ABSTRACT
Today's lawyers must be technologically competent, per Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.1. Law schools and law firms were keenly aware of this expectation and summarily responded. While law firms offered more professional development opportunities, law schools began offering various courses focusing on technology skills. These courses have increased and evolved over time as the curriculum has changed with the technology. First, we present the evolution of ethical requirements surrounding legal technology competency and offer a description of the lawyering competency models most discussed today. We then review data about technology trends at the most innovative law firms and examine curricular offerings in technology or technology-related fields at American Bar Association-accredited law schools. Next, we offer a comparative analysis of multiple empirical studies to determine whether key areas of technology training were reflected in the legal education curriculum and were sufficient to meet ABA ethical expectations. Finally, we recommend solutions law schools may implement to increase technology instruction, services, and infrastructure to meet ethical standards. ABA-accredited schools should implement these recommendations in light of ABA Standard 301(a), the forecasted changes planned by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, and the new virtual practice landscape set by the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the legal information profession within law firm libraries in Britain and Ireland. As the pandemic only began the year before commencing this research, few studies had been conducted on the topic, thereby a clear opening for this study emerged. This study uses a survey research strategy comprised of a mixed methods research approach. Desk research in the form of a literature review opens the study. A questionnaire and 5 semi-structured interviews were subsequently conducted. To understand the impact of the pandemic on the legal information profession within law firm libraries, the research objectives break the topic down into 4 areas that give insight into the consequences of the pandemic. The research found that A) working from home was the major impact faced due to the lockdown in spring 2020;B) use and spending on print resources declined;C) the role of legal information professionals has not significantly changed;and D) future legal information professionals will need to upskill due to technological developments and improve the image of the profession. Owing to the recent outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to compare the findings of this research to similar future studies to determine the validity of the results.
ABSTRACT
In this article Matthew Leopold, Head of Brand and Communications at LexisNexis, discusses the rise of the legal consultant and concludes that while the platform model is positioned well as a disrupter, the traditional law firm model is not going away anytime soon, with talent retention likely to become the biggest challenge for all legal firms over the next few years.
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Panelists included Eric Bradley, deputy health director of Linn County Public Health;Tom Gonzales, public health director of the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment;and Niki Lemin, assistant health commissioner and director of environmental health for Franklin County Public Health. William (Bill) Marler, JD, attorney and food safety expert from Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, closed out the AEC by speaking virtually to attendees about a lawyer's view of modern foodborne outbreaks. During the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was environmental health manager for the Scott County Health Department in Davenport, Iowa. * Tom Gonzales, public health director for the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment in Fort Collins, Colorado. Prior to this position, he served as deputy public Featured Speakers health director at El Paso County Public Health in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and oversaw programs for environmental health and emergency preparedness and response. * Niki Lemin, assistant health commissioner and environmental health director of Franklin County Public Health in Columbus, Ohio.
ABSTRACT
The dual pandemics brought on by COVID-19 and racial violence has played a significant role in uncovering how systemic racism is deeply entrenched within white spaces in America. This article examines the experiences of Black women lawyers in elite law firms to demonstrate how white institutional spaces are racially organized with embedded colorblind racist practices that work to obscure the insidious perpetuation of white supremacy. Black women are required to perform added, unrecognized, and uncompensated labor to maintain their positions. This invisible labor manifests in the form of an inclusion tax that they must pay to be included in white spaces. This article discusses how being one of very few Black people in white spaces creates a myriad of issues that require significant invisible labor including navigating white narratives of affirmative action, negotiating how dominant white culture functions to normalize the white experience, and adherence to white normative standards.
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This article by Clare Brown is based on a presentation given at the BIALL Online Annual Conference in June 2021. It takes the form of a case study that illustrates how library and information professionals can control the flow of information so as to avoid users being overwhelmed by news.
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In this article James Hamilton, Research Principal at the Society of Writers to HM Signet in Edinburgh, describes the history of the Signet Library as it approaches its 300th anniversary. He writes about some of the changes that have taken place over those three centuries and he also mentions some of the challenges for the library as the nature of the legal profession has altered, not least those presented recently by the Covid-19 pandemic.