Law firms acquire or merge with one another all the time. But when it comes to technology companies, firms usually keep it in-house or enter into a partnership with an outside vendor. They rarely go ahead and just buy a tech company. So when Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton announced in March that it had acquired artificial intelligence products de…

For nearly 30 years, Richard Susskind has written books asking lawyers to envision the future of the law and the legal profession in ways that stretch the imagination. Susskind has been one of the foremost proponents of the transformative potential of technology in legal services. Now, he's asking us to imagine larger transformation still: a world …

Execution by lethal injection is seen by many Americans as a less barbaric alternative than older methods like hanging, firing squads and electrocution. It is easy to assume that the process must resemble euthanasia procedures for terminally ill people or pets. The reality is very different, says Corinna Barrett Lain, a law professor and death pena…

"May you live in interesting times." For immigration lawyers, that old proverb is now a reality. Ever since the start of the second Trump administration, immigration lawyers have been busier than ever, and they have plenty on their plates.저자 Legal Talk Network

Jorge Goldstein entered the fields of science and law at a time of immense change for them both. In the 1970s, huge strides were being made in biogenetics and microbiology, and in the 1980s, the intellectual property community was being asked to answer some giant questions they raised, like: How can you describe life, legally? Can a living being be…

Peak performance in high-stress environments. It’s the goal for the basketball players taking the court during March Madness, but just as much for players on a different kind of court. Lawyers can and should learn a lot from elite athletes, says Dr. Amy Wood. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Wood shares her insights with the ABA Journal’s…

For one thing, it marks the 40th annual iteration of the show. For another, it promises to be the biggest of all time—emanating for the first time from the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. Techshow co-chair Stephen Embry talks to the ABA Journal’s Victor Li about what to expect from this year’s show.…

What if we are asking the wrong questions when selecting American judges? Mark Tushnet thinks our current criteria might be off. “We should look for judges who are likely to display good judgment in their rulings … and we shouldn’t care whether they have a good theory about how to interpret the Constitution as a whole—and maybe we should worry a bi…

Should you need a license for that? For law professor and antitrust expert Rebecca Haw Allensworth, there are huge problems with professional licensing in America—and her solutions might not make anyone completely happy. In her new book, The Licensing Racket: How We Decide Who Is Allowed to Work, and Why It Goes Wrong, Allensworth takes a deep dive…

It’s a well-worn saying that the law always lags behind technology. It makes sense. We all remember the old song about how a bill becomes a law and how long the whole process can take. By the time you get to the verse about a president signing something into law, technology has either evolved into something even more cutting edge or become obsolete…

For some people, retirement is an opportunity to kick back and finally relax. But for Roger M. Witten, it was a chance to finally tackle that book he'd been thinking about writing. With a little help from longtime friends and colleagues, Legal Briefs: The Ups and Downs of Life in the Law was born. Witten's aim was to reach a general audience and gi…

If last year was when generative artificial intelligence went mainstream, could this year be the one when it gets even bigger? Will we see more people, law firms, companies and government agencies adopt, use or integrate it into their day-to-day activities? Will we see more rules and regulations from states or the federal government regarding its u…

A federal judge’s new book is giving readers a rare inside glimpse at how a judge determines which prisoners deserve to have their sentences overturned. In his memoir, Disrobed: An Inside Look at the Life and Work of a Federal Trial Judge, Judge Frederic Block introduced readers to his colorful life and career. In Crimes and Punishments: Entering t…

It's the time of year when The Modern Law Library likes to look back on the media that we've enjoyed: our annual pop culture picks episode. This year, host Lee Rawles is joined by the ABA Journal reporters Danielle Braff and Anna Stolley Persky, and Victor Li, an assistant managing editor and host of the Legal Rebels Podcast. Naturally, their favor…

More money is flowing into legal tech than ever before, as several gigantic deals dominated the headlines and enlarged quite a few bank accounts. And the push for regulatory reform extended to attorney admissions—between a demand for an online bar exam and an exploration of alternative pathways to licensure, one of the longtime pillars of the legal…

Ami Cullen grew up loving horses and competing in hunter/jumper events. But when it came to her career, she decided that law would be her calling. She graduated from law school and began work with a firm in Maryland working on medical malpractice cases. Then a visit to a Colorado dude ranch changed everything. In Running Free: An Incredible Story o…

J. Craig Williams believes empathy is an important quality to be a trial lawyer. It’s served him in his profession, and it’s a tool he has also been using as an author trying to get into the minds of people from past eras. In How Would You Decide? 10 Famous Trials That Changed History, Book One, Williams examines cases and trials from history throu…

Lawyers, especially litigators, like to say they never ask a question that they don’t already know the answer to. But there’s plenty of unknowns out there—especially when it comes to how a case might turn out or how much it will cost. Predictive judicial and law firm analytics take some of that guesswork out of the equation.…

Glenn Fine's career-long crusade against corruption might have its roots in his college days. As a point guard for the Harvard basketball team, Fine had his personal best game on Dec. 16, 1978, the same day he interviewed for–and received–a Rhodes scholarship. He put up 19 points against Boston College, including eight steals, and the team nearly e…

The first image conjured in your mind by the word “sheriff” might be the protagonist of a Wild West movie or Robin Hood’s foe, the Sheriff of Nottingham. But unless you’re a resident of Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii and Rhode Island, there’s likely an elected law-enforcement official in your area who holds that title. In The Highest Law in the Land: …

The generative artificial intelligence tool is not just designed to transcribe depositions. It looks for inconsistencies. It suggests questions to ask. It analyzes the transcript in real time to see whether there are issues that have to be cleared up or areas of weakness to address. In other words, it's like having another attorney in the room—only…

Most—though not all—of the 13 short stories in Company deal with members of the Collins family. Three generations of narrators bear witness to the changing fortunes of the family, and as with any witness statement, everyone has a different perspective on what actually happened. Also, there are ghosts—and at least one witch. The matriarch and patria…

Jill Barton spent the first decade of her career working as a journalist, with the Associated Press Stylebook always at hand to determine word usage and punctuation choices. But when she became an attorney, she says, she realized that there was no single equivalent style guide when it came to legal writing—and she had to adjust to using the Oxford …

Much has been made of the gigantic access-to-justice gap in this country. One possible way to help bridge the gap is to expand the pool of people eligible to practice law. Of course, that raises age-old concerns about unauthorized practice of law.저자 Legal Talk Network

Justice David W. Ellis has served on the Illinois Appellate Court for the 1st District for nearly 10 years. But readers may know him better as author David Ellis, writer of more than a dozen legal thrillers. Ellis had enjoyed creative writing as a youth, he tells the ABA Journal’s Lee Rawles in this episode of The Modern Law Library. But during his…