Gartner Legal IT Scenario, 2020 – Smart Machines and LPO Radically Disrupt Legal Profession (via Gartner IT)

The report offers a number of predictions including those quoted above and “by 2018, legal IT courses will be required for the graduates of at least 20 U.S. Tier 1 and Tier 2 law schools.”

While that would be sensible idea given the emerging opportunities in the legal market, I doubt that this will happen by 2018.  Indeed, I would predict that somewhere between {0-2} law schools will make such the move of making such content mandatory by 2018. The ability to teach such a course is almost never a recognized hiring priority or hiring qualification that institutions are seeking (see here here here, etc.).  Instead, law schools and faculty hiring committees typically focus on hiring for existing or perceived institutional needs.   Even when institutions focus on the so called “best athlete” model of hiring … legal technology, etc. typically does not constitute a relevant dimension of the question.  In other words, as I said in my MIT School of Law slide deck (and paper) the best athlete model depends upon what sport we are playing.

I am proud to be one of the few tenure track faculty members who actually teaches such courses inside a law school environment (legal technology / legal information engineering, quantitative methods, e-discovery, entrepruenerial lawyering, legal analytics, etc.) Among the existing institutions, there are strong and weaker version of the above courses.  However, minus a few notable exceptions, most institutions do not have faculty members with the technical chops that are necessary to effectively teach such course(s).

The intersection of law+technology is one of the growth sectors within legal and as such it is a very exciting time to work in this area.  Arbitrage opportunities are temporal in nature and given the highly competitive environment among law schools, it does not bother me if other law schools do not make this a priority.   It allows those of us who are so inclined to build relationships with the leading folks in this emerging industry sub-sector before it lands on the radar of others.

< HT: RC Richards @ Legal Informatics Blog >

RoundUp of Coverage of ReInvent Law Silicon Valley 2013 – More Events Coming in 2013 and Beyond – Including ReInvent Law London + ReInvent Law New York

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This is Hardly a Complete List but These Provide a Good Overview ….
The Future of Law as Seen From Silicon Valley (The AmLaw Daily – Aric Press)

‘Law is Broken.’ Will These Legal Tech Gurus Bring About Change? (ABA Journal – Law Scribbler/Rachel M. Zahorsky)

Thoughts on the Future of Law from ReInvent Law – Silicon Valley 2013 (The Legal Whiteboard – Jerry Organ)

ReInvent Law is a Really Big Deal  (The Legal Whiteboard – Bill Henderson)

ReInvent Law Recap: A Speaker’s and Attendee’s Perspective  (The Bionic Lawyer – Kevin Colangelo)

Twitter Recap of #ReInventLaw Silicon Valley  (Innov8Social)

Five Core Themes of Legal Services Industry Reinvention (Legal 2050 Blog – J.B. Ruhl)

New Perspectives on the Legal Sector (Virtual Intelligence)

Enough Pain?: Time to Reinvent Law  (ERM Legal Solutions – Larry Bridgesmith)

Live Blogging from ReInvent Law Silicon Valley 2013  (Prism Legal – Ron Friedmann)

Archived Tweets and Other Resources from #ReInventLaw Silicon Valley 2013 (Legal Informatics Blog – RC Richards)

Couple More Things …
Here is the Conference Website
Here is the Official Schedule of Presentations from March 8, 2013

And Finally More Events Coming in 2013 …
ReInventLaw London  – June 14, 2013
ReInvent Law New York – Fall 2013