For the first time since I have attended LegalWeek, it didn’t snow. (LegalWeek is the legal tech conference for Biglaw. The products are marketed toward a big law audience). While the lack of snow sounds inconsequential, just as the weather for this LegalWeek was different, we may be on the cusp of fundamental change in the legal industry.

There was lots of…
Continue Reading LegalWeek 2023: A Sea Change in the Profession?

Last week, I posted on the issue of whether law schools should be teaching students how to use tools like ChatGPT. After I posted this, James Lau, well known legal tech author, and former Chief Legal Officer, pointed out to me that Open AI, GPT-4 Technical Report, 14 March 2023, states, “In particular, our usage policies prohibit the…
Continue Reading ChatGPT 4: Do Lawyers Know Just Enough to Be Dangerous?

Lots of questions and unease surround the use of ChatGPT in the classroom and education. The issue may be particularly acute for law schools and professors. Law schools are charged with teaching core legal concepts that (should) equip students to practice law. 

Many law school professors reportedly question how they can do that if students can have the concepts laid out for them…
Continue Reading Should ChatGPT Be In Law School?

I recently listened to Stephen Poor‘s podcast entitled Pioneers and Pathfinders. I am a regular listener and find it to be always enlightening. (Poor is Chair Emeritus of the large and innovative law firm, Seyfarth Shaw). This past week, Poor’s guest was John Alber, a former partner at Bryan Cave and its Strategic Innovation Partner for many years.
Continue Reading When It Comes to Tech, Lawyers in Law Firms Are Entrepreneurs

Last week was the ABA TECHSHOW 2023 in Chicago. I am partial to this show–it’s my favorite of the legal technology shows I attend. It’s my favorite not only because it’s put on by the ABA Law Practice Division, of which I am the current Chair (Yes, I know. I can’t be impartial about this). But it was…
Continue Reading ABA TECHSHOW 2023: A Joyous Celebration.  A Rousing Success

I spent this week at the ABA TechShow, which is put on by the Law Practice Division of which I am current Chair. The Show was a rousing success.

Lots of hoopla about new artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, generative AI, neural networks, and large language models. Pablo Arredondo, CEO of Casetext, and I presented on the…
Continue Reading AI, Generative AI, ChatGPT, Robot Lawyers: Why Should I Care? Are Robots Going to Replace Us ?

I recently published a post that discussed client pressures on law firms to take public stands on social issues. These issues are often controversial and can be tricky for law firms.

In the process of conceptualizing the post, ChatGBT hit the news. I decided to use it least to get started. The results were interesting and showed both the power…
Continue Reading I Asked ChatGPT to Help Write a Post on Law Firms: Here Is How It Turned Out

I recently came across an article by Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law that discussed client pressures on law firms to take public stands on social issues. The same issue was front and center in the excellent book by David Enrich Servants of the Damned. These issues are often controversial and divisive and arouse passions among both law firm partners…
Continue Reading Clients Demand Public Positions on Contentious Social Issues: What’s a Law Firm to Do?

As the Covid pandemic finally (hopefully) begins to wind down, 2023 may be the year law firms will need to reach more definite decisions about remote work.

Certainly, law firms have been grabbling with this thorny issue for some time. And policies have been in flux as the pandemic ebbed and flowed. Also, the increased legal workload and shortage of…
Continue Reading Dealing with the Remote Work Conundrum: Six Best Practices

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been

Wayne Gretzky

Last week, I was back at the sprawling CES (formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. I go every year, although I missed the last two years due to the pandemic. 

CES has always been gracious enough to extend a…
Continue Reading CES 2023: 10 Tech Trends That Will Impact Legal

My people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6.
 
As we close out 2022, it’s customary to look back and highlight the most noteworthy events or discuss all the things we are thankful for during the year.
 
While I have a lot of things to be thankful for, I want to focus on what we have…
Continue Reading As 2022 Closes, I Am Thankful For…Data

There’s lots of talk about AI and machine learning and how those tools will or will not impact the practice of law.
 
One school—perhaps buoyed by all the talk and little perceived impact—says it’s all hoopla. That AI won’t affect how lawyers do their job one iota. The other group—the sky is falling group—focuses on the possibility that robots will…
Continue Reading Legal AI: A Lawyer’s New Best Friend?