Digital Commons Network^™

Prosecutorial Guidance And Non-Prosecution Policies: A Pragmatic Path Forward For Ai In Legal Services, Jessica Bednarz, Ericka Byram, Kelli M. Raker, Jeff Ward

Duke Center on Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Volume 109, Number 3 (2026)

Judicature

No abstract provided.

Confidentiality Of Ai Conversations: Protecting Self-Represented Litigants Who Use Chatgpt For Legal Advice, Anoo D. Vyas

Duke Law & Technology Review

When a layperson uses ChatGPT to obtain feedback on a legal matter, attorney-client privilege may not apply, as ChatGPT is not a lawyer, much less a human. Further, while lawyers are entitled to protection for their opinion work-product, it is not clear whether self-represented litigants are entitled to the same protection. Additionally, the broader duty of confidentiality binds only attorneys, not AI systems like ChatGPT. The public increasingly uses AI tools such as ChatGPT. If a layperson employs ChatGPT for legal advice, particularly in a civil matter, such communications may be discoverable and potentially admissible. This presents an access to …

Validating Ai Through Evaluation, Keith Porcaro, Carmela D'Antuno, Wilson Jeter, Bridgett Kohno, Alexander Mcelya, Nicolas Osorio, Melinda Xiaong, Demi Yang

Duke Center on Law & Technology

Stewards of legal information sites are facing enormous funder and partner pressure to "do AI" — but validating the quality of AI implementations remains a critical challenge, especially for client-facing applications. In the spring of 2026, the Duke AI Audits practicum worked with Scale Justice to help articulate the true foundational costs of scoping and building a generative AI application on a statewide LawHelp site.

Deferred Action For Workers? ¡Dale!, Avery Allen

Duke Law Journal

Immigration-related retaliation is a well-documented consequence for noncitizen workers who report dangerous and unlawful working conditions. Many noncitizen workers are tethered to their employers for legal status and work authorization, and this power dynamic often prevents them from speaking out for fear of being fired or deported. Little academic attention has been paid to a Biden-era initiative designed to assuage the threat of immigration-related retaliation against workers. Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement (“DALE”), created by the Department of Homeland Security in 2023, provides a streamlined process for workers involved in labor investigations to seek deferred action and receive related benefits, …

Innovating For Access: Ai-Enhanced Triage & Intake For Legal Services Organizations, Heidi Behnke

Duke Center on Law & Technology

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers opportunities to meaningfully narrow the access to justice gap by improving the ability of Legal Services Organizations (LSOs) to connect individuals with pro se resources and more effectively connect with individuals who could not otherwise advocate for themselves. Some LSO early adopters have already developed or are in the process of developing such tools. Others are unsure where or how to start.

The results of semi-structured interviews of LSO staff, technology vendors, and leaders/experts in fall 2025 provide information that may assist LSOs in responsibly integrating AI-tools into their triage and intake systems. This paper includes …

What Can Legal Knowledge Do For Access To Justice?, Kathryne M. Young, Heidi H. Liu

Duke Law Journal

Worker misclassification is one of the most pervasive and harmful civil justice problems in the U.S. The inaccurate and illegal categorization of workers as independent contractors costs U.S. workers billions of dollars annually in overtime pay and health benefits—a problem that has become even more pervasive with the expansion of the gig economy.

Yet, worker misclassification is only one dimension of the broader “access to justice crisis” in the United States—the unsolved legal problems and unmet legal needs that touch most people’s lives and livelihoods at many points, but especially impact low-income people and people of color. These legal issues …

Confidentiality And Legal Aid Data, Keith Porcaro

Duke Center on Law & Technology

This report assesses the reidentification risk of civil legal aid reporting data in Washington State, and suggests strategies for mitigating that risk.

Volume 109, Number 2 (2025)

Judicature

No abstract provided.

Perfect Strangers: Improving Access To Justice By Regulating Third-Party Litigation Funding And Forced Arbitration, Benedict W. Luongo

Duke Law Journal

The rising cost of litigation and the Supreme Court's expansion of forced arbitration leave vast swaths of consumers and civil rights plaintiffs without an adequate path to the only forum with the independence to fairly decide controversies: courts. This access-to-justice gap presents an opportunity for third parties seeking to profit from litigation to provide funding to support plaintiffs' litigation costs in exchange for an interest in the judgement or settlement. But third-party litigation funding mostly benefits businesses, and it does not help plaintiffs overcome forced arbitration. Many who acquire third-party funding realize that they are victims of a new form …

Class Relations And The Law: A Model And Agenda For Research, Brishen Rogers

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

The Origins Of "The Rule Of Law", Jeremy Kessler

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Audit Report For Legal Information Assistant (Lia), Keith Porcaro, Dana Han, Madhavi Nambiar, Daniela Pereira Salas, Cher Qin, Lisette-Victoria San Pedro

Duke Center on Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

The Road To Slow Deportation, Elana Fogel, Kate Evans

Duke Law Journal

Traffic stops are the most common form of police-initiated contact with members of the public. The sheer volume of traffic stops combined with their use as a pretext to surveil Black and Latiné communities has generated substantial scholarship and movements for police reform. Yet this commentary assumes that the subjects of traffic stops are U.S. citizens. At the same time, scholarship on the intersection of criminal and immigration law and the convergence of their enforcement methods focuses on traffic stops as the immediate entry point for removal proceedings. This Article addresses the gap in literature by describing the experience of …

Justice On The Home Front: Domestic Prosecution Of Foreign Combatants During Wartime, Katherine K. French

Duke Law Journal

Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine produced a shock to the world order. The conflict has led to immense suffering for the Ukrainian people, many of whom have fled their homes or are directly involved in the fighting. In some instances, the use of improper tactics by both sides exacerbates the devastation, even amounting to war crimes. Although the war rages on, justice efforts have already begun. International tribunals and foreign countries’ domestic courts have initiated investigations into alleged violations of international law and prosecutions of the perpetrators. The most significant effort, though, has been within Ukraine’s own courts. These …

Fine-Tuning Llms: Structural Fluency And Augmentation For The Great And Powerful Wizard Of Ai, Verónica C. Gonzales

Duke Law & Technology Review

The civil legal tradition carries assumptions, biases, and attitudes rooted in racism and ideologies intended to protect the (im)balance of power. This moment in history offers new versions of the same challenges with the integration of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and large language models (“LLMs”) into legal frameworks, and those critiques are being addressed in the legal discourse. Building on these perspectives, this moment also offers civil legal professionals a chance to engage in machine learning frameworks informed by social justice principles and accountable to measures of “equal justice for all.” The perception of fairness in the use of these tools …

Determinants Of Socially Responsible Ai Governance, Daryl Lim

Duke Law & Technology Review

The signing of the first international AI treaty by the United States, European Union, and other nations marks a pivotal step in establishing a global framework for AI governance, ensuring that AI systems respect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. This article advances the concepts of justice, equity, and the rule of law as yardsticks of socially responsible AI—from development through deployment—to ensure that AI technologies do not exacerbate existing inequalities but actively promote fairness and inclusivity. Part I explores AI’s potential to improve access to justice for marginalized communities and small and medium-sized law firms while scrutinizing …

Access To Algorithmic Justice: Defending A Right To Expert Assistance For Indigent Defendants, Meghna Melkote, Madhavi Nambiar

Duke Law Journal Online

No abstract provided.

Racial Disparities In Crime-Based Removal Proceedings, Emily Ryo, Ian Peacock, Weston Ley, Christopher Levesque

Faculty Scholarship

Whether and to what extent racial minorities experience harsher treatment or face worse outcomes in court are questions of fundamental importance for any justice system. Questions of racial inequality are especially salient in the context of removal proceedings that are triggered by immigrants’ criminal history. Many individuals in crime-based removal proceedings are immigrants of color who face a host of legal disadvantages that are tantamount to double penalties for the same crime for which they have already been punished through the criminal justice system. This Article offers, for the first time, systematic empirical analyses of crime-based removal proceedings decided between …

Building Successful Justice Worker Programs: Emerging Insights From Research And Practice, Rebecca L. Sandefur, Matthew Burnett

Alaska Law Review

America's deep access to justice crisis has long seemed intractable. But new and potentially transformative models for giving people access to legal services and to their own law are emerging around the country. Among the most promising of these are community justice workers. These are people already trusted in their communities, such as social workers, librarians, health aides, community leaders, teachers, mediators, and everyday citizens who are trained to help people understand and act on the legal challenges involved in critical life issues. These issues implicate basic needs like nutrition, health, income security, shelter, education, and care of dependents, and …

Power-Conscious Legal Work: Building A Roadmap For Rural Access To Justice Through Trust, Accountability, & Trauma-Informed Practices, Cayley Balser, Antonio M. Coronado

Alaska Law Review

The importance of trauma-informed practices has never been greater. In the United States, most of the population has experienced at least one traumatic event in their life. Experiencing a traumatic event may have long-lasting impacts on physical health, including disruption to all major system functioning. Mental health impacts may include behavior changes, memory challenges, inability to complete routine tasks, difficulty with interpersonal relationships, and other symptoms associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Extant literature examines the association between past trauma experiences and later interactions with the civil justice system, including litigant conceptualizations of legal system engagement as a traumatic event …

Addressing The Access To Justice Crisis: Think Systemically, Act Locally, Nikole Nelson

Alaska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Community Justice Workers: Part Of The Solution To Alaska's Legal Deserts, Joy Anderson, Sarah Carver, Dr. Robert Onders

Alaska Law Review

Legal deserts—large geographic areas where there are few or no attorneys—are found throughout the United States, including Alaska. These deserts are a major contributor to the access to justice gap. Further compounding the scarcity of legal resources in these areas, many people living in legal deserts cannot afford legal help, even when a lawyer is available. Legal aid organizations have struggled to overcome these challenges in meeting the legal needs of low-income Americans and are often forced to turn away as many people as they are able to help. Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALSC) is responding to this challenge in …

Note From The Editor

Alaska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Justice Beyond The State, Kirsten Matoy Carlson

Alaska Law Review

For decades the intersectionality of extreme rurality and cultural difference has led scholars and tribal leaders to advocate for recognition of local authority as a solution to the justice gap in rural Alaska. Local control often means developing courts in and extending jurisdiction to Alaska Native villages. This Article evaluates strengthening tribal courts or justice systems through restorations of jurisdiction as a way to address access to justice issues in Alaska Native villages. It argues that restorations of jurisdiction and the development of tribal justice systems must ensure that Alaska Natives define the justice provided in their communities. Restorations of …

Next Steps In Online Courts: Accelerating Access Tojustice Through Court Technology, J.J. Prescott

Alaska Law Review

For more than a decade, state courts have been expanding access to justice by adopting online dispute resolution (ODR) platforms and other outward-facing communication technologies. At a deep level, these reforms aim at improving society by bolstering the rule of law. At a surface level, these innovations recognize that the justice system works better when courts and law are easier and less costly to understand and use. In important respects, these efforts have been a success. The accessibility of many state courts is considerably more robust today than it was ten years ago, at least for small-stakes cases, like traffic …

Glacial Progress: Thawing The Path To A Law School In Alaska, Kathrine Coonjohn

Alaska Law Review

My contribution to this symposium is clear: to advocate for the establishment of an Alaskan law school. As the only state in the nation without one Alaska keenly suffers the repercussions of this absence. The resulting void creates shortages of legal professionals, reduces opportunities for continuing legal education, cultural and community disconnection, and contributes to brain drain. Further, it undermines the state's legal infrastructure and limits access to justice. Despite significant logistical and financial hurdles, including the high costs of establishment and sustainability concerns, the need for a local legal institution is undeniable, and this need will only grow more …

Volume 108, Number 2 (2024)

Judicature

No abstract provided.

Mere Words: The Role Of Bar Organizations In Maintaining Public Support For The Judiciary, Leslie C. Levin

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Gray Advice, Keith Porcaro

Duke Law & Technology Review

Debates over economic protectionism or the technology flavor-of-the-month obscure a simple, urgent truth: people are going online to find help that they cannot get from legal and health professionals. They are being let down, by products with festering trust and quality issues, by regulators slow to apply consumer protection standards to harmful offerings, and by professionals loath to acknowledge changes to how help is delivered. The status quo cannot continue. Waves of capital and code are empowering ever more organizations to build digital products that blur the line between self-help and professional advice. For good or ill, “gray advice” is …