Technology and Legal Practice

In today’s rapidly changing legal landscape, becoming a digital lawyer is vital to success within the legal profession. Technology and Legal Practice: Becoming a Digital Lawyer is a toolkit for gaining the key attributes and skills required to utilise technology within legal practice effectively. Digital technologies have already begun a radical transformation of the legal profession and the justice system. This textbook introduces students to key topics, from the role of blockchain to the use of digital evidence in courtrooms, supported by contemporary case studies and integrated, interactive activities. The second edition updates reflect the changes that have been brought about by developments in Generative AI since the textbook was first published, along with general updates throughout the book. Using this textbook will allow students to identify, discuss, and reflect on emerging issues and trends within digital lawyering in a critical and informed manner, drawing on both its theoretical basis and accounts of its use in legal practice. Technology and Legal Practice is ideal for use as a main textbook on modules focused on technology and law, and as a supplementary textbook on modules covering lawyering and legal skills more generally. To accompany the publication of the second edition, students from the University of Sheffield School of Law's Sheffield Digital Justice team created the Digital Lawyering podcast. The episodes can be found under the 'Support Material' section. Each of the three episodes contains an in depth interview with the book's authors relating to key themes within the work. The team behind the podcasts are Maa Abena Afriyie-Owusu, Sophie Atkin, Rory Ekers, George Marshall, Francis Otterburn, Nina Rico and Emily Rutherford. The time stamps for episode 3 are as follows:4:40 - First Question (Is human interaction Crucial for the maintenance of rapport?): 11:20 - Change between chapters and the rapidly changing nature of AI in the legal sector16:59 - What are law firms looking for in terms of AI use - are they open to AI change23:20 - Will AI settle down in the future33:19 - whether firms need to be up to date with AI to get an advantage39:30 - will hallucinations lessen over time and therefore result in lawyers’ roles being lessened. 41:34 - which types of AI should students use?51:35 - Will universities begin to produce their own AI services56:10 - Outro and Summary

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