Guest Post By Alex Crowley and Mona Kalantar
Over 120 attendees engaged in a vibrant discussion about the future of law and technology at Northwestern University’s first public meeting of its Law and Technology Initiative on September 5, 2019. Attendees included academics and students in computer science and law and lawyers and allied professionals from
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence presents many opportunities to improve law and society. At the same time, AI presents risks and potential harms. From a Law and Computational Technologies perspective, these opportunities
This last fall, I began updating the Legal Services Innovation Index, focusing first on the Catalog of Law Firm Innovations. I have had the help of three research assistants, Northwestern second-year law students Lauren Diner, Douglas Lavey, and Yoon Hoo Lee.
We’ve added 112 entries to Version 1.02 of the Law Firm Innovation
Last year’s launch of the Legal Services Innovation Index attracted much more attention than I anticipated. I knew that some would find the information useful, having been in the position of trying to gather data about innovation both as a lawyer in a law firm and a professor in a law school. But I underestimated
Why do so many of today’s problems remain unsolved? Often, we have no shortage of viable solutions. Additionally, in many cases we have a critical mass of people committed to solving the problem. Yet despite abundant ideas, energy, and action, the problems persist.
How can we improve? Start by making scientific thinking a habit and
Legal industry leaders and analysts seem to suggest that United Kingdom law firms are out in front when it comes to legal innovation and technology adoption. The data my research team and I have assembled for the Legal Services Innovation Index lend some support to this.
Having just launched this project, I wanted to share
I’m thrilled to launch the Legal Services Innovation Index, Phase 1, Version 1.0:
My student research team and I are looking forward to input and discussion, receiving submissions of law firm innovations, and working to improve this resource.
So far, we’ve received a great response:
This is fantastic. It's maybe the best resource I've ever seen emerge in the legal innovation space. Huge kudos to @DanLinna and @LegalRnD. https://t.co/v7IrEiF58k
— Jordan Furlong (@jordan_law21) August 22, 2017
Impressive new project from @DanLinna, who understands value of feedback. Measure, assess, learn, change. Repeat. Congrats on smart start. https://t.co/Q9j3mQmv3M
— Janet K. Welch (@SBMExecDirector) August 22, 2017
Congrats @DanLinna on launch of this new project! Puts the spotlight on law firm innovation rather than revenues & profits per partner https://t.co/06av8PPyh1
— Katrina Lee (@katrinajunelee) August 22, 2017
"we should rank…law firms on their use of technology" Bravo @DanLinna! https://t.co/NoKt8HHdkq
— Steve Embry (@stephenembryjd) August 22, 2017
This is an excellent addition to the legal innovation mix! https://t.co/bR3dlWPj4b
— David Curle (@davidcurle) August 22, 2017
If your firm isn't here and you think it should be, contact these folks. Note: the bar for admission is high. Implementation, not just idea. https://t.co/DocIqDEkNX
— Jordan Furlong (@jordan_law21) August 22, 2017
Find out how lawyers are seizing chances to better serve clients via @DanLinna's Legal Services Innovation Index https://t.co/4i7aZe02zC
— Gillian Hadfield (@ghadfield) August 23, 2017
Game changer from @DanLinna and @LegalRnD "The Legal Services Innovation Index (021)" https://t.co/D03DskNI3c Great work Dan and crew! pic.twitter.com/YX1jzEXXoy
— Bill Henderson (@wihender) August 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/ronfriedmann/status/901436137645932548
In his May 2016 keynote at FutureLaw 2016 at Stanford Law School, Jim Sandman, Legal Services Corporation president, suggested that we rank and assess law firms on their use of technology. He argued that this could accelerate the adoption of technology in law firms and might stimulate investment in the development of new technology
“It’s simple. Nice user interface. I like the questionnaire style.”
Comments like these, you assume, refer to an Apple iPhone, Google Search, or some other product hailed for its superior user experience. When is the last time you heard a client make comments like these when discussing a law firm’s legal services?
Okay, maybe you’ve never heard a law firm client make comments like these, particularly when talking about legal services of any complexity. But that is what I heard from a potential client who had just seen a demo of the Akerman Data Law Center, a client-facing expert system that provides data privacy and security advice.
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Just as other academic units across universities collaborate with industry partners on research and development projects, law schools can do the same. The timing has never been better. Many lawyers have accepted that they need to engage in innovation projects to improve legal-service delivery. At the same time, law schools continue to add experiential courses as required by the ABA and a few have launched legal innovation and technology programs. These developments have produced many opportunities for law schools, practitioners, and experts from other disciplines to work together to improve legal services.
Conducting research and development that leads to legal-service delivery innovations is one of our foundational goals at MSU Law’s LegalRnD. This goal fits well with our other foundational goals: training 21st Century, T-shaped lawyers and engaging with industry partners to identify needs and problems, work toward solutions, and test, improve, and implement solutions.
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