Law Practice Technology: A Law School Course?

Abstract:     
Technology is transforming the practice of law, but law schools are being left behind. Until relatively recently and only to a very limited extent, law school curricula have not reflected the revolutionary changes in the ways that technology is altering the practice of law. Today’s law students, unlike their predecessors, are comfortable with technology, but anxious about entering a severely competitive profession. For most lawyers, economic survival will depend upon their ability to utilize technology to maximize efficiencies and comply with court-mandated applications of technology.

With the pervasiveness of technology in all areas of law practice today, a course in law practice technology should be a part of every law school curriculum. The concept is simple. Expose law students to all of the applications of technology that lawyers are using. In so doing, the law school will be taking an important step toward better equipping students to practice law consistent with the mandate of the Carnegie Report, equipping its students with a competitive advantage in finding employment, and enabling them to be readily assimilated into the marketplace, whether with a technologically proficient law firm, a prospective employer that wants to move forward with technology, or to hang out a solo shingle.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 24

Keywords: law school technology, technology, legal education, Carnegie Report, law practice, curriculum

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