Upcoming Legal Innovation Conferences

A good number of you are probably going to the Reinvent Law conference in NYC next week, but for us West Coasters who can't afford the plane ticket, Stanford is hosting the FutureLaw 2014 conference in May. Agenda below.

AGENDA

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM

Opening Keynote: : “The Future of Lawyers: From Denial to Disruption” – Richard Susskind

In his keynote address, Richard Susskind will argue that three factors – cost, liberalisation, information technology – will combine in the coming decade to transform the way in which legal services are provided. He will explain and discuss the implications of commoditisation and decomposition of legal services, and suggest various techniques for the alternative sourcing of legal work. He will offer long-term predictions for the new legal landscape, including the future for law firms and law schools, the shifting role of in-house lawyers, the relevance of new competitors, the impact of disruptive technologies, the emergence of online legal services, and the coming of virtual hearings and online dispute resolution.  Throughout, he will support his claims through case studies draw from within and beyond the legal profession. Looking longer term, Susskind will outline the likely implications for the law of artificial intelligence, pervasive mobile computing, and great increases in computing power.

Professor Susskind will be participating remotely.

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9:30 AM – 10:30 AM

Forging an Open Legal Document Ecosystem

The legal industry is an information industry. However, lack of access to data hinders continued innovation and inhibits the creation of whole categories of technologies. How do we unlock this data? What are the benefits of a more open data ecosystem for the law, and what are the threats?

* Brian Carver, Free Law Project

* Thomas Bruce, Legal Information Institute

* Paul Sawaya, Restatement

* Monica Bay, Law Technology News (moderator)

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11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Managing Legal Marketplaces

By now, a generation of new legal businesses have emerged to disaggregate the traditional law firm model. The result is a number of vibrant legal marketplaces: lawyers as free agents competing in an open marketplace online to offer services. How are these marketplaces managed? And, where do they go into the future?

* Matt Faustman, Upcounsel

* Raj Abyanker, Legal Force

* Eddie Hartman, Legalzoom

* Mark Britton, Avvo

* Jason Boehming, Fenwick and West (moderator)

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1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Rebuilding Legal Education

Many voices have railed against the classic curriculum of law school, but a consensus has yet to emerge as to what will replace it. How will the increased prevalence of legal technology shape legal training? How does law school look different in a world with greater automation, open data, and more empowered clients?

* Marc Lauritsen, ABA

* Richard Granat, Granat Legal Services

* Janelle Orsi, Sustainable Economies Law Center

* Jason Solomon (moderator)

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2:30 PM – 3:30 PM

Legal Technology in the Public Interest

Lawyers and companies alike tend to focus on the commercial aspects of legal technology. However, legal technology also holds the potential to improve access to justice and reinvent some of the classic problems that have dogged public interest legal services. This panel examines the latest, and raises case studies that explore the use of these technologies to produce broader societal good.

* Ronald W. Staudt, Apps for Justice

* Margaret Hagan, Institute of Design at Stanford

* Stephanie Kimbro, Indiana Legal Services

* Phil Malone, Stanford Law School (moderator)

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4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Legal Ethics in the Age of Machines

While the coming wave of automation in the legal industry creates many new opportunities, it also raises a host of novel concerns in legal ethics and in the unauthorized practice of law. Is our existing framework around the professional regulation of lawyers adequate? What should the ethical responsibilities be for those designing automated systems that engage in legal action? What can we learn from the democratization of legal services more generally online?

* Harry Surden, Colorado Law School

* Deborah Rhode, CLP

* Norm Spaulding, Stanford Law School

* Will Hornsby, ABA

* Tim Hwang, Robot Robot & Hwang (moderator)

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5:00 PM – 5:30 PM

Closing Keynote – Michael Genesereth

Description is forthcoming.