50 research outputs found
The Benefits of Mindfulness for Litigators
No full textA Growing Idea Justice Breyer has shared the importance of his daily 15-minute mental pause, and Steven Keeva's 1999 book, Transforming Practices: Finding Joy and Satisfaction in Legal Life, provides early examples of the benefits of mindfulness. Since the publication of Keeva's book, there have been numerous bar journal articles, websites, and meetings all suggesting that mindfulness may be the answer to a kinder, gentler, and more effective legal community. [...]this changed pattern of response is exactly what Judge Gold is advocating and what Peter Jarvis and Katie Lachter proposed in their recent article, "Civility: The Ultimate Legal Weapon," 2 Bloomberg L. Reps.-Law Firm Mgmt. 11 (Apr. 4, 2011)
Lawyers Beware: You Are What You Post - The Case for Integrating Cultural Competence, Legal Ethics, and Social Media
No full textFirst learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. --Epictetus Words used carelessly, as if they… do… not matter in any serious way, often allow… otherwise well-guarded truths to seep through. --Douglas Adams Happy Mother’s Day to all the crack hoes out there. It's never too late to tie your tubes, clean up your life and make difference to someone out there that deserves a better mother. --Assistant State Attorney in Orange County, Florida No thought left unspoken…social media networking -- ubiquitous in our society -- provides the opportunity for individuals to share their moment-to-moment thoughts and actions. Social media has created communities and its own culture. Social networking communities have empowered individuals to join together to stage uprisings, support charitable causes, launch entrepreneurial ventures, and generally share the accomplishments and defeats of their daily lives. Many lawyers have joined social media networks and are actively participating in both their professional and personal lives. Some lawyers have found social media networks to be beneficial in marketing their practices and in obtaining information and evidence to more effectively represent their clients. Unfortunately, other lawyers have found themselves caught in a quagmire of ethical and professional missteps resulting in disciplinary problems and loss of employment. These lawyers often fail to appreciate the application of the legal ethics rules and standards of professionalism to the use of social media. Moreover, like many other individuals engaged in social media, these lawyers generally seem to lack cultural awareness and perspective on the far-reaching impact that a social media communication may have upon the audience and ultimately upon the communicator. This article explores the importance of cultural competence both as a critical component of effective and ethical legal practice and as it pertains to a lawyer’s participation in social media networking. The article will first define cultural competence and its significance for the legal profession. Next, the article will discuss the culture of the legal profession as it is reflected in social science research, popular culture, and scholarly works. Then, the article will examine the culture of social media and the legal profession’s participation in this culture. Finally, the article will explore the interrelationships of cultural competence, the legal profession, and social media with the goal of providing insight and guidance for lawyers to professionally and ethically engage in social networking
Ending the Pursuit: Releasing Attorney Advertising Regulations at the Intersection of Technology and the First Amendment
No full textFinding Calm in the Storm: Cultivating Mindfulness to Cope with Stress in the Legal Profession.
No full textCultivating Professional Identity & Creating Community: A Tale of Two Innovations
No full text"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." - George Bernard Shaw. "When students realize that everyone has a philosophy of how to conduct their lives - even those…[who] are unconscious of the philosophy have one, just not a sound one - they can understand the importance of engaging in the process of developing a philosophy that will guide them in life and in their jobs as lawyers." - Benjamin V. Madison III. Students enter law school to become lawyers, but what does that really mean? What are a student’s values, hopes and dreams upon entering law school? Essentially, how does the student define herself? The answer varies depending upon the student - students with diverse backgrounds arrive at law school with differing goals. How does the law school experience transform these students and assist them in creating their professional identities as lawyers? The traditional legal curriculum teaches students how to analytically think like a lawyer, but there is little evidence of traditional pedagogy dedicated to assisting students in developing a personal philosophy about the manner in which to practice law or in creating a professional identity. Moreover, the lack of focus on the values inherent in the role of the lawyer, and the alignment of these values with the personal, intrinsic values of law students as they enter law school, has contributed to an inordinate amount of stress and anxiety for some students. Intrinsic values may become sublimated to extrinsic values and careers are sometimes launched based upon extrinsic goals, which ultimately may lead to dissatisfied, distressed lawyers. While the need to infuse legal education with more focus on ethics, professionalism and the development of professional identity is not a new concern, it has been given new momentum by the release of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Report, Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law , the recent economic downturn and the evolution of the practice of law driven by technology and the Internet. This article focuses upon the need and the opportunity for curricular reform and provides two examples of courses offered at the University Of Miami School Of Law: Mindful Ethics: Professional Responsibility for Lawyers in the Digital Age and The Professional Responsibility & Ethics Program (“PREP”). These courses are designed to cultivate professional identity, promote ethical conduct and provide students with an opportunity to explore how to create a philosophy that will guide them into healthy, successful careers.This article will first define and discuss the significance of the development of professional identity in law school. Next, the article will provide a detailed description of the two courses mentioned above and share examples of students’ feedback about the courses. Finally, the article will conclude by expressing the hope that the ongoing reform of legal education, which is focused upon the cultivation of a positive professional identity and the well being of law students, will become a mainstay of legal education and the law school experience
Happy Birthday Siri! Dialing in Legal Ethics for Artificial Intelligence, Smartphones, and Real Time Lawyers
No full textIf we ask six-year old Siri to create a guest list for a party to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, Siri might include invites (or e-vites) for Alexa, Bixby, Cortana, and Google’s Assistant. Whether the guests would be able to “mingle” with one another is unclear, but human invitees could communicate with each of Siri’s “smart” technology guests. Smart devices and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) programs have altered the way we live — both in our personal and professional lives. Through these platforms, we can communicate simultaneously with a large number of people located at multiple locations throughout the world. We can access both our personal and business emails and files from almost anywhere on the planet. Free public WiFi hot-spots are as numerous as the apps that are available for our smart phones. We can communicate with technological assistants that perform our tasks and answer our questions. In fact, technology makes it possible for us to conveniently use the same device for personal and professional purposes. But the increased sophistication and convenience of these technologies have also created vulnerabilities for users who fail to learn how the technology functions and to employ reasonable precautions. These vulnerabilities become especially problematic in the practice of law.
The legal community has confronted the challenge of adapting to technological innovation throughout its history (albeit, generally somewhat behind the technological curve), but artificial intelligence and its use in the legal profession is relatively new. While many lawyers use smartphones and virtual assistants, the arrival of new “smart machines” have baffled many in the legal profession. ROSS, sometimes referred to as the “robot’ lawyer, was merely a glint in his developers’ eye when Apple gave birth to the iPhone. Today, ROSS Intelligence offers AI driven research to legal practitioners. A slew of other AI vendors also provide attorneys with legal support services including legal research, contract review, litigation strategy, litigation funding decisions, e-discovery, and jury selection. The use of services provided by these vendors are slowly gaining acceptance in the legal community. AI promises increased efficiencies, but strikes fear into those who worry about robot lawyers replacing humans. In fact, automated “bots” like DoNotPay, a bot developed by a British teenager that has “represented” thousands of individuals who have successfully contested their traffic tickets, demonstrate that some of these fears are not unfounded.
Regardless of whether AI is embraced or feared, the use of AI implicates the Rules of Professional Conduct and a lawyer’s corresponding ethical duties to his client. Whether a lawyer’s use of AI will become tantamount to competent representation remains to be seen, but there is no doubt that the current use of AI has already raised the specter of legal ethics landmines, with issues such as client consent, confidentiality, and supervision already in play. Moreover, a debate has ensued as to whether the use of an AI machine or ‘bot’ constitutes the unauthorized practice of law.
This article explores the history of AI and the advantages and potential dangers of using AI to assist with legal research, administrative functions, contract drafting, case evaluation, and litigation strategy. This article also provides an overview of security vulnerabilities attorneys should be aware of and the precautions that they should employ when using their smartphones (in both their personal and professional lives) in order to adequately protect confidential information. Finally, this article concludes that lawyers who fail to explore the ethical use of AI in their practices may find themselves at a professional disadvantage and in dire ethical straits.
The first part of this article defines the brave new world of AI and how it both directly and indirectly impacts the practice of law. Part two explores legal ethics considerations when selecting and using AI vendors and virtual assistants. Part three outlines technology risks and potential solutions for lawyers who seek to embrace smart phone technology while complying with legal ethics obligations. The article concludes with an optimistic eye toward the future of the legal profession
The Social Media Frontier: Exploring a New Mandate for Competence in the Practice of Law
No full textAttorney Mark O’Mara’s use of social media as part of the defense strategy in the representation of George Zimmerman, who was prosecuted for the death of Trayvon Martin, highlighted the use of social media in the practice of law, and because of the tremendous media coverage of the trial, facilitated a robust conversation on whether the legal profession’s use of social media is the “new normal.” In fact, lawyers’ increasing use of social media is evidenced by a growing body of case law, ethics opinions, and journal articles discussing the propriety of using social media in areas such as investigation, discovery, and jury selection. Nonetheless, social media is often discussed as a slippery slope where only the adventurous among the legal profession are traveling. However, technology and social media are evolving so quickly that lawyers who elect not to participate in social media may be in for a rude awakening. An awakening that makes clear that the requisite level of competence and expertise required to effectively represent clients and avoid disciplinary and malpractice exposure requires an understanding and use of social media and technology in the practice of law. This article will explore the legal profession’s historical relationship with communication technology, relevant legal ethics rules and opinions, court decisions and malpractice concerns, which all support the contention that the use of social media and technology in the practice of law not only has become a required component of effective lawyering, but also that the failure to employ social media may result in the ineffective representation of clients, disciplinary complaints, and/or malpractice claims
Recommended from our members
In the Midst of Change, a Few Truths Remain—A Review of Trazenfeld and Jarvis’s Florida In the Midst of Change, A Few Truths Remain—A Review of Trazenfeld and Jarvis' Florida Legal Malpractice Law
No full text“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.” ― Winston Churchill
Warren R. Trazenfeld and Robert M. Jarvis have written a much needed legal malpractice handbook for practitioners. Published in October 2019, it arrives in the midst of significant turmoil and change in the legal profession. Issues of technological competence, multi-jurisdictional practice, access to legal services, and alternative business models abound. These issues not only evoke debate about the sustainability of current practice models and the legal ethics rules that govern but engender discussion about new malpractice concerns.
When does a lawyer’s failure to understand and engage technology, social media, and artificial intelligence evince incompetence that rises to the level of malpractice? While the legal ethics rules stand apart from professional liability, the rules may contribute evidence to prove the standard of care in a malpractice action. A lawyer who lacks a fundamental understanding of the rules and of malpractice law may not only trip upon traditional professional liability landmines, but also risks falling into a double bind if he fails to keep pace with the evolving definition of professional competence and the current challenge to the legal profession’s status quo
Baseball, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and the Judicial Strike Zone - Home Run or Foul on the Play?
No full textBabe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Micky Mantle, and Shoeless Joe Jackson—There are many well-known baseball legends, but perhaps less well-known is the story of Kenesaw Mountain Landis, a judge turned baseball commissioner who inspired not only baseball fans, but also the American Bar Association’s first Judicial Canon of Ethics. The parallel stories of baseball’s greatest scandal, the judge appointed to be the first baseball commissioner, and the development of the judicial canons, provide context for the current controversial judicial prohibition--the appearance of impropriety
In the Midst of Change, a Few Truths Remain—A Review of Trazenfeld and Jarvis’s Florida Legal Malpractice Law
No full textAbstract forthcoming
