Legal Profession Commons^™

From Decoder Rings To Deep Fakes: Translating Complex Technologies For Legal Education, Jason Tubinis, Rachel S. Evans

Presentations

Technological developments are disrupting the practice of law” is a common refrain, but the last few years has seen some particularly complex pieces of technology become the hot new thing in legal tech. This session will look at blockchain, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and ‘Deep Fakes’ as examples of how instructors can stay abreast of technological developments and inform themselves about their impacts in the legal profession. Then we will look at how to translate the complexities and jargon of these examples into lessons for for-credit courses, one-off informational sessions, or meetings with stakeholders.

Learning outcomes:

• Participants will be able …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Rwu Law News: The E-Newsletter Of Roger Williams University School Of Law (June 2019), Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

'Race, Racism, And American Law': A Seminar From The Indigenous, Black, And Immigrant Legal Perspectives, Eduardo R.C. Capulong, Andrew King-Ries, Monte Mills

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Flagrant racism has characterized the Trump era from the onset. Beginning with the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump has inflamed long-festering racial wounds and unleashed White supremacist reaction to the nation’s first Black President, in the process destabilizing our sense of the nation’s racial progress and upending core principles of legality, equality, and justice. As law professors, we sought to rise to these challenges and prepare the next generation of lawyers to succeed in a different and more polarized future. Our shared commitment resulted in a new course, “Race, Racism, and American Law,” in which we sought to explore the roots …

Code Of Silence, Melissa Mortazavi

Cardozo Law Review

To read the literature on professional responsibility is to inhabit a world focused on what is said explicitly about what it means to be a lawyer: the aspirations of the canons, the commands of the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility, the clarifications of court and ethics opinions, and the guidance of the Restatement. However, it often neglects what is not said: spaces where silence reigns. This Article takes a different approach; it listens to the taciturn.

This Article draws insight from when the bar chooses to be silent in the face of widely known violations of the law of lawyering. …

Civil Rico: An Effective Deterrent To Fraudulent Asbestos Litigation?, Lester Brickman

Cardozo Law Review

In January 2014, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge George Hodges, presiding over the asbestos-related bankruptcy of Garlock Sealing Technologies, LLC, a manufacturer of gaskets containing asbestos, issued an order estimating Garlock's liability for pending and future mesothelioma cases. Judge Hodges, after hearing evidence discovered by Garlock in a sampling of settled cases, rejected using the usual bankruptcy court recourse to the debtor's historic settlement values as a valid basis for estimating Garlock's total future liability for asbestos-related injuries. He found that Garlock's prior mesothelioma settlements were not a reliable predictor of Garlock's liability because those settlements had been infected by misrepresentations by …

The Sec's Part 205.3(D)(2) And Wadler V. Bio-Rad Labs. Should Be Revisited: The Sec Exceeded Authority In Creating A Reporting Out Provision For In-House Attorneys, Briana Sheridan

Cardozo Law Review

This Note proceeds in three parts. Part I introduces relevant statutory law. Part I discusses federal law, notably Section 307 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the SEC's Part 205.3(d)(2), as well as the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rules and conflicting state law. Part II first examines case law involving the preemption of state ethics laws, including Wadler v. Bio-Rad Laboratories, which concluded broadly that Part 205 preempts California law.23 Part II then examines the doctrine of federal preemption, which is followed by a preemption analysis of Part 205.3(d)(2). Part III recommends that Part 205.3(d)(2) should be revisited, as the …

Good Of My Patient: Who Gets To Decide?, Lauren Ruvo

Tennessee Journal of Race, Gender, & Social Justice

Physicians play a crucial role in helping patients make life or death decisions. However, all healthcare professionals have personal beliefs and biases that influence these decisions. This paper explores how physicians are able to uphold the Hippocratic ideal of doing what is in the best interest of the patient while taking into account their personal beliefs and biases. The paper begins by analyzing existing schools of thought around how to do what is best for the patient. While there are many different views, this paper looks at the main three: the bioethical movement, the paternalistic approach to medicine, and the …

Address By Professor David B. Wilkins, Washington And Lee University School Of Law Commencement Exercises, May 5, 2018, David B. Wilkins, Brant J. Hellwig

Washington and Lee Law Review

Professor David B. Wilkins of Harvard Law School delivered an invited address to the Washington and Lee Law Class of 2018 at their commencement ceremony. Following the conclusion of the ceremony, Dean Brant Hellwig secured Professor Wilkins' gracious permission to publish the address in the Washington and Lee Law Review, and provides a written introduction to Professor Wilkins' speech here.

Professor Wilkins undertook considerable research in crafting a commencement address that incorporated several prominent figures from the history W&L Law and the University. His speech highlighted not only the contributions of George Washington and Robert E. Lee, for whom …

Law School News: Welcome, Professor Nadiyah Humber 5-20-2019, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Law Graduates Urged To 'Help Bring Society Together' 05-17-2019, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Roger Williams University School Of Law Commencement May 17, 2019 Bristol, Rhode Island, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Commencement (1996- )

No abstract provided.

Does Janus Vs. Afscme Signal The Death Of Mandatory Bar Associations?, Brendan Williams

Et Cetera

In Janus vs. AFSCME, a closely-divided U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 41-year-old precedent and ruled that the practice of public sector unions charging agency fees to non-members in bargaining units, without affirmative consent, was “compelled speech.” The dissent warned that the decision had weaponized the First Amendment, and noted that “almost all economic and regulatory policy affects or touches speech.”

Does the logic of Janus apply to mandatory bar association dues? There is strong evidence it does. And if it signals the death of mandatory bar associations, would that necessarily be a bad thing for the legal profession? This …

Law School News: In Memoriam: B. Mitchell (Tony) Simpson, Iii 05-15-2019, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

The Amazing Dorothy Crockett: How An African-American Woman From Providence Became, In 1932, The 7th Woman Ever Admitted To The Rhode Island Bar 05-14-2019, Michael M. Bowden

RWU Law

No abstract provided.

Promoting Discipline Specific Literacy For Law & Paralegal Studies Students: Libguides As Transitional & Professional Tools, Marissa Moran, Kimberly Abrams

Publications and Research

Developing LibGuides for Law and Paralegal Studies students at New York City College of Technology arose from the following question: how do we change the way legal studies students think of the Library as a resource to better assist them in their transition to college level-research and a future career as a paralegal. At the heart of this question is the importance of discipline-specific information literacy at the college and professional levels. Many students have difficulty with locating relevant information to complete course assignments partly because library resources are both fragmented and cohesive. Thus, while part of the transition to …

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Opening Statements In Trial: Reconsidering The Classical Canon Of Invention, Andrew Chandler

Undergraduate Theses

This analysis of 21 opening statements probes at current persuasive practices employed by trial attorneys through the lens of mainstream legal advice and an expanded definition of rhetorical invention – one which includes both discovery and creation. An evaluation of such practice reveals the utility, and furthermore the duty of the advocate, to draw upon an expanded realm of available arguments.

To The Head Of The Class? Quantifying The Relationship Between Participation In Undergraduate Mock Trial Programs And Student Performance In Law School, Teresa Nesbitt Cosby

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article seeks to answer the question of whether students who engage in undergraduate mock trial competitions gain a competitive advantage in law school. The Article will examine the pedagogy of experiential learning methods by analyzing how student performance in undergraduate school compares to how these same students perform in law school, and, importantly, whether these students are gainfully employed in a law-related career after law school. This is accomplished by conducting four interviews with Furman alumni who participated in the undergraduate mock trial program during their tenures, and a survey targeting law school students and recent graduates who …