR Skills exercise that goes beyond the classroom and normal competitions. She writes: In recent times of declining class sizes, shrinking budgets, and extra focus on the bar exam, practical ADR skills training may not receive the attention it deserves. Students may leave law school without ever practicing a single negotiation or engaging in some form of legal communication with another law student or lawyer. ...
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...
An Open Letter To Kim Kardashian on Legal Education
July 21, 2019
Last week, Kim Kardashian and Van Jones talked about Kim's aspirations to be a lawyer on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. During that discussion, the following exchange took place: Real talk, 'Kim confided in him before the event. 'This law school s***? There is so much reading to do. I am like, dying here.''Law school is more of a socialization process than an educational process anyway,' Jones said. 'It's more learning to think like a lawyer than all the actual stuff.' He praised...
July 21, 2019
Last week, Kim Kardashian and Van Jones talked about Kim's aspirations to be a lawyer on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. During that discussion, the following exchange took place: Real talk, 'Kim confided in him before the event. 'This law school s***? There is so much reading to do. I am like, dying here.''Law school is more of a socialization process than an educational process anyway,' Jones said. 'It's more learning to think like a lawyer than all the actual stuff.' He praised...
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...
What Did Wimbledon Teach Us About Genius?
July 17, 2019
Sunday’s tennis championship at Wimbledon between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer lasted nearly five hours, a record. It finished with a 12-12 tie in the final set, triggering a first-to-seven tie breaker. For tennis fans, it was an epic struggle between legends, in a storybook setting. The weather was perfect and the hats were divine. For readers of David Epstein’s new book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, however, it was an academic nail biter, a test case in a simmering...
July 17, 2019
Sunday’s tennis championship at Wimbledon between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer lasted nearly five hours, a record. It finished with a 12-12 tie in the final set, triggering a first-to-seven tie breaker. For tennis fans, it was an epic struggle between legends, in a storybook setting. The weather was perfect and the hats were divine. For readers of David Epstein’s new book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, however, it was an academic nail biter, a test case in a simmering...
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...
