I’m still processing FutureLaw —the people, ideas, challenges, surprises, mysteries and revelations, et al—but for now, here are links to reports from Above the Law and Bloomberg BNA Big Law Business:

Joe Borstein, on Above the Law

> “Alt.legal: Stanford’s FutureLaw 2015—Literally with Robots (And RobCops). Love his lead: “Pop quiz—where can you find legal entrepreneurs, celebrities, and free roaming robotic columns?” (Yup, the answer is CodeX FutureLaw.)

“The key theme that ran through the event was that technological change is coming to the legal profession, and those that embrace it (and understand it) will prosper,” he observed. Borstein declared that “this year’s game changer [is] computational law.” He called CodeX’ research director, Michael Genesereth, “a real heavyweight and a fascinating speaker. Genesereth raised ideas which were totally new to me, even after years in the alternative legal world as a writer and businessman.” (Borstein is a Global Director at Thomson Reuters’ Panega3.)

> “Alt.legal: I Bet You Haven’t Heard This One Before.” Borstein kicks off this post: “It’s the one about the tech-illiterate Biglaw associate (I know, you’ve heard that one) who walks away from her promising career at one of the most prestigious law firms in the country . . . to invent a new category of software. . . for litigating! A magical software program that makes you better as a litigator and is so cool that you wish you thought of it yourself.”

He’s talking about Alma Asay, creator of Allegory. “Alma’s story has a special place in my heart because she is living my dream: bringing her success in Biglaw to the whole legal community through the wonders of technology.”

Joyce Cutler, on Bloomberg BNA Big Law Business:

> “Will Powerful Technology Replace Lawyers” reported on a luncheon presentation by Oliver Goodenough, a CodeX visiting professor from Vermont Law and Jerry Kaplan, a CodeX fellow and visiting computer science lecturer. They joined Genesereth at a very helpful panel explaining computational law for the journalists who were attending the CodeX FutureLaw conference.   Culter quoted Goodenough: “The lawyer as we conceive of it today is the problem, not the solution.”

> “The Debate About Large Tech Purchases” covered the panel, “The Adoption of Technology Within Corporate Legal Departments.”  Sidley Austin’s senior counsel Karen Cottle, discussed how software as a service systems “can be implemented with very little work compared to custom-designed systems but there are always trade-offs in terms of functionality and other factors.” (Panelists included Bloomberg BNA vice president Kevin Colangelo.)

> “At Stanford Conference, ‘Legal Technicians’ Discussed” addressed regulation issues facing innovators. Cutler focused on Washington state, where the Supreme Court has approved  “Limited License Legal Technician” lawyers. “We are heading into the world were we will no longer be educating and regulating lawyers,” said Paula Littlewood, executive director of the Washington State Bar Association. “Chas Rampenthal, general counsel for LegalZoom [said] “This is the change of the future and I think the American Bar Association as a guild should be getting on board,”  wrote Culter. (I moderated the panel.)

Cutler is a 24-year veteran at Bloomberg BNA’s San Francisco bureau. She covers legal and regulatory news in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

SEE ALSO

• Computational Legal Studies,  “Stanford CodeX FutureLaw Conference 2015—Conference on Innnovation, Technology and the Future of the Legal Industry.” —Daniel Martin Katz & Michel Bommarito

• #FutureLaw 2015 Thoughts, Madisonian.net.

• Open Law Lab (Margaret Hagan):  “How Can We Improve Regulation of the Legal Industry? #FutureLaw. (She was a speaker on the regulations panel.)

BIO

Monica Bay is a Fellow at CodeX. A member of the California bar, she is a Special Consultant at The Cowen Group and a freelance reporter for Bloomberg BNA Big Law Business.