Author archives

Jerry Lawson. President, Chief Consultant, New Strategies In Legal Technology LLC. Jerry Lawson brings fresh approaches to the legal technology space. He is currently emphasizing his work in knowledge management for Lawyers. He is completing the manuscript for his next book, Knowledge Management for Law Firms: Building A Culture of Success.

AI and the Organized Bar: Lessons from the eLawyering Project

The Internet changed the way lawyers communicate, but it otherwise made only modest changes in the nature of legal work. Generative AI will be a tsunami. Can or should the American Bar Association and other bar associations attempt to influence the development and regulation of AI, to steer it in particular directions? Since the past can be prologue, it’s worth considering a previous attempt by the organized bar to grapple with another revolutionary technology. Jerry Lawson benchmarks this discussion using his participation in the American Bar Association’s eLawyering project that attempted to help lawyers use the Internet to achieve social benefits. The project tried to influence various governmental entities as well as the actions of lawyers. How well did these efforts work? How can the organized bar better steer the use of AI to benefit society?

Subjects: AI, Communications, Continuing Legal Education, KM, Legal Marketing, Legal Profession

Research Guide: Law of International Armed Conflict

High emotions generated by the Israel-Hamas conflict make this a time of wild claims and counterclaims. Few subjects are timelier and more critical than the Law of Armed Conflict, (LOAC), frequently referred to as the Law of War, (LOW). The concept is sometimes referred to by a better name, International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Researching LOAC/LOW/IHL can challenge U.S. researchers and lawyers. There are no codified statutes or well-organized case law of the types familiar to most U.S. researchers. This guide to the ongoing war, by Jerry Lason and Sabrina I. Pacifici, identifies significant applicable documents and relevant resources and will be updated moving forward.

Subjects: Legal Research

Israel-Hamas War Project

With our new Israel-Hamas War Project – read the first article here –  we are doing what we can to help Truth catch up with Falsehood. Our goal is to document accurate, timely and actionable resources for researchers. We hope that providing this guide will assist policymakers, diplomats, analysts, journalists, scholars, and the public. Improved understanding of the law of war should raise the level of public discussion and facilitate better decision-making at this critical time.

Subjects: Criminal Law, Government Resources, International Legal Research, KM, Legal Research, Military, Refugees, Terrorism

Is A Crypto Collapse Inevitable?

Jerry Lawson and Elizabeth Southerland identify technical reasons why the crypto bubble is bursting, including the fact that theoretically unbreakable encryption schemes like those underpinning blockchain have proven to be less than impermeable in practice, as users of Coinbase discovered upon losing fortunes. Attackers go after the weakest link in the chain, usually the way in which the algorithm is implemented. Perhaps more ominous, the emergence of a new class of devices called quantum computers threatens to eat the algorithms that underlie crypto for lunch.

Subjects: Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research

Presenter’s Guide Series Part IV: The Power of Asking Questions

In the fourth article in his series on presentations, Jerry Lawson advises us on creating compelling presentations. He advises that if the audience is not understood, not engaged, not brought into the conversation, the session usually dies on the vine. Asking the audience questions is one way to improve your training sessions.

Subjects: Communication Skills, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Legal Profession