With CodeX FutureLaw two days away, here is some fresh and relevant reading to get you in the mood!

 

Legal Tech Link Connecting the Legal Technology Ecosystem (a unit of Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute) has been published!

The 10-page website is lead by David Curle, Director, Market Intelligence, Thomson Reuters, and Roland Vogl, Executive Director, The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics.

LTL kicks off with a long, fascinating interview of Katie DeBord, Chief Innovation Officer a partner at Bryan Cave. DeBord discusses a wide range of questions, “including new ways to train and develop associates and new processes and technologies to drive efficienciesb and collaboration within the firm.”

“Through a team of specialized software developers and analysts, Katie also spearheads development of custom technologies that enable clients to streamline and better manage their legal operations.” In Feb. 2017, the firm launched TechX, a technology incubator inside the firm.

 

The eclectic issue also has a delicious section addressing legal tech startups, including an article by  of Traklight and Evolve Law. There is a fascinating section that discussing funding, including recent developments of Allegory, LawGeek and Casetext.

A “readings” section offers several contributions; among them: Richard Tromans, “The New Era of Legal AI Begins;” A “Deloitte Report: Developing Legal Talent—Stepping into the Future Law Firm;” and Zach Abramowitz, CEO, ReplyAll: “How Service, Not Tech, Is Disrupting Legal.”

Also helpful is the “Academic Focus,” including “6 Core Principles for Good Legal Design,” by Margaret Hagman, Director of the Legal Design Lab at SLS’ Center for the Legal Profession.

Curle also writes a very helpful article, “Ten Sources for Keeping Up with Legal Tech,” featuring several writes in the CodeX community. (Hint: Daniel Martin Katz, Robert Ambrogi, Sarah Glassmeyer, et al.)

Also in Legal Tech Link is a another helpful offering: the Legal Tech Events Calender.

That’s just part of the agenda.  Check it out here.

(Disclaimer: I write for the Legal Executive Institute’s Justice Ecosystem.)

JERRY KAPLAN’S LATEST BOOK & ARTICLE

Jerry Kaplan, a Fellow at The Center for Legal Informatics at Stanford University, recently produced his  latest book, “Artificial Intelligence: What Everyone Needs to Know.” Yesterday, his article, “The Driverless Car of Tomorrow is a Truck,” was published by “Brink—The Edge of Risk.”

“Last October, a big rig drove 120 miles through Colorado to make the first autonomous truck delivery,” he writes in the article. “On today’s highways, drivers who may be tired from long shifts or distracted by their phones are constantly jockeying for position, weaving among hapless motorists in smaller and more fragile cars.”

“On tomorrow’s highways, autonomous rigs will travel in long convoys of 10 or more,
he continues. “They’ll follow mere inches from each other, resembling cars in a freight train. A human driver will occupy only the lead vehicle, taking control only when necessary, much as airplane pilots do during long flights, and leaving the rest of the navigation in autopilot mode,” he notes.  The gains to society will be enormous: fewer accidents, emissions, and traffic—and the plus of cost savings, says Kaplan. Read the full truck story here.

 

Monica Bay is a Fellow at CodeX and a freelance journalist. She is a member of the California Bar. Email: mbay@codex.stanford.edu. Twitter: @MonicaBay.

Cover image: Clipart.com