Iron Tech Lawyers: Unleashing Technology to Improve the Practice of Law

For years optimists have said that things will get better once Millennials become associates in law firms. According to these optimists, this younger cohort will bring new values and new ways of working to hide-bound firms. At this point in time, several classes of digital natives are now beavering away in law firms around the country, but we haven’t seen a huge wave of change. In fairness, they are still very junior and probably do not have the requisite power within their firms to insist on improvements. Further, in harsh economic times one could be forgiven for putting one’s head down and working hard rather than rocking the boat. Finally, and most importantly, their law school education was fairly traditional so they were not trained to buck the traditional ways of doing things within their firms.

Does this mean that nothing will change? Not necessarily so. At least one law school is training its students to think differently about the practice of law.

httpv://youtu.be/ipVpjtOEyA8

On April 17, Georgetown Law School will be hosting its second annual Iron Tech Lawyer Competition. It is the capstone of the practicum taught by Professor Tanina Rostain and Adjunct Professor Roger Skalbeck called “Technology, Innovation and Legal Practice Practicum – Access to Justice.” The focus of this seminar is to ground law students in the possibilities and practicalities of  law practice innovation enabled by technology. Here’s how the curriculum guide describes it:

This practicum course exposes students to the varied uses of computer technologies in the practice of law. During our seminar meetings, students become familiar with various innovative software platforms that are being adopted in law practice to enhance access to justice, capture legal expertise, interface with clients, manage litigation and transactional processes, and increase the efficiency and quality of legal services. Topics include: legal expert systems, virtual law practice, automated document assembly, technology assisted document review, and electronic legal research. For the field placement component, students work in small teams for a legal service organization to develop a platform, application, or automated system that increases access to justice and/or improves the effectiveness of legal representation. These organizations include civil rights organizations, direct service providers, and government agencies. The course culminates in a design competition, The Georgetown Iron Tech Lawyer Contest, which is judged by outside experts in the field. Along the way, students learn teamwork, an understanding of the relationship among the rules and doctrines that apply within a particular legal regime, and visual literacy skills. The goal is that, by the end of the semester, each team will have built a functional app that is adopted by the legal service organization and put into use for the organization or its clients.

This course is not about using Microsoft Office efficiently. It’s about unleashing the power of technology to unleash the power of the law.

Wow.

I, for one, cannot wait to see what happens when these Georgetown Law School graduates begin to practice law. They have been taught how to use technology to practice smarter for the greater good. More law schools need courses like these. And every law firm needs graduates like these.

[Hat tip to Neota Logic for providing the expert system that was so critical for the Iron Tech Lawyer program.]

Update from Professor Rostain on April 16: “If you want to catch a glimpse of the action, go to http://apps.law.georgetown.edu/webcasts/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=2007 or click through our home page. The link will go live shortly before 1:30 {Wednesday] afternoon.”