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Legal research tools in the age of generative AI

A little over a year ago, ChatGPT-4 was released, and in that short time, the functionality of generative artificial intelligence has been added to many of the tools that we regularly use in our day-to-day workflows. From research and brainstorming to data analysis and translation, generative AI is changing how work gets done.

Mar 25, 2024 10:26 AM CDT

Retired Justice Stephen Breyer discusses new book in interview with ABA Journal

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer makes his case in Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism, scheduled for release on Tuesday. After 40-plus years as a judge, Breyer’s book is a logical capstone. “For better or for worse, it might be helpful to put down my approach how I go about interpreting difficult phrases, the Constitution or statutes.”

Mar 25, 2024 8:23 AM CDT

How client service has changed with emergence of generative artificial intelligence

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Jamie Berry, the president of Evolver Legal Services, an e-discovery and litigation support services company.

Mar 22, 2024 9:25 AM CDT

Should lawyers always practice ‘by the book’?

I recall as a kid growing up in Montreal, we had difficulties with a next-door neighbor. Among other things, Madame Poirier owned a large mut, Roger, which she allowed the run of the land. This included Roger doing his business on our land. It often led to confrontations with my mother, as Madame Poirier insisted that Roger was just doing what dogs do.

Mar 21, 2024 10:19 AM CDT

5 tips for law firms to incorporate DEI best practices in 2024

Many law firms are seeking to increase diversity, equity, inclusion accessibility and belonging within their team (collectively, “DEI”). Following are five tips for how law firms can apply DEI best practices in 2024.

Mar 21, 2024 9:07 AM CDT

Citing racist email remarks by supervisors, lawyer sues Lewis Brisbois for alleged racial and disability bias

Updated: A former lawyer at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith alleges that the law firm essentially forced him to resign after he suffered health complications from surgery by docking part of his pay, diverting most of his cases, converting him to a contract partner, and threatening to end his health benefits.

Mar 20, 2024 1:31 PM CDT

What are ‘reasonable measures’ to prevent law firm conflicts? New ABA ethics opinion explores

An ethics opinion released Wednesday by the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility addresses what constitutes “reasonable measures” personally disqualified lawyers can take to ensure that the conflicts of interest are not imputed to their law firms.

Mar 20, 2024 10:04 AM CDT

James Patterson dishes on his new legal thriller, ‘The #1 Lawyer’

James Patterson has written bestsellers in many genres. But as he tells the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles in this episode of The Modern Law Library podcast, he has always been fascinated by legal thrillers, courtroom dramas and crime novels. He even considered becoming a lawyer—before his literary career took off.

Mar 20, 2024 9:46 AM CDT

Rape survivor Chanel Miller will speak at ABA’s ‘Write & Tell Live’ series

Chanel Miller, whose victim impact statement at the rape trial of Brock Allen Turner went viral in 2016, will present about the importance of survivors’ stories at an ABA event on April 16.

Mar 19, 2024 8:46 AM CDT

The Supreme Court seems bitterly divided. Two justices say otherwise

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s first congratulatory phone call after her confirmation was from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s leading liberal. The unlikely pair are now headlining joint public appearances to make the case for disagreeing more agreeably at a time when the country is more polarized than ever.

Mar 18, 2024 11:30 AM CDT

Biden recalls time he bluffed knowledge of torts case and why he changed his mind about civil-trial work

President Joe Biden digressed when answering questions last fall about documents stored at his vice presidential residence to remember his tough torts class at the Syracuse University College of Law and the first job that he got after graduation.

Mar 14, 2024 2:34 PM CDT

Lawyers’ ‘barrage of personal attacks’ on opponents started with tissue-box toss, appeals court says

Updated: A federal appeals court saw a need for a civility lesson when it granted a new trial to a civil-fraud plaintiff because of a “barrage of personal attacks” made by opposing lawyers in a closing argument.

Mar 14, 2024 12:02 PM CDT

Longtime prosecutor resigns after judge tosses him from case, citing Perry Mason-type revelations

A longtime Miami-Dade County, Florida, prosecutor has resigned after a judge disqualified him and a colleague from the resentencing of an alleged gang leader convicted of four murders.

Mar 14, 2024 10:09 AM CDT

Writing advice for lawyers from nonlawyers

From pretty much the moment that we start law school, we get advice on how to be better writers. Most of it is from lawyers (or ex-lawyers). That’s fine to start. Legal writing is a genre and has unique considerations that you have to master, if only because courts demand it, like The Bluebook.

Mar 14, 2024 9:09 AM CDT

24% of law students expect to work in public service, survey says

Public service appears to be more of a career goal among today’s law students than for those who came before them.

Mar 13, 2024 2:45 PM CDT