Abstract “Meta-regulation” refers to deliberate efforts to induce private firms to create their own internal regulations—a regulatory strategy sometimes referred to as “management-based regulation” or even “regulation of self-regulation.” Meta-regulation is often presented as a flexible alternative to traditional “command-and-control” regulation. But does meta-regulation actually work? In her recent book, Meta-Regulation in Practice: Beyond Normative Views…
Law Libraries and the Future of Public Access to Born-Digital Government Information
Abstract As government publications have shifted from print to electronic, mechanisms for guaranteeing the public’s right to access government information have not kept pace. Because legal resources are among the publications most at risk of loss, law libraries should participate in efforts to ensure that born-digital government information remains freely available to all. Citation Kunkel,…
Outlooks, Techniques, and Words: Product Design, Practicing Law, and Engaging Students in Legal Practice
Abstract This paper is a reflection by a law school teacher and corporate lawyer about learning from the design disciplines. The paper describes how design influences the author’s understanding of and approach to legal documents, his use of visual methods in doing legal work and engaging with students, and concepts and language he uses in…
Practising As a Lawyer in a Partnership and Multidisciplinary Practice in Québec: Progress and Prospects
Abstract The regulatory framework relating to the legal professions in Québec reached a turning point in the 2000s, following the adoption of the Règlement sur l’exercice de la profession d’avocat en société et en multidisciplinarité. More than a decade later, this article examines the negotiation surrounding the drafting of the Règlement, and the various arguments…
Conduct Yourselves Accordingly: Amending Bar Character and Fitness Questions to Promote Lawyer Well-Being
Abstract A number of states have modified the questions on the Character and Fitness portion of their application for bar admission addressing an applicant’s substance use and mental health disorders. While some have eliminated the questions altogether, others continue to pose questions which authors and ABA members David Jaffe and Janet Stearns argue are overly…
Digital Justice: Technology and the Internet of Disputes (Introduction)
Abstract Improving access to justice has been an ongoing but frustrating goal of our society. The theme of this book is that we have new technological tools to resolve disputes and new tools to prevent disputes. Alternative dispute resolution, namely, mediation and arbitration, brought dispute resolution out of court. Digital Justice introduces the reader to…
Will Artificial Intelligence Eat the Law? The Rise of Hybrid Social-Ordering Systems
Abstract Software has partially or fully displaced many former human activities, such as catching speeders or flying airplanes, and proven itself able to surpass humans in certain contests, like Chess and Jeopardy. What are the prospects for the displacement of human courts as the centerpiece of legal decision-making? Based on the case study of hate…
Professions and Expertise: How Machine Learning and Blockchain are Redesigning the Landscape of Professional Knowledge and Organisation
Abstract Machine learning has entered the world of the professions with differential impacts. Engineering, architecture, and medicine are early and enthusiastic adopters. Other professions, especially law, are late and in some cases reluctant adopters. And in the wider society automation will have huge impacts on the nature of work and society. This paper examines the…
What Happened to the Class of 2010? Empirical Evidence of Structural Change in the Legal Profession
Abstract Poor employment outcomes have plagued law school graduates for several years. Legal scholars have debated whether these outcomes stem from macroeconomic cycles or from fundamental changes in the market for legal services. This Article examines that question empirically, using a database of employment outcomes for more than 1,200 lawyers who received their JDs in…
Litigation in the UK Supreme Court: Collecting and Exploring the Data
Abstract The aims of this project are twofold: (1) to construct a dataset on litigation before the highest UK court with minimum copyright and licensing issues and: (2) to explore the dataset in order to show what empirical research is possible by using only the data made available directly by the government (including the courts)….