digitalcommons.nyls.edu

Faculty Scholarship Articles & Chapters

2017 Teaching Legal Technology Camille Broussard New York Law School, [email protected]

Kathleen Brown

Daniel Cordova

Sarah Mauldin

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/fac_articles_chapters Part of the Legal Profession Commons, and the Science and Technology Law Commons

Recommended Citation AALL Spectrum, Vol. 21, Issue 4 (March/April 2017), pp. 22-25

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at DigitalCommons@NYLS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles & Chapters by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@NYLS. TEACHING LEGAL TECHNOLOGY

ver the past few years it has become abundantly clear that A critical conversation technological competency as well as technological uency on legal technology is fundamental to the practice of law. Discussion on the impact of technology on law practice—from prociency skills and training. in using the entire Microso O ce suite to understand- BY CAMILLE BROUSSARD, ing eDiscovery, articial intelligence (AI), Technology KATHLEEN BROWN, OAssisted Review (TAR), and Watson—dominates many journals and DANIEL CORDOVA, & blogs. (View the full reading list prepared for the program held during SARAH K. C. MAULDIN the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) 2016 Annual Meeting in Chicago at bit.ly/AALL2goLegalTech.)

22 AALL SPECTRUM | WWW.AALLNET.ORG In 2012, the American Bar clerical tasks are losing staf support. Association (ABA) House of Delegates New attorneys who are seen as “digi- As most firm librarians can attest, amended Comment 8 of Rule 1.1 of tally native” lawyers by partners should there is no such thing as a “digital the Model Rules of Professional Conduct come to the rm ready to use technol- to state: “to maintain the requisite ogy to accomplish many of their own native” when it comes to knowing knowledge and skill, a lawyer should administrative and clerical tasks. about law practice software and keep abreast of changes in the law and Law rm management makes sev- technology, or how to use these its practice, including the bene ts and eral major assumptions about the skills practice tools ežciently. risks associated with relevant technology of new lawyers. Management oen [emphasis added], engage in continu- assumes that “digital native” millennial ing study and education, and comply lawyers will instinctively know how to with all continuing legal education use any technology and all computer the ABA Model Rules of Professional requirements to which the lawyer is programs. Or, barring instinctive Conduct require attorneys to maintain subject.” Incorporating technology know-how, rm management assumes competence on “the benets and risks skills into all professional development that by the time new lawyers get to the associated with relevant technology.” and training is imperative for both law- rm they will have learned all neces- e Florida Bar now requires its yers and law students. sary technology skills, and therefore members to complete three hours of Many attorneys are not as uent do not need to be taught. In short, new technology-related continuing legal as they should be in using technology lawyers need to be ready to use or learn education (CLE) in addition to exist- to its fullest capacity for the benet of how to use technology on day one. ing requirements. Other states will the rm or the client, as evidenced by However, as most rm librarians likely follow suit as the constellation results of the KIA Audit—a basic legal can attest, there is no such thing as of ways to get in trouble with technol- technology skills audit administered a “digital native” when it comes to ogy grows. by KIA Motors to potential outside knowing about law practice soware Preparing students to practice counsel. A well-attended 2015 AALL and technology, or how to use these law means that everyone tasked with Annual Meeting program discussed practice tools e ciently. Just because teaching must put aside assumptions the results of the KIA audit and was a law student has used a computer about law student technology skills and an eye-opener for many in the room. throughout school or has taken classes prior training. Just as no one would (View the AALL 2015 Annual Meeting in using legal research tools like expect a student to write a brief on the program at bit.ly/AALL2goKIA.) LexisNexis or Westlaw does not mean rst day of law school, we should not Recognizing the importance of con- that the resulting new associate is an assume that a new lawyer knows how tinuing the discussion on teaching eective technology user. Further, just to insert footnotes in a brief on the rst legal technology, another Annual because an attorney can type, that is, day at a rm. Meeting program, presented in July touch keys and make words appear, 2016, invited librarians representing does not mean that he or she under- The Court rms, law schools, and courts to talk stands styles or other word process- From a government law library per- about the issues, the challenges, and ing features and tools that can save spective, any successful approach the obstacles librarians face in helping hours of billable time. In addition to to teaching legal technology skills law students and attorneys learn, hone, word processing, attorneys must also must be broad based. e legal pro- and become self-su cient with their understand spreadsheets, document fession today is reacting to, if not technology skills. Below are reections storage, billing and accounting so- dened by, a rapidly changing tech- and highlights from the program. ware programs, and ediscovery pro- nical landscape. Classes or programs grams, as well. that concentrate on any one tool, The Firm According to a LegalTech news or one developer’s approach to the e practice of law is changing rapidly article from April 2016, beyond saving deployment of their own tools, risk as rms react to the economic realities time and aggravation, understanding under-preparing new lawyers for the of the last decade and the explosion how law practice soware works and competent practice of law and perfor- of new law practice technologies. is knowing its limitations allows attor- mance in the courtroom. trend includes a shi in the role and neys to use technology as an ally in Students entering law school bring deployment of support sta in rms. creating value for clients. Additionally, various technical preferences with Sta is being shied to areas requir- technology prociency is rapidly them. An Apple advocate and a PC ing broader knowledge and technical becoming a requirement to practice person do not share the same skills, skills while purely administrative and law ethically. As mentioned above, much less the awareness necessary to Image © iStockPhoto.com/vgajic/pinkypills/kalawin Image

MARCH/APRIL 2017 | AALL SPECTRUM 23 Report described a disconnect between A new AALL Teaching Legal Technology Caucus has been a law rm’s need for lawyers with formed to bring together librarians interested in teaching “real-world” skills and the law school’s legal technology in law schools and other settings. Who better emphasis on teaching doctrinal law. (View the full MacCrate Report at bit. than librarians to take the lead in helping design appropriate ly/MA17MacCrate.) In 2004, AALL technology training programs? members Kenneth J. Hirsh and Wayne Miller argued that law schools were not keeping up with teaching the key skills of being an attorney, particularly legal technology skills: “[A]lthough state-of- the-art technology is now commonplace in law o ces, most federal courthouses, and some state courtrooms, until now, there has been little eort to contextual- ize the importance of technology for law students.” (Read Hirsh and Miller’s arti- cle at bit.ly/MA17Lawschooledu.) is assertion was supported in 2013, when the ABA’s eLawyering Taskforce sent a survey to all 203 accredited institutions to determine the extent of legal tech- nology instruction in law schools. Only 32 law schools responded to the survey (16 percent of those polled). (View the entire survey at bit.ly/MA17eLawyer.) However, the conversation is evolving. e University of Missouri-Kansas City hosted two conferences on Law Schools, Technology, and Access to Justice with a goal of providing direc- transition from personal preferences to mastered, court-mandated style guide tion for the teaching of technology in practice prerequisites. At a minimum, requirements are not new. Students law schools. During the conferences, a law school graduates should be com- need to understand the concept and be set of principles, referred to informally fortable with the basics of web search- prepared to follow the rules—in print as the ‘Kansas City Principles,’ was ing, word processing, legal researching, and online. developed. An academic-specic dis- and the le management skills neces- e use of unbundled legal services cussion at the 2016 ABA TECHSHOW sary to authenticate, update, preserve, presents another challenge. A lawyer in Chicago used the principles as a and retrieve documents in conden- practicing today must be prepared to basis to develop steps for advancing the tial and non-condential versions, as satisfy reasonable requests to transfer teaching of technology in law schools, appropriate pursuant to court rules. client les to, or receive them from, including how to leverage the informa- Since a new law graduate might a self-represented litigant or another tion and opportunities provided by the work in a dierent city than where lawyer. Each of these parties might ABA TECHSHOW. (Read the 3 Geeks they went to law school, they should have used a dierent soware pro- and a Law Blog’s summary of the pre- be prepared to practice in a variety gram or le type. Also, court deadlines sentation at bit.ly/MA173Geeks.) of jurisdictions, the courts of which and ling requirements may mean In his 2014 article titled, “Infusing might have dierent rules related to an accelerated timeline. In many Technology Skills into the Law School ling practices and soware program instances, there will be little room for Curriculum,” Simon Canick provided requirements necessary to satisfy error on learning a new program and a some context for why legal technol- them. With the emerging requirement premium will be placed on one’s tech- ogy is not being taught at all institu- of electronic ling, lawyers will need nology uency. tions. “Conversations with professors to follow strict guidelines required by about the possibility of incorporating the legal ling soware program in use The Law School technology skills into the law school by the Clerk of Court where a given e recommendation to teach legal curriculum have revealed a misper- case was led. Further, while electronic skills to students, including technology ception that current students already ling might present new skills to be skills, is not new. In 1992, the MacCrate ‘get it’.” However, as noted, the ‘get it’

24 AALL SPECTRUM | WWW.AALLNET.ORG presumption does not equate to an changes and adopt a lifelong learning AALL2go EXTRA understanding of applying legal tech- approach to incorporating new technol- Watch the “Taking the Lead on Teaching nology in practice. Canick also notes ogies and applications into their daily Legal Technology: Opportunities and Challenges” webinar at the academic assumption that new lives as practitioners. Ultimately, learn- bit.ly/AALL2goLegalTech. lawyers will learn law rm technology ing the required legal technology skills once they join a rm. is is the ip will depend on an individual attorney’s side of the assumption noted about law investment of time to move beyond rm management. e MacCrate “dis- personal preferences to adopt profes- connect” continues. sional and workplace standards, includ- A review of the literature clearly ing the ability to transfer skills between supports a conclusion that lawyers desktop and mobile devices. Current with uency and prociency in the use awareness of technology trends and CAMILLE BROUSSARD of legal technology will be in greater continual training will become a prac- DIRECTOR OF THE MENDIK LIBRARY demand and that rms or solo prac- tice requirement. ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR BROUSSARD CAMILLE BY © 2017 INFORMATION SERVICES titioners who can prove they know To help attorneys learn and update New York Law School technology will have a better chance the needed skills, a teaching model New York, NY of survival. Law schools need to teach will need to emerge. e most viable [email protected] legal practice technology skills within approach to teaching legal technology the doctrinal scaolding throughout skills must be a collaborative eort of the curriculum, not in insolation. It is all segments of the legal profession. imperative that we teach all students Ideally, the underlying skills will be the legal technology skills they will introduced and reinforced through need to survive and thrive in the “new” law school doctrinal programs, but world of legal practice. all segments of the legal system will KATHLEEN BROWN LIBRARIAN BROWN KATHLEEN BY © 2017 e conversation must continue. We need to provide the additional training [email protected] will not get legal technology instruc- needed to supplement skills learning. tion into all courses in all law schools Law rms will need to teach their own any time soon, but until we do, we can unique particulars; court administra- and should oer library workshops tors will need to keep the legal com- on technology skills and continue to munity apprised of court systems and push the curriculum committees at our requirements; and the ABA, along with institutions to add legal technology local and state bar associations, will DANIEL CORDOVA courses. We can do as Greg Lambert need to host CLE programs to address SUPREME COURT LAW LIBRARIAN CORDOVA DANIEL BY © 2017 Colorado Supreme Court Library recommends in his October 2016 not only general practice skills but also Denver, CO blog post, “What Tech Skills regional court requirements. [email protected] Should Law Schools Teach Future Law librarians are perhaps uniquely Associates?”: “Make sure they know situated and suited to accept the chal- the basics … then we [law rms] can lenge of aligning forces and creating teach them the unique skills needed for the technology training programs our particular rm.” (Read the entire necessary to support the legal profes- 3 Geeks post at bit.ly/MA17Techblog.) sion, our profession, and those who employ us. We share information SARAH K. C. MAULDIN Next Steps and work collaboratively on a wide DIRECTOR OF LIBRARY SERVICES Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP MAULDIN C. K. SARAH BY © 2017 Technological innovation will continue spectrum of projects to assist lawyers Atlanta, GA to change the practice of law. Over the and society in the pursuit of justice. [email protected] past 30 years, the profession has moved In fact, a new AALL Teaching Legal from an environment where very few Technology Caucus has been formed lawyers used computers themselves to to bring together librarians interested one where most lawyers have comput- in teaching legal technology in law ers on their desks, to the current and schools and other settings. Who bet- unprecedented one with its cloud of ter than librarians to take the lead in smart connections between desktops helping design appropriate technology and mobile devices. Although advances training programs. We have started our in technology may not mean the “end of conversations, let’s continue them and lawyers,” it is certain that “tomorrow’s move forward in this very important lawyers” will need to stay abreast of and critical area. ¢

MARCH/APRIL 2017 | AALL SPECTRUM 25