Category «Legal Technology»

Misinformation Overload

Librarian John Hubbard’s extensively documented article is timely and prescient, with its first publication on March 9, 2017 prior to: the release of James Comey’s book; a long series of departures from the White House and even more from Congress; with a backdrop of a rising storm of controversy about purported misconduct by the current U.S .President – in the decade prior to his election and during his campaign. Hubbard’s introduction: “We live in uncertain times. With big data and a boom in our ability to transmit ideas comes a seemingly greater amount of erroneous information, and therefore the need for everyone to be able to properly identify, discredit, and prevent the spread of falsehoods. What follows is a tour of how much the misrepresentation of reality pervades our world (from whimsical pranks and well-intentioned hoaxes to full-blown propaganda intended to defraud and manipulate), concluding with a discussion of tactics for taking a rational and scientific view so that we may both decrease our susceptibility and improve our ability to detect misinformation.”

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Subjects: Communications, Ethics, Internet Trends, KM, Social Media

Can Legal Research Be Taught? Part 1: The Relevance Paradox

In the first of a three part series, Paul Gatz articulates the importance of acknowledging the “learner’s paradox” that “legal research is the process of identifying and retrieving the law-related information necessary to support legal decision-making.” Expert legal researchers conduct their work within the territory of the known and the unknown, the facts, the suppositions, and the possibilities that skilled and strategic students seek to learn and thereafter apply within their course of studies, and subsequently bring forward to support their respective practice of law. [Link to Part 2 of this series]

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Subjects: Communication Skills, Law Librarians, Legal Education, Legal Research, Legal Research Training

Can Legal Research Be Taught? Part 2: Varieties of Relevance

In Part 2 of his series [see Part 1 here], Paul Gatz takes a deeper dive into the challenges of effectively teaching the “why” of a document’s relevance to assist students to understand the reasons a given document occupies the role it does within the subject literature. Gatz focuses on the concept of how knowledge in a particular discipline is created, disseminated, and organized (subject knowledge relevance). Gatz states that knowledge content of a discipline is helpful in determining the relevance of a particular document, but an effective relevance determination relies upon a theory of what counts as knowledge, or, in legal practice, what counts as legally valid.

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Subjects: Communication Skills, Law Librarians, Legal Education, Legal Research, Legal Research Training

Our “Small” Project with a Big Impact: Littler’s Knowledge Desk, A Case Study

Cynthia L. Brown, Director Research Services at Littler Mendelson P.C. discusses the firm’s one-stop-shop for all KM and library research inquiries and needs – the Knowledge Desk. The Knowledge Desk is available to all Littler attorneys and staff for any legal research, traditional library resources, KM requests or questions concerning the legal training group Littler Learning Group (LLG). Via the Knowledge Desk, attorneys are connected to subject matter experts, a vast collection of databases, print materials, practice groups, internal work product and proprietary data collections, through which our team can search efficiently to locate exact information.

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Subjects: KM, Libraries & Librarians, Library Marketing, Reference Services

Stagnation And The Legal Industry (Part 2) What Real Transformative Change Could Look Like

In his article Ken Grady describes one possible future for the legal services that embodies radical transformation. He bases this new paradigm on Elon Musk’s premise: the only things unchangeable are the laws of nature. In the case of your law practice this means that regulations, custom, habits, and processes and procedures are all the focus of actionable change. Grady suggests specific ways that the innovative use of current technology and how you approach your work and client services can effectively and positively impact the not too distant future of your profession.

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Subjects: AI, Case Management, E-Discovery, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Legal Profession, Legal Research, Legal Technology

Statistics Resources and Big Data 2018

Marcus Zillman’s new guide is a comprehensive resource for all researchers who require access to reliable and accurate publicly available statistics and big data sets that address diverse and timely subject matter. The resources included in this guide are developed and maintained by a range of organizations, including: academic and scholarly sources, the federal government, the corporate and business sectors, open source contributions, advocacy groups, NGOs and IGOs.

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Subjects: Big Data, Business Research, Government Resources, Legal Research, Reference Resources

Pete Recommends – weekly highlights on cyber security issues – March 25 2018

Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health/medical, to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways our privacy and security is diminished, often without our situational awareness.

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Subjects: Cybersecurity, Privacy, Social Media, Technology Trends

Pete recommends – weekly highlights on cyber security issues – March 11 2018

Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health/medical, to name but a few. On a weekly basis, Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways our privacy and security is diminished, often without our situational awareness.

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Subjects: Blockchain, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, RSS Newsfeeds

From Judging Lawyers to Predicting Outcomes

Itai Gurari discusses Judicata’s latest technology solution – Clerk – that evaluates briefs filed in court, grading them on three dimensions: Arguments, Drafting, and Context. The grading reflects factors like how strong the brief’s arguments are, how persuasive the relied upon cases are, and the extent to which the brief cites precedent that supports the desired outcome.

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Subjects: AI, Court Resources, Courts & Technology, Legal Research, Legal Technology
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