Catching up with news and information of probable interest to the CodeX community. Apologies for some being being quite late, I’ve been visited by Connecticut’s very chatty and hungry Lyme ticks—and they are enjoying 2017’s stunningly beautiful and long good weather.

Catching Up...

 

• California governor Jerry Brown has signed SB 36 into law, which is changing the annual bills for the State Bar of Calif. and also includes “historic reforms for the public protection agency,” says the California Bar Journal. Here are some of the changes.

Also: new State Bar executive director (Leah Wilson), new Chief Court Counsel (Gregory Dresser)  and board president (Michael Colantuono) (Calif. Bar Journal, Oct. 6, 2017.)

 

• Wolters Kluwer has collaborated with Skopos Labs using artificial intelligence to profice predictive analytics on proposed legislation. Here’s the top of the press release:

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“NEW YORK, September 14, 2017 — Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. has incorporated Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology into Federal Developments Knowledge Center, Wolters Kluwer’s comprehensive tool that helps legal professionals stay up to date on legislation and rules that are proposed and enacted by the Trump Administration and the 115th Congress.

In partnership with Skopos Labs, Inc. – a software company specializing in predictive text analytics – this new feature will enable legal practitioners to quickly assess proposed legislation, and predict its likelihood of passing Congress and ultimately being enacted.”

Full press release here.

Hat tip from Oliver Goodenough, who was involved with Skopos Labs.

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• Legal Innovation Zone: Ryerson University (in partnership with the Ministry of the Attorney General) has announced the Ontario Artificial Intelligence Challenge. it includes $80,000 in seed funding “to advance the use of AI in technology for consumers of legal services.” Applications are due Nov. 10, judges will decide the week of Nov. 20.
Info: http://legalinnovationzone.ca/aichallenge.

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Christy Burke‘s “How Women Attorneys Are Smartly Leveraging Legal Technology to Advance Their Law Practices,” article is featured in the Sept. Legal IT Today  magazine. Says Burke: “There is nothing gender-specific about using technology—it provides an equal opportunity benefit to all who harness its utility. That said, if a woman attorney can view technology as a strategy for assertively enhancing her own efficiency, business development and differentiation from competitors, she can make it her own and glean real benefits for herself”.

Burke is president of Burke & Company, based in New York City.

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• Donna Payne is CEO of The PayneGroup, a software develpment and training company, based in Seattle, Wa. I’ve been lucky to know her for many years—she was a columnist for Law Technology News during my tenure at ALM. Donna also was featured in 2015 for the “STEM Cells” series of women profiles (now called “Women of Legal Tech” still at ALM (Legaltech News). This week, Donna turned the tables and interviewed me on Linkedin (blush!). Donna asked a wide range of questions that brought back so many memories! Thank you Donna!!!!

 

 

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