University of Maryland School of Law
One could argue that lawyers are "knowledge" or "information
processors." Clients come to lawyers because they lack specific knowledge that
lawyers possess. The heart of law practice is providing specialized knowledge in a variety
of ways. Recent advances in information technology are transforming the methods that
lawyer's use for processing knowledge and delivering legal services to clients. The
microcomputer is becoming a critical tool in every aspect of law practice. It is rapidly
becoming a fixture on every lawyer, paralegal, and secretarial desk and almost every law
practice function has been touched by information technology from "back-office"
functions, such as accounting and record-keeping to such traditional lawyer tasks as
document creation and litigation support. As the processing power of the personal computer
continues to increase at an exponential rate, new enabling software technologies will be
used to increase the productivity and effectiveness of lawyers. These enabling
technologies are; (1) diagnostic check-lists or knowledge-based systems; (2) electronic
procedural guides; (3) intelligent front-ends to data bases; 4) document assembly systems;
(7) imaging technology; (6) multimedia technologies; and (7) communication technologies
such as the Internet. The convergence of these technologies is transforming the way law is
practiced.
An underlying theme of this course is that new tools for communicating and working with
information not only affect our ability to express ourselves, but ultimately bring about
changes in what law is and does. The impact of information technology on law will result
in reorganizing the legal profession itself into two communities: those that know how to
practice law with computers and become what Ethan Katsh has labeled as "Digital
Lawyers"; and those who continue to practice as if the world were still dominated by
print technology.
Course Objectives
First, it is designed to provide a conceptual framework to enable students to
understand the technological issues surrounding the computerization of the legal
profession at more than a superficial level and be able to evaluate alternatives in light
of their productivity, costs, and quality of work life goals.
Second, the course is designed to enable law students to have competence and confidence
in dealing with information technology, and particular applications of information
technology to the practice of law.
Third, the course deals with the impact of information technology on the organization
of the profession itself and helps law students to understand the impact that the
transformation of all law into electronic media is likely to have on their careers and the
way they practice law.
The course covers basic topics as well as the emerging enabling technologies listed
above that are now coming into widespread use in law firms.
Using the Net
On-line presence and usage on the network is a major aspect of the subject of this
course. We will not only be discussing the impact of the network on the practice of law-
we will be using it actively throughout the semester. You will need to be comfortable
using Email. You should also become familiar with accessing material on the World-Wide
Web, using a web client such as Netscape or Mosaic.
Some of the material for this course will be accessible via the World-Wide Web on the
course home page. The page contains course information, including pointers to assigned
readings and source materials. This page is also the place to look for current
announcements and assignments. You should check here at least once every few days during
the semester. I prefer to receive communications from students by E-Mail. This aspect of
the course will require that each student have an e-mail address and Internet access. If
you already have an Internet connection that is not a university address, you can use that
e-mail address as your e-mail address for this course. I will ask you for your e-mail
address by the second session of the course.
Assigned Readings
The readings this semester will include a small number of works that everyone must
read, a larger number of suggested readings, and additional materials that you should pick
and choose from according to your interests. Most of this material is on-line in the
course readings section of the home page. There is also materials on reserve for the
course in the library.
Required Texts
Richard Susskind, The Future of Law, Oxford University Press, 1996.
Burgess Allison, The Lawyer's Guide to the Internet, Section of Law Practice Management, American Bar Association, 1995.
Recommended:
Henry H. Perritt, Jr., Everything the Solo Practitioner Needs to Know About Computers, (Practicing Law Institute, 1994).
Ethan Katsh, The Electronic Media and the Transformation of Law, (Oxford
University Press, 1989, (Paperback Edition).
Readings on the Future Practice of Law in this web site.
Katsh, Ethan, Digital Lawyers: Orienting the Legal Profession to Cyberspace (On
web site).
Bruce, Tom R., The Internet and Legal Information: Projects and Prospects (On web
site)
Martin, Peter W., Five Reasons for Lawyers and Law Firms to Be on the Internet (On
web site)
Widdison, Robin., Lawyering on the Internet (On Web Site)
Supplementary Distributed Materials
Software Disc from American Bar Association
Using the Internet
On-line presence and usage of the Internet is a major aspect of this course. We will
not only be discussing the impact of the network on the practice of law- we will be using
it actively throughout the semester. You will need to be comfortable using Email. You
should also become familiar with accessing material on the World-Wide Web, using a web
client such as Netscape or Microsoft Explorer.
I have placed on reserve several HTML authoring guides including: Laura Lemay, Teach
Yourself WEB Publishing with HTML in a Week (1995). You should feel free to substitute any
comparable introductory guide to writing an HTML document (also known as a World Wide Web
page), including those found on the Internet.
Much of the material for this course will be accessible via the World-Wide Web on the
course home page/web site which is located at: www.granat.com. The web site contains
course information, including pointers to assigned readings and source materials. This
page is also the place to look for current announcements and assignments. You should check
here at least once every few days during the semester. An class electronic discussion
group will also be operated off the web site at www.granat.com.
Please do four things before the first class
1.Acquire from the Book Store the class texts.
2. Secure an Internet/e-mail account from the Law School Tech Lab if you don't already have one..
3. Send me a private e-mail message to: richard@granat.com. Tell me what you hope to learn from this course.
Session 1: Introduction; Course Expectations; Course Structure, Assignments, and
Requirements.
Reading Assignment: Susskind, Introduction, Chapter 1, General discussion of the impact
of electronic media on law and the legal profession; The concept of the digital lawyer;
displacement and convergence; time and space.
Session 2: Why Computerize a Law Practice?; Introduction to the Internet.
The first hour of this session will be held in the TAL Center. Go directly to the TAL Center.. Make sure you have an email account and know your password. Reading Assignment: Martin, Widdison, Bruce, and Katsh articles on this Web Site. Burgess Allison, Page 3-135.
Session 3: Why Computerize a Law Practice? Internet Introduction Continued. First Hour in Lab Hands on Internet Session.
Productivity in the Delivery of Legal Services: Concepts and Economics
Session 4: Hardware and Software
Reading Assignment:
Software categories: (Operating systems; programming languages; applications software;
macro languages). Object-oriented Programming Language. Visual Basic. Java and HotJava.
Implications for law firm application development. Selecting law firm applications.
Session 5: Developing Substantive Legal Systems.
System Design Principles. Case Study: Distributed Materials.
Session 6: Document Assembly and Preparation.
Automation Potential. The technology of developing and using Document Assembly Systems in a Practice Environment. Word Processing vs. Document Assembly. Types of Document Assembly Programs. Hot Docs and CAPS Personal.
System Flow Charts Due.
Session 7: Document Assembly and Preparation , Part II.
Recognizing potential benefits, Identifying costs and benefits. Organizational and
Economic Implications. Case Study: Will Drafting Program.
Session 8: Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning
Read Assignment: Distributed Materials.
Checklists and Forms. Legal Reasoning and Logic. Inductive Reasoning. Rule-Based Expert
Systems. Programming Languages. Legal Knowledge Representation. Deciding What Questions to
Ask. Presenting Results: Advice and Documents. Decision-Support Software.
Exercise: Development of an Intelligent Checklist or "Diagnostic." You
have been asked to develop an expert system for use at The Public Justice Center's
Landlord/Tenant Project. Although a programmer will do the programming, your expertise is
needed to design the questions, the possible responses, and what the program will do with
respect to each response. You are not asked to do the programming.
Session 9: Presentation Software. How To Present Legal Concepts and Legal
Information Visually.
Reading Assignment: Distributed Materials.
Use of Graphics and Visual Aids in Dispute Settlement. Multimedia Legal Documents. Electronic Contracts.
Session 10: Data Bases in Law Practice, Part I.
Automation Potential. Applications: Litigation Support; Law Firm Document Databases;
Free Text v. Structured Data Bases. Database Architecture: Flat file vs. Relational.
Setting requirements and evaluating different approaches. Procedures for database use.
Examples: Docket Control; Client Data Base; Conflict Checking.
Session 11: Data Bases in Law Practice, Part II, Automated Litigation Support.
Case Study #1: Automating the Litigation Practice. Document Data Bases; Deposition Data
Bases; Case Management Programs; Design issues: codes, security, documentation. Design of
a Litigation Support Data Base Utilizing Summation.
Session 12: Financial Analysis and Spreadsheet Programs.
Reading Assignment: Distributed Materials. Specific Programs: Excel, LOTUS 1,2,3,;
Quatro Pro. Case Studies: resent Value Analysis; Law Practice Profitability; Evaluating A
Settlement Offer. Exercise in Using Spreadsheets.
Session 13: Networking, Telecommunications, and Connectivity.
The Technology. Communicating Legal Information; Automation Potential; How Computers
Communicate; E-Mail; Groupware; Lotus Notes® Evaluating LAN Technology. Intranets.
Session 14: The Internet and the Practice of Law; The Computer is the Network.
Spreadsheet Exercise is Due.
Reading Assignment: Perritt: Chapter 6 and 7. Review Allison, Page 3-135.
Future Growth of the Internet. What is the Internet? How to Connect to the Internet?
Internet Tools. What is on the Internet for Lawyers. The World-Wide-Web. Security Issues.
Implications for the Practice of Law?
Session 15: Planning for Change.
Whose productivity will be improved? Automation compared with Innovation, New ways of
delivering legal services. Impact on clients. Training Issues. How to Do A Technology
Audit of a Law Firm. Career Development Issues.
Required work and grades:
Independent Study Project
The Independent Project is your opportunity to demonstrate skills that you have learned
in the class by developing a program that would be useful in a law practice. Only certain
types of projects are eligible as Independent Study projects. All Independent Study
Project topics must be approved me and must be submitted for approval before November 1,
1997.
The Independent Study Project allows you to try out your newly acquired skills in a
real world environment. A typical project would be automating a process or legal
procedure, or making recommendations concerning the automation of a department in a law
firm that you in, or are associated with in some way. I encourage you to seek out projects
where you can function as a "Computer Consultant" to a client.
If your project results in a document which is the equivalent of a paper with
written recommendations, you are required to submit your project in HTML. format suitable
for publication on the World Wide Web. As you will see from the eligible list of
projects below, all of the projects required you to do something in "software."
Traditional research papers are not eligible as Independent Study Projects.
Please see me, if you have a particularly innovative idea for a project and it is not
on the list of approved project types. I am open to other proposals.
