Law Commons^™

A(I)Ccess To Justice: How Ai And Ethics Opinions Approving Limited Scope Representation Support Legal Market Consolidation, Hon. C. Scott Maravilla

Georgia State University Law Review

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing our society and bringing the legal profession with it. The use of Generative AI (GenAI) in legal proceedings has received negative publicity from high profile mishaps in court filings. In one case, attorneys used the publicly available online GenAI tool, ChatGPT, to write a legal brief in which ChatGPT proceeded to make up its own citations. Following this, among other instances of the misuse of GenAI, courts have begun to require disclosures and limit the use of GenAI technology. These prohibitions, however, are the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of the appropriate use of GenAI …

Introduction: Ai In 2024: A Year Of Crossroads And Decisions, Patrick Parsons

Georgia State University Law Review

This Introduction discusses the issues and questions the legal profession must grapple with at the onset of the AI revolution.

The Keynote Address To Georgia State University College Of Law's 29th Annual Law Review Symposium - Access To Ai Justice: A Global Response To A Global Crisis, Drew Simshaw

Georgia State University Law Review

Transcript of the Keynote Address given at the 29th Annual Georgia State University Law Review Symposium on March 22, 2024. This transcript has been edited for readability and clarity.

Robot Lawyers Don’T Have Disciplinary Hearings—Real Lawyers Do: The Ethical Risks And Responses In Using Generative Artificial Intelligence, Hon. John G. Browning

Georgia State University Law Review

In the summer of 2023, the misuse of ChatGPT by two New York attorneys who filed briefs citing fabricated cases made national headlines. This cautionary tale quickly had company, as incidents of other lawyers whose use of artificial intelligence (AI) went horribly wrong filtered in from around the country, including incidents in Texas, Georgia, Colorado, and California. But it was not just errant legal research that was to blame: the cases involved everything from a faulty criminal habeas brief to flawed, mass-generated eviction pleadings by a landlord’s law firm to a high-profile white collar criminal case, in which the convicted …

The Lawyer's Duty Of Tech Competence Post-Covid: Why Georgia Needs A New Professional Rule Now—More Than Ever, Julia Webb

Georgia State University Law Review

The American Bar Association (ABA) promulgates the Model Rules for Professional Conduct (Model Rules), which prescribe the behavior with which lawyers must comply in demonstrating competency to practice law. In 2012, the ABA updated Comment 8 to Model Rule 1.1 to require maintaining competence in the “benefits and risks associated with relevant technology,” also known as a lawyer’s “duty of technological competence.” A decade later, the majority of state bar associations have adopted and implemented this language. Georgia, however, remains among the last ten states that have not yet formally adopted the duty of technological competence. The COVID-19 pandemic forced …

Tangibility As Technology, Joao Marinotti

Georgia State University Law Review

Property law has traditionally relied on tangible boundaries to delineate legal thinghood and to inform the bounds of in rem rights and duties. Unfortunately, property doctrines have fossilized around tangibility, causing fragmentation in the legal treatment of digital assets. In the United States, for example, cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may simultaneously be classified as commodities, securities, currencies, assets, or not property at all, depending on the jurisdiction, domain, or specific asset in question. This fragmented system of overlapping legal treatments increases the information cost of using digital assets, decreases efficiency, and ultimately hinders future innovation. In this Article, I …

The Limits And Possibilities Of Data-Driven Antitrafficking Efforts, Jennifer Musto Ph.D.

Georgia State University Law Review

An examination of technology in the countertrafficking space reveals recurring tensions between law enforcement and rights-based approaches. It also illuminates assumptions, such as the one that posits more law enforcement-focused, nonstate-actor-supported data-driven efforts are necessary to securing justice for people in trafficking situations. However, a closer look at how technology is used and by whom also invites us to ask different questions and to leverage the power of our all-too-human creative potential in thinking about how to value and prioritize data ethics, transparency, and accountability in future countertrafficking work.

Hardware, Heartware, Or Nightmare: Smart-City Technology And The Concomitant Erosion Of Privacy, Leila Lawlor

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Smart city technology is being adopted in cities all around the world to simplify our lives, save us time, ease traffic, improve education, reduce energy usage and keep us safe. This article discusses smart city projects being utilized in crime prevention and investigations. Specifically, this article highlights examples of gunshot detection devices and surveillance that have led to improvements in public safety in Cape Town, Chicago and Atlanta, and discusses their impacts to privacy.

Automatically Extracting Meaning From Legal Texts: Opportunities And Challenges, Kevin D. Ashley

Georgia State University Law Review

This paper surveys three basic legal-text analytic techniques—ML, network diagrams, and question answering (QA)—and illustrates how some currently available commercial applications employ or combine them. It then examines how well the text analytic techniques can answer legal questions given some inherent limitations in the technology. In more detail, ML refers to computer programs that use statistical means to induce or learn models from data with which they can classify a document or predict an outcome for a new case. Predictive coding techniques employed in e-discovery have already introduced ML from text into law firms. Network diagrams graph the relations between …

Automation & Predictive Analytics In Patent Prosecution: Uspto Implication & Policy, Tabrez Y. Ebrahim

Georgia State University Law Review

Artificial-intelligence technological advancements bring automation and predictive analytics into patent prosecution. The information asymmetry between inventors and patent examiners is expanded by artificial intelligence, which transforms the inventor– examiner interaction to machine–human interactions. In response to automated patent drafting, automated office-action responses, “cloems” (computer-generated word permutations) for defensive patenting, and machine-learning guidance (based on constantly updated patent-prosecution big data), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) should reevaluate patent-examination policy from economic, fairness, time, and transparency perspectives. By conceptualizing the inventor–examiner relationship as a “patenting market,” economic principles suggest stronger efficiencies if both inventors and the USPTO have better …

Legal Analytics, Social Science, And Legal Fees: Reimagining "Legal Spend" Decisions In An Evolving Industry, Nancy B. Rapoport, Joseph R. Tiano Jr.

Georgia State University Law Review

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 set of algorithms and the push of a few buttons, you can make sure that you’ve delegated each part of an assignment to the professional with the exact combination of experience, talent, and diligence to maximize your firm’s client satisfaction and profitability. The client will be pleased both with the work product and its efficiency—and will pay your full bill without any grumbling or request for a reduction of the fees. The client will even …

Artificial Intelligence And Law: An Overview, Harry Surden

Georgia State University Law Review

Much has been written recently about artificial intelligence (AI) and law. But what is AI, and what is its relation to the practice and administration of law? This article addresses those questions by providing a high-level overview of AI and its use within law. The discussion aims to be nuanced but also understandable to those without a technical background. To that end, I first discuss AI generally. I then turn to AI and how it is being used by lawyers in the practice of law, people and companies who are governed by the law, and government officials who administer the …

Predicting Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Outcomes Using The Federal Judicial Center Idb And Ensemble Artificial Intelligence, Warren E. Agin, Gill Eapen

Georgia State University Law Review

In this project, the authors obtained public data on over 100,000 Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and used machine and deep-learning methodologies to explore whether models could be designed to predict Chapter 11 case outcomes. The data used was obtained from the Federal Judicial Center’s bankruptcy Integrated Database and included information about case filing dates, the court where the case was filed, the type of business entity, and basic information about assets and liabilities. Using this information, the authors initially sought to predict whether a particular case was dismissed, converted to another Chapter under the Bankruptcy Code, or closed with a …

The Model Rules Of Autonomous Conduct: Ethical Responsibilities Of Lawyers And Artificial Intelligence, Ed Walters

Georgia State University Law Review

Practitioners use artificial-intelligence (AI) tools in fields as varied as finance, medicine, human resources, marketing, sports, and many others. Now, for the first time, lawyers are beginning to use similar tools in the delivery of legal services. Where once lawyers may have only used AI for electronic discovery (eDiscovery), today they are using AI for legal research, drafting, contract management, and litigation strategy. The use of AI to deliver legal services is not without its detractors, and some have suggested that the use of AI may take the jobs of lawyers—or worse, make lawyers obsolete. Others suggest that using AI …

Legal Intelligence Through Artificial Intelligence Requires Emotional Intelligence: A New Competency Model For The 21st Century Legal Professional, Alyson Carrel

Georgia State University Law Review

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 of the T-shaped lawyer. The T-shaped lawyer stems from the concept of T-shaped professionals who have a depth of knowledge in …

Where Do We Go From Here? Transformation And Acceleration Of Legal Analytics In Practice, Patrick Flanagan, Michelle H. Dewey

Georgia State University Law Review

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 used to publish and analyze legal information from a researcher’s perspective. The authors also explore the technological, economic, political, and legal impediments that have prevented legal information systems …

Cybersecurity Oversight Liability, Benjamin P. Edwards

Georgia State University Law Review

A changing cybersecurity environment now poses a significant corporate-governance challenge. Although some cybersecurity data breaches may be inevitable, courts now increasingly consider when a corporation’s officers and directors may be held liable on theories that they acted in bad faith and failed to adequately oversee the corporation’s affairs. This short essay reviews recent derivative decisions and encourages corporate boards to recognize that in an environment filled with increasing threats, a reasonable response will require devoting real resources and attention to cybersecurity issues.

Education Elementary And Postsecondary Education: Amend The "Quality Basic Education Act"; Change Certain Provisions Relating To Determination Of Enrollment By Institutional Programs; Authorize The Establishment Of The Georgia Virtual School; Provide For Rules And Regulations; Provide For A Georgia Virtual School Grant Account; Provide For Statutory Construction; Provide For Related Matters; Provide An Effective Date; Repeal Conflicting Laws; And For Other Purposes, Kristen Swift

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act authorizes the State Board of Education to establish a Georgia Virtual School where students may enroll in state-funded courses via the Internet. All Georgia students who are age 21 or younger are eligible to enroll, but the Act gives public school students priority. The Act also authorizes the State Board of Education to establish rules and regulations, including the processes for enrollment and reporting grades on students' transcripts. Students may register for courses in excess of the maximum number of courses allowed per year at a tuition rate the State Board of Education will establish. The Professional Standards …

Criminal Procedure Searches And Seizures: Provide Extraordinary Appeals And Motions For New Trial Based On Request For Dna Testing And Analysis; Establish Procedure For Preservation Of Evidence, Melissa Rife

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act provides the procedure for post-conviction DNA testing through an extraordinary motion for a new trial in serious violent felonies. The Act amends the Victim's Bill of Rights to require victim notification of extraordinary motions by the defendant. The Act also provides the standards, limitations, and conditions for the testing. The Act allows the State to appeal all extraordinary motions for new trial. In addition, the Act provides the standards for retention of evidence by court-appointed custodians.

Byte After Byte, The Courts Nibble Away At Copyright Protection Of Software, Virginia Ann Johnson

Georgia State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Commerce And Trade Georgia Seed Capital Fund: Create, D. Whiting-Pack

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act authorizes the creation of a State Seed Capital Fund which will provide capital to innovative businesses. the Act authorizes the Advanced Technology Development Center to manage the fund, subject to approval by the Georgia Board of Regents. The Act also permits the State to disburse funds to investment partnerships and to challenge the investments of partnerships engaged in innovative projects. The Act also provides for the disbursement of returns on investment of state funds, liquidation of investment partnerships, limitations on investments by investment partnerships, and annual reporting requirements.