Musings on law, tech, chess & other topics by a geek

Austin Kim a VISTA working with the NTAP project and soon to be 1L at NYU has just written a short white paper on possible Applications for Access to Justice.  I highly recommended checking the ideas out. Two of them were submitted to the Washington State Broadband apps contest at .

Mobile App Idea Summaries

Proposals Submitted to Evergreen Apps:
1) Limited English Proficiency Assistance
2) Legal Assistance Finder for the State of Washington

1. Citizenship Works – Naturalization Assistance via Mark O’brien, Pro Bono Net

Based off the CitizenshipWorksprojects, this mobile app would help immigrants find out if they are eligible to naturalize  in the United States, and if so, what steps they should take to get them through the process. Some of the features that would be included in this app are

• Physical presence calculator – allows users to enter green card date and all subsequent periods out of the country to determine eligibility:
• Language eligibility calculator
• Interactive “bring list” to ensure folks know what documents they need to bring to appointments with legal services providers
• Flashcards for English & Civics test preparation
• Savings calculator to help users plan for the application fee

Also included in this app would be a referral system so that people can find non-profit organizations that can help them through this process, as well as a know-your-rights resource.

2. Online Intake via Russell P. Butler, Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center, Inc.

An online intake mobile app would walk those with legal problems through an intuitive step-by-step process that allows a legal aid organization to easily obtain and sort through relative information. The intake system would then check to see if the prospective client is eligible for legal services, and if not, would provide resources, documents, and perhaps even referrals. This has the benefit of cutting down the costs for legal aid organizations in both time and money in doing intake as well as giving prospective clients another relatively easy way to look for legal assistance.

3. Ask-A-Volunteer-Lawyer App via William L. Jones, American Bar Association

Based off OnlineTNJustice.org, this mobile app would allow people to submit questions to a clearinghouse with the possibility of receiving free legal advice from volunteer lawyers. This app would be targeted at low-income people and focus on issues like foreclosure, domestic violence, and family law. However, there would be no guarantee that the question would be answered or a lawyer will take the case, but it would be a great way to increase access to justice by providing a quick go-to location for small legal questions.

4.  Field Guide to FAQs in Illinois Law via Gwen Daniels, Illinois Legal Aid Online

This mobile app based of Illinois Legal Aid’s mobile app and the Illinois Pro Bono app that creates resources and documents aimed at addressing the most commonly asked questions in legal aid. Since most legal aid organizations already have substantial online resources, these apps take these resources, put them in a database, organize them as guides, and then are released as apps.

5. Choiceboxing via Marc Lauritsen, Capstone Practice Systems

This mobile app would be a cloud-based collaborative decision making tool. It would allow multiple users to look at the same decision-making interface and simultaneously see edits (think Google Docs). For example, this would allow attorneys help clients with document assembly or figure out exactly what the client wants. This could be extended even further with the ability to create custom made content to be specific to any given situation. There are many decisions in the nonprofit legal services context that would benefit from a handy tool that leverages interactive visualization and social production techniques.

Read the attachment for a full explanation.

6 .Legal Aid News / Legal Aid Finder via Gwen Daniels, Illinois Legal Aid Online

This app would be based off the work from Pine Tree Legal Aid’s already existent mobile apps. While Pine Tree Legal released these as two separate apps, it would be possible to integrate the two apps into one.

The Legal Aid News app provides news about legal aid and related programs around the country. News is available for legal aid programs state by state, for national legal centers for low-income people, for the legal services corporation or for all the news. The app will provide the fifty most recent news stories for any state or category.

The Legal Aid Finder app provides contact information and website links for legal aid programs around the country. Information is provided on a state by state basis. Initially we provide information on only staff based programs providing direct representation to low-income clients, but look for an upgrade soon to include pro bono programs, as well.

7. Privacy checker via Claudia Johnson, Pro Bono Net

This app would be for for legal aid and non profit groups thinking of building an app that gives them a checklist of the dos and don’ts to protect the privacy of the users—and sample plain language disclaimer languages, etc. There are so many groups jumping on this that are not privacy experts, and the state of privacy in apps is still in flux—that it would be good to develop a tool that non-profits could use to plan their approach and technology.

The corollary of this would be to build an app targeted at information seekers—that gives them a way to ascertain if the app they are looking to download is up to snuff on privacy, etc. In the legal field, it would maybe list the “legit” apps, created by reputable groups, such as legal aid and bonafide non profits—so that they don’t download apps that take them to unscrupulous sites, places.

This may require checking against some standard—and I am not sure where industry standards are right now—probably not very advanced, considering how facebook apps can take your friend’s info but not yours, w/out any disclaimers to your friends or you that that is what they are doing…or the whole google taking info beyond what they needed for the mapping project…but maybe a think tank has some standards already in mind or guidelines or protocols—all of this would require research.

8. Triage (can be rolled into app 3, 4, or even 6) via Claudia Johnson, Pro Bono Net

A triage/self assessment tools. So, for example, for someone who may be getting laid off and worried about foreclosure—give them an app (tool) where they can figure out their options—so they can be ready should things turn out bad. If this was based on the recent settlement agreement from the AGs (the common terms/requirements) and federal law, then this could be replicated for other states.

Same thing with people who are victims of DV or harassment or stalking—or people who are not paid overtime—give them a tool to do a self assessment of what options they may have, based on their answers and then give them links to seek legal aid, if that is what they choose to do.

Triage tools that give people information based on their answers and then route them to right place for more help—would be great. This may help helplines reduce the glut of non-eligible calls—hopefully keeping the phone queues stable and not increasing.

I also would like to see IPAD/tablet apps for pro bono lawyers—the idea is that the volunteer could show up a the clinic or event (large group processing) and be given a tablet, and in that tablet they would have everything they need to provide the consult, and if they accept the case fill out forms etc etc.

9. Limited English Proficiency, via Claudia Johnson, Pro Bono Net

This app would help people access limited english proficiency (LEP) services in a variety of government, medical, and legal settings, and what to do if they are denied these services. With the high number of people in Washington who do not speak English as their primary language or even primary speakers who do not have the language proficiency to understand complex documents, this would help a classically marginalized group obtain access to justice and other important services. There already exists a significant amount of work done in this field via the Internet and brochures, and an app would draw on these pre-existing sources to help reach a broader audience and make the information more accessible.

10. Legal Assistance Finder for the state of Washington

The Legal Assistance Finder app provides contact information and website links for legal aid and other issue specific organizations around the state. There exists a significant amount of issue specific organizations like the Northwest Justice Project, ACLU of Washington, the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence just to name a few. This app would help get those people that need assistance get in touch with the organization that can help them the most. There would also be a general directory that would be broken down by either issue or location.

I have started playing Magic the Gathering again with thanks to Marguerite (an amazing gaming partner) and Gwen.  I use to play in High School and 4 of my first 8 jobs involved MTG in some way.  It is a great game that teaches strategic skills, focus, attention to detail, complex rules and planning.  Many of my MTG playing high school friends have not surprisingly went into the law, reading the comprehensive rules is not far removed from reading legal codes.  I have left the game twice, once when Hasbro bought out WOTC (they closed the retail store I managed for them in PDX)  and again when I went to law school. Gwen has started playing and loves it. She went 3-1 in a pauper tournament and likes the social aspect of EDH.  She is getting into game and focusing while learning new strategies and planning out ways to win.

I am very happy to have returned to the game! I am mostly playing EDH a casual format with an occasional legacy or standard tournament.  My favorite part of the game is deck building, followed by competitive play.  It is such a different game then chess, a computer can not tell you right plays yet, because the rules and mechanics change so quickly.

If you want to follow my recent fun in MTG check out:

Tappedout.net Deck lists: Rain of Dragons, Super ESP, & Wild Maverick

YouTube: MythicMTGTech

PS If I had not gone to law school and keep all my MTG Cards (I had 40 black board duals + a set of power in beta/alpha with a few unlimited spares) I would have enough money for a house, instead of 200K in student loans. I might not have made the right choice there… I love my legal techie job just not the debt.

I am excited to announce that the ATJ Board filed comments last night in support of the FCC’s digital literacy training program.  I would like to thank Andrew Lee, David Keyes, Lassana Magassa and Hon. Donald Horowitz (ret.) for a lot of hard work on the comments especially given the very short deadline.  Thanks!

Using the Tech Principles to Inform the FCC’s Digital Literacy Training Funding Program

Although the ATJ Technology Principles were designed around the needs and goals of the justice system, they have application in all situations where technology is used to empower people. The FCC recently released a proposed rule which included, among other things, the use of federal funds to promote digital literacy training for low-income Americans. Such training would enhance the availability of broadband Internet services by teaching individuals about the benefits of such services, and how to effectively use the resources that the Internet can provide.

The Washington State ATJ Board, through our own activities and in partnership with others, have been involved in a number of projects that seek to enhance the public’s ability to use and benefit from broadband Internet access. That being the case, we were very pleased to submit comments in support of the FCC’s proposal. Because the FCC’s proposed funding program touches upon the fundamental issues of equal and universal access that underlie the Technology Principles, we also set forth three basic guidelines, derived from the Principles, that we believe should inform the distribution and use of funds. In short, funds should be used in a manner that:

1. Enhances access to broadband services;
2. Maximizes public awareness and use; and
3. Promotes the creation of, and adherence to, best practices guidelines.

In the modern world, universal access to broadband Internet service is more or less a prerequisite of equal access to justice. In seeking the latter, we must support and encourage the former. The ATJ Technology Principles represent a specific application, to the justice system, of general principles that inform the effective, efficient, and egalitarian proliferation of technological advances throughout society. We are excited to see the FCC working towards universal access to broadband for all Americans, which we believe will increase inclusiveness and fairness in society, and help bring about a higher quality of life for all.

I am teaching again at Seattle University Law and University of Washington’s Information School again.  Both classes have started publicly blogging over current events and the course subject matter.  The student perspectives are interesting to me as I learn something new as a professor from more then half the posts.

Information Privacy law blog – 2L/3L contributors, strong focus on new technology and privacy torts. Seattle University Law

Social Use of Information – Librarian Student Blog - UW’s Information School

I am currently in Milwaukee Wisconsin for the WLA Annual Conference. This has been a great conference, people out here are very kind.
Many of the panels have focused on new tech, ebooks and using libraries as community meeting spaces.  Yesterday I spoke on ToS’s, Wikileaks, and Ebooks.  Here are are the slides:

I am guest lecturing on remix, Free Culture and Fair use November 8th at Seattle Central Community College in Ingrid Mattson’s Media Law and Ethics class.  For those curious here are the assigned readings. I love speaking to this class as it is all film makers.

• Fair Use Stanford’s site: read page link and http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/9-c.html#5 (If you only read one page make it this page the case) Then look up one of the cases, your choice on google or Wikipedia or google’s case law search
• Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, 510 U.S. 569 (1994).
• Fair use Principles for User Generated Video (pdf) EFF, PK
• Principles, Copyright Owners and UGC Services Sony, Disney

Read through:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sita_Sings_the_Blues

http://sitasingstheblues.com/

Section 107:

§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use⁴⁰

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

InfoCamp 2011, an amazing  half traditional conference and half unconference is now open for registration.  I will be showing up to test run my talk for Wisconsin Library Association’s annual conference on ebooks, ebook readers and digital freedom.  I hope to see some people there and could use the feedback on the talk!

InfoCampers!

We’re happy to announce registration for InfoCamp Seattle 2011 is OPEN! To secure your spot at InfoCamp Seattle 2011, visit http://infocampseattle2011.eventbrite.com.

What: InfoCamp Seattle 2011
When: October 8 & 9
Where: Mary Gates Hall, University of Washington

This year we’ll be gathering at the University of Washington’s beautiful Seattle campus on October 8th and 9th. The Saturday opening festivities and keynote is in the Kane Hall auditorium. All other events, the sessions designed and led by you, our fearless InfoCampers, will happen in Mary Gates Hall (home of the UW’s Information School).

We will be recombining tried and true structures along with fresh new ideas to encourage engagement and collaboration. As always, it will be you, the participant, talking amongst yourselves, driving the content of InfoCamp, and drinking massive quantities of coffee!

For more information, check out http://seattle.infocamp.org.

Can’t wait to see you there!

-The 2011 InfoCamp Planning Committee

Earlier this week an Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) motion was filed in Oregon in a $1 million defamation case revolving around Twitter and a blog post. I am involved in the case, I have submitted a Declaration in support of the Anti-SLAPP motion with regards to Twitter.   Here are some of the the case documents including my Declaration regarding Twitter:

Craig - Case No. 1107-08823
DEFENDANT’S MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF SPECIAL MOTION TO STRIKE

Rowe  – Declaration in support of Defendant’s pending Special Motion to Strike – Twitter Testimony

Read more about the suit at: Portland Mercury: The $1 million twitter fight

Two people have emailed me now asking if this was my blog.  Sadly the answer is no, this is not my blog although part of me wishes it was mine. Those that know me well are aware I can be very critical of law school myself.  The blog is bringing up some real problems with law schools.  This type of honest critic is what is needed, if we are going to improve law school for future students. My only major critic of the blog is that I wish the author would provide more solutions.  It is easy to tear the system apart real reform needs solutions.

Let’s look at a few of the topics:

Would you pay $100,000 for a law review article?

Law review articles are mostly useless and read by no one:

Specifically (Chief Justice) Roberts claimed that legal scholarship is not relevant to the work of lawyers and judges, saying he is on the same page with Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, who believes there is a great “disconnect between the academy and the profession.”
Roberts continued, “Pick up a copy of any law review that you see, and the first article is likely to be, you know, the influence of Immanuel Kant on evidentiary approaches in 18th Century Bulgaria, or something, which I’m sure was of great interest to the academic that wrote it, but isn’t of much help to the bar.”
Roberts added that he doesn’t necessarily think anything is wrong with such an approach, albeit a relatively irrelevant one. “If the academy wants to deal with the legal issues at a particularly abstract, philosophical level,” Roberts continued, “that’s great and that’s their business, but they shouldn’t expect that it would be of any particular help or even interest to the members of the practice of the bar or judges.”

I completely agree, and would even go further to state that most review articles are rubbish that no one reads, nor should they. Law review articles are reviewed by students that often know nothing about the substantive area of law they are reviewing.  They are also written in nearly unreadable jargon that makes the law appear much more archaic then it need be.

We need to update legal scholarship to include open access legal blogs that are reviewed in real time by peers in the profession posner and becker have the begins of this.  If you add a good comment / credit system you could have some every educated and useful legal scholarship done that is read by people and accessible.

The practice of hiding the law in closed access locked journals and writing in intentionally obfuscating ways must stop.  For the law to apply to everyone we need to start translating more of it back into plain language and make legal debates publicly accessible.

Fake it Till You Make It: Law School Teaching, Part I & Part II

Now, how much work does teaching a long-term average of less than three classes per year actually represent?  Compared to other forms of teaching, law school teaching is not exactly time-intensive.  For one thing, the traditional law school class features very little in the way of evaluative responsibilities for the professor.  Students are given one test at the end of the semester, and the professor need not bother with any other formal evaluation of their performance.  For another, with the exception of grading (and law school is structured to produce the minimum amount of grading possible), large classes are much easier to teach than small ones.

Teaching a 12-person seminar in which all the students are expected to participate with the professor in a genuine dialogue about the material is difficult.

Teaching a 100-person class, in which the professor can either drone on while students check their email and Facebook accounts, or can harass individual students while everyone else checks out even more completely, is relatively easy.

The system of one grade and no feedback is simply ridiculous.  We learn through iteration, trial and error, gaining feedback, dialog.  The one grade system sets people up to fail and punishes people who try new things.

Professors are not taught to teach – I see lots of new professors, from schools all over, struggling with how to give students feedback because they are not taught how. 20 years of contracts litigation does not = a good contracts teacher. I am more optimistic then the writer as many new professor I work with actually want students to learn they are just missing the tools they need.

Socratic scare tactics are antiquated and anti learning – I love a good heated conversation with a class, but some professors take this to the extreme of badgering and berating students. If we want students to learn we have to give them useful feedback in the class not scare them to death.

I am recommending the blog to get a glimpse into some of the issues with law school, but it should be taken with a grain of salt.  The blog gets a 3.5 for frank honesty but no more as it is lacking in real solutions.

Finlay as a student interested in law school take the issues mentioned seriously and go visit schools and talk to students and faculty, ask hard questions.  Find a school with a professor that gives feedback and cares about the area of law you want to go into.  One of the only things that kept me sane in law school was having Margaret Chon as a mentor someone who cared about teaching IP law and social justice and being able to audit IP classes from ElizabethTownsend-Gard my 1L year.  Finding great mentors will help you deal with the ordeal ahead.

Grats to the DarkLordofDebate for netting $1,000 and creating a better copyright educational video then Google

More at PK’s website:

Announcing the Winner of the Public Knowledge “Copyright School” Video Challenge!