Menu
Practice
Richard Susskind sees ‘Rosy Future’ for Law—if it Embraces Technology
August 5, 2017
For more than three decades, Richard Susskind has been one of the profession's most prolific voices in support of implementing technology with legal services delivery. He's the author of more than 10 books on the topic, and his next one will focus on technology in the courtroom. In the next 20 years, Susskind estimates, the legal profession will see more change than what’s taken place over the past two centuries. “The answer to the question of access to justice is not to make lawyers more...
August 5, 2017
For more than three decades, Richard Susskind has been one of the profession's most prolific voices in support of implementing technology with legal services delivery. He's the author of more than 10 books on the topic, and his next one will focus on technology in the courtroom. In the next 20 years, Susskind estimates, the legal profession will see more change than what’s taken place over the past two centuries. “The answer to the question of access to justice is not to make lawyers more...
How unemployment at graduation affects lawyer earnings over time
August 4, 2017
More factual analysis from McIntyre & Simkovic, forthcoming in Journal of Empirical Legal Studies: We investigate whether economic conditions at labor market entry predict long-term differences in law graduate earnings. We find that unemployment levels at graduation continue to predict law earnings premiums within 4 years after graduation for earners at the high end and middle of the distribution. However, the relation fades as law graduates gain experience and the difference in lifetime earnings...
August 4, 2017
More factual analysis from McIntyre & Simkovic, forthcoming in Journal of Empirical Legal Studies: We investigate whether economic conditions at labor market entry predict long-term differences in law graduate earnings. We find that unemployment levels at graduation continue to predict law earnings premiums within 4 years after graduation for earners at the high end and middle of the distribution. However, the relation fades as law graduates gain experience and the difference in lifetime earnings...
Legal Research And AI: Looking Toward The Future
August 4, 2017
I read with interest the recent post by my fellow Above the Law columnist, Bob Ambrogi, on a study about the disparity of results found when using various legal research tools. Those findings caught my attention because I’d encountered that very phenomenon when conducting research for this article. As I tested the built-in AI features of Westlaw and LexisNexis, I noticed that identical queries entered into each platform typically led to very different sets of results. Of course,...
August 4, 2017
I read with interest the recent post by my fellow Above the Law columnist, Bob Ambrogi, on a study about the disparity of results found when using various legal research tools. Those findings caught my attention because I’d encountered that very phenomenon when conducting research for this article. As I tested the built-in AI features of Westlaw and LexisNexis, I noticed that identical queries entered into each platform typically led to very different sets of results. Of course,...
Turns Out Legal Research Services Vary Widely in Results
August 1, 2017
Call me naive, but I would have thought that entering the identical search query on, say, both Westlaw and Lexis Advance would return fairly similar results, at least among the cases ranked highest for relevance. After all, shouldn’t the cases that are most relevant to the query be largely the same, regardless of the research platform? Turns out, the results they deliver vary widely — not just between Westlaw and Lexis Advance, but among several legal research platforms. In fact, in a comparison...
August 1, 2017
Call me naive, but I would have thought that entering the identical search query on, say, both Westlaw and Lexis Advance would return fairly similar results, at least among the cases ranked highest for relevance. After all, shouldn’t the cases that are most relevant to the query be largely the same, regardless of the research platform? Turns out, the results they deliver vary widely — not just between Westlaw and Lexis Advance, but among several legal research platforms. In fact, in a comparison...
AI May Soon Replace Even the Most Elite Consultants
July 29, 2017
Although many strategic leaders tout their keen intuition, hard work, and years of industry experience, much of this intuition...
July 29, 2017
Although many strategic leaders tout their keen intuition, hard work, and years of industry experience, much of this intuition...
GCs Form Scheme to Share Data on Law Firms
July 22, 2017
Twenty-five general counsels from some the world's biggest companies have joined forces to share and sructinise data on the law firms they use and their results in a bid to see what firms and billing processes are most effective. Called the GC Thought Leaders Experiment the heavy-hitting GCs will use the shared information to compare law firms in terms of performance, costs and whether expensive lawyers are comparitively actually worth the additional spend. Companies involved in the new scheme...
July 22, 2017
Twenty-five general counsels from some the world's biggest companies have joined forces to share and sructinise data on the law firms they use and their results in a bid to see what firms and billing processes are most effective. Called the GC Thought Leaders Experiment the heavy-hitting GCs will use the shared information to compare law firms in terms of performance, costs and whether expensive lawyers are comparitively actually worth the additional spend. Companies involved in the new scheme...
Jeff Lipshaw on Robot Lawyers and Legal Education
July 22, 2017
Over at the hallowed mothership of the Law Professor Blogs Network, TaxProf Blog, Jeff Lipshaw (Suffolk) has written a thought-provoking post entitled "Robot Lawyers, 'Skills Training' and Legal Education." Here are two of the key closing paragraphs: As a long, long, long time practitioner and generalist, I continue to be amused (or something like that) by the buckets of legal education (the rooms of the Mystery House). For example, it took returning to academia to find out that "commercial...
July 22, 2017
Over at the hallowed mothership of the Law Professor Blogs Network, TaxProf Blog, Jeff Lipshaw (Suffolk) has written a thought-provoking post entitled "Robot Lawyers, 'Skills Training' and Legal Education." Here are two of the key closing paragraphs: As a long, long, long time practitioner and generalist, I continue to be amused (or something like that) by the buckets of legal education (the rooms of the Mystery House). For example, it took returning to academia to find out that "commercial...
Unorthodox Commencement Address by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
July 16, 2017
Now the commencement speakers will typically also wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you. I will not do that, and I’ll tell you why. From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted. I wish you bad luck, again,...
July 16, 2017
Now the commencement speakers will typically also wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you. I will not do that, and I’ll tell you why. From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted. I wish you bad luck, again,...
Artificial Intelligence in Real Workplaces
July 15, 2017
Beyond the hype and the technical demonstrations, many non-tech companies are already using artificial intelligence to transform their businesses. These FT stories highlight lesser-known case studies of real-world applications of AI around the world
July 15, 2017
Beyond the hype and the technical demonstrations, many non-tech companies are already using artificial intelligence to transform their businesses. These FT stories highlight lesser-known case studies of real-world applications of AI around the world
BYU Law Launches New Legal Design Lab
July 8, 2017
From the news release: BYU Law School is pleased to announce the launch of LawX, a legal design lab that will create products and other solutions to address the pressing issues relating to access to legal services. “LawX will tackle some of the most challenging issues facing our legal system today,” said Gordon Smith, Dean of BYU Law School. “Some gaps in legal services may not be attractive targets for innovation by small, private startups or larger profit-oriented businesses, but closing...
July 8, 2017
From the news release: BYU Law School is pleased to announce the launch of LawX, a legal design lab that will create products and other solutions to address the pressing issues relating to access to legal services. “LawX will tackle some of the most challenging issues facing our legal system today,” said Gordon Smith, Dean of BYU Law School. “Some gaps in legal services may not be attractive targets for innovation by small, private startups or larger profit-oriented businesses, but closing...
