AI and Civil Justice Lab (Sandman)
Faculty
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| James Sandman Distinguished Lecturer and Senior Consultant to the Future of the Profession Initiative james.j.sandman@gmail.com |
Additional Information
Experiential CourseYes
Skills Training
Oral Presentations
Team Projects
Other Professional Skills: Creativity, problem-solving, and professional responsibility, andregulation of the American legal system.
Grading
50% Participation,
50% Other (Written reflections on assigned prompts; team creation and presentation of a concept for using generative AI to improve access to justice. (No coding skills are necessary.))
No
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- Class sessions are regularly recorded. I will make these recordings routinely available on the course site to everyone in the class.
- I will make PowerPoint slides or other class materials routinely available on the course site to everyone in the class.
Meeting Times/Location
T 4:30PM - 6:30PM
Silverman Hall 245A
Category
Upper-Level
Credits
1.0
This experiential class will address the potential of generative artificial intelligence to improve access to civil justice for the tens of millions of Americans who cannot afford a lawyer.
According to the World Justice Project, the United States ranks 115th out of 142 countries for the affordability and accessibility of civil justice; among the 43 wealthiest countries, the United States ranks 43rd -- dead last. Both parties have lawyers in only 24 percent of civil cases in our state courts. The unaffordability and inaccessibility of legal assistance affects not only low-income people, but the middle class as well.
Generative artificial intelligence offers new and scalable opportunities to democratize legal information and processes for the millions of people who navigate justice problems without lawyers. These opportunities will more likely be realized if lawyers drive them while managing the risks of generative AI.
This course will provide students with a robust understanding of the state of civil justice in the United States for everyday people. Students will learn about the nature of the civil justice problems people experience, the ability of the bar and the courts to address those problems, the prevalence of self-represented litigants in civil cases, and the barriers to improvement in the civil justice system. Students will acquire a basic understanding of generative AI's underlying technology; its evolving applications in law practice, including in legal aid programs serving low-income people; its potential to make understandable legal information easily available to individuals; and the ethical implications of using AI in law. Students will learn from people affected by the deficiencies in the civil justice system, engage with a variety of guest speakers, and put the skills they are learning to work on real problems.
Jim Sandman is the course instructor. He is Distinguished Lecturer and Senior Consultant to the Future of the Profession Initiative at Penn Carey Law. He is President Emeritus of the Legal Services Corporation, the United States' largest funder of civil legal aid, and former Managing Partner of Arnold & Porter. He is a Vice Chair of the American Bar Association's Task Force on Law and Artificial Intelligence, Vice Chair of the District of Columbia Access to Justice Commission, Chair of the Executive Committee of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, and a national expert on access to justice. Class will meet seven times for an hour and fifty minutes -- on Tuesdays from January 14 through February 25. Attendance is required.
Students will be assessed on their class participation, engagement with project partners and guest speakers, written reflections on assigned prompts, and team creation and presentation of a concept for using generative AI to improve access to justice.
Skills Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of the individual course skill; Demonstrate the ability to receive and implement feedback; Demonstrate an understanding of how and when the individual course skill is employed in practice.
Perspectives on the Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.
Professional Responsibility and Ethics Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.
Public Interest Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of the varied legal aspects of public interest law; Perform legal analysis in the context of public interest law; Communicate effectively on topics related to public interest law; Demonstrate an understanding of how public interest law is connected to and affected by a wide variety of legal and regulatory structures and doctrines.
Equity and Inclusion Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of the varied legal aspects of equity and inclusion; Perform legal analysis in the context of topics related to equity and inclusion; Communicate effectively on the legal aspects of equity and inclusion; Demonstrate an understanding of how equity and inclusion are connected to and affected by a wide variety of legal and regulatory structures and doctrines.