Tuesday, February 9, 2010
How timely! Brand new article on A2J
I didn't know this was coming out, but this seems perfectly timed given that we are just starting to look at A2J. This paper, "All the Wild Possibilities: Technology that Attacks Barriers to Access to Justice" is just out and details the development of A2J.
Paragon Legal
This is the company I mentioned in class, but couldn't remember the name of then. Note the tag line "corporate counsel on demand." It's not explicitly tech-related, but still in that realm of changing approaches to the practice of law.
www.paragonlegal.com
Legal Rebels profile of founder Mae O'Malley.
www.paragonlegal.com
Legal Rebels profile of founder Mae O'Malley.
Getting started with A2J
If anyone was having trouble finding the information you need to get started on A2J, the place to start is here: http://www.a2jauthor.org/drupal/?q=node/244.
Download the starter kit. The PDF file found in the "Authoring Guide" folder is particularly helpful. You probably want to keep it as a PDF file (that is, don't print it) as it is rather large.
You should also check out the training modules. These are neat because they actually use little A2J interview files to show you how to make A2J files. It's a pretty easy way to learn because you can check back and forth to see if your's looks just like the sample one.
I will be available to answer questions about A2J after class on Wednesday and also via e-mail this week.
Download the starter kit. The PDF file found in the "Authoring Guide" folder is particularly helpful. You probably want to keep it as a PDF file (that is, don't print it) as it is rather large.
You should also check out the training modules. These are neat because they actually use little A2J interview files to show you how to make A2J files. It's a pretty easy way to learn because you can check back and forth to see if your's looks just like the sample one.
I will be available to answer questions about A2J after class on Wednesday and also via e-mail this week.
Technological conservatism
Someone asked question in class yesterday (Monday) about the possibility of clients sharing legal work as Susskind suggests might lead to a lack of variety or differentiation if one firm or lawyer's view becomes "the memo" or "the opinion" in a field.
Maybe. I tried to suggest that there might be a market for at least a few varieties, perhaps the "super-safe", "middle-of-the-road", and "really pushing it" versions for firms with different appetites for risk.
In any case, the question reminded me of a this article, "Technological Conservatism...". The author argues that the increased preservation of, organization of, and access to the past made possible by technology actually slows changes. Citing the greatly increased number of citations per brief or journal article, the author writes,
"Sources from the past operate as a “security blanket,” comforting and assuring lawyers of the present with the commendation of antiquity.The dynamic is mostly quantitative. Increasing the number of sources, and thus the amount of reliance on the past, is the apparent trend."
(The author cites, inter alia, a publication by Judge Posner claiming that the average number of citations per federal appellate opinion has increased from 12.4 to 27.2 between 1960 and 2007. Other works cited attest similar increases in citations as well as an overall increase in length of various legal documents.)
Maybe. I tried to suggest that there might be a market for at least a few varieties, perhaps the "super-safe", "middle-of-the-road", and "really pushing it" versions for firms with different appetites for risk.
In any case, the question reminded me of a this article, "Technological Conservatism...". The author argues that the increased preservation of, organization of, and access to the past made possible by technology actually slows changes. Citing the greatly increased number of citations per brief or journal article, the author writes,
"Sources from the past operate as a “security blanket,” comforting and assuring lawyers of the present with the commendation of antiquity.The dynamic is mostly quantitative. Increasing the number of sources, and thus the amount of reliance on the past, is the apparent trend."
(The author cites, inter alia, a publication by Judge Posner claiming that the average number of citations per federal appellate opinion has increased from 12.4 to 27.2 between 1960 and 2007. Other works cited attest similar increases in citations as well as an overall increase in length of various legal documents.)
Monday, February 8, 2010
Easter / HotDocs knowledge base.
The HotDocs knowledge base seems to be in flux, probably because of the recent purchase of HotDocs so it is no longer a LexisNexis product. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of information out there, including strings of code for various functions. One of the more complicated is the calculation (below) to find the date of Easter in a given year.
I hope the knowledge base has been or will soon be set up elsewhere. However, you can still find lots of HotDocs information either elsewhere or by going to the Google cached versions of pages after you google them.
Easter (First Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon (PFM) date)
SET Century TO TRUNCATE( Year / 100, 0 )
SET Temp Var TO TRUNCATE( ( Century - 15) / 2, 0 ) + 202
SET Temp Var TO Temp Var - 11 * REMAINDER( Year, 19 )
IF Century = 21 OR Century = 24 OR Century = 25 OR ( Century >= 27 AND Century <= 32 ) OR Century = 34 OR Century = 35 OR Century = 38
SET Temp Var TO Temp Var - 1
ELSE IF Century = 33 OR Century = 36 OR Century = 37 OR Century = 39 OR Century = 40
SET Temp Var TO Temp Var - 2
END IF
SET Temp Var TO REMAINDER( Temp Var, 30 )
SET Full Moon TO Temp Var + 21
IF Temp Var = 29
SET Full Moon TO Full Moon - 1
END IF
IF Temp Var = 28 AND REMAINDER( Year, 19 ) > 10
SET Full Moon TO Full Moon - 1
END IF
IF Full Moon > 31
SET Full Moon TO Full Moon - 31
DATE OF( Full Moon, 4, Year ) + 1 DAY
ELSE
DATE OF( Full Moon, 3, Year ) + 1 DAY
END IF
IF DAY OF WEEK( RESULT ) != 1
RESULT + ( 8 - DAY OF WEEK( RESULT ) ) DAYS
END IF
I hope the knowledge base has been or will soon be set up elsewhere. However, you can still find lots of HotDocs information either elsewhere or by going to the Google cached versions of pages after you google them.
Easter (First Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon (PFM) date)
SET Century TO TRUNCATE( Year / 100, 0 )
SET Temp Var TO TRUNCATE( ( Century - 15) / 2, 0 ) + 202
SET Temp Var TO Temp Var - 11 * REMAINDER( Year, 19 )
IF Century = 21 OR Century = 24 OR Century = 25 OR ( Century >= 27 AND Century <= 32 ) OR Century = 34 OR Century = 35 OR Century = 38
SET Temp Var TO Temp Var - 1
ELSE IF Century = 33 OR Century = 36 OR Century = 37 OR Century = 39 OR Century = 40
SET Temp Var TO Temp Var - 2
END IF
SET Temp Var TO REMAINDER( Temp Var, 30 )
SET Full Moon TO Temp Var + 21
IF Temp Var = 29
SET Full Moon TO Full Moon - 1
END IF
IF Temp Var = 28 AND REMAINDER( Year, 19 ) > 10
SET Full Moon TO Full Moon - 1
END IF
IF Full Moon > 31
SET Full Moon TO Full Moon - 31
DATE OF( Full Moon, 4, Year ) + 1 DAY
ELSE
DATE OF( Full Moon, 3, Year ) + 1 DAY
END IF
IF DAY OF WEEK( RESULT ) != 1
RESULT + ( 8 - DAY OF WEEK( RESULT ) ) DAYS
END IF
Exari
Exari is another document assembly software system. After a minute or two looking at this site, you will know about as much about as much as Exari as I do.
I suspect it is pretty impressive. From what I understand, Exari can handle very high levels of complexity.
I suspect it is pretty impressive. From what I understand, Exari can handle very high levels of complexity.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Self promotion
This is me interviewing Richard Susskind at the Berkman Center last April. (About halfway down the page - audio only.)
If you have a long commute...
I do. I often use it to learn. Three podcasts I'm particularly fond of are:
ESI bytes - about E-Discovery.
This Week in Law - covers a wide array of topics and is very easy to listen to, and often has some humorous moments too.
ESI Report - another e-discovery one.
You can get to all three of these through iTunes too.
ESI bytes - about E-Discovery.
This Week in Law - covers a wide array of topics and is very easy to listen to, and often has some humorous moments too.
ESI Report - another e-discovery one.
You can get to all three of these through iTunes too.
Legal Rebels
The ABAJournal Legal Rebels series is devoted to profiling lawyers who are "remaking the legal profession." So far, it has been pretty tech-heavy.
Two of particular note are:
Richard Granat
Ron Staudt
Two of particular note are:
Richard Granat
Ron Staudt
More document assembly examples.
This is the Wills for Heroes Foundation. Using HotDocs software, the foundation partners with state bar associations to prepare free estate planning documents for first responders.
I don't mean for our focus on pro bono / legal aid uses of HotDocs to imply that it is not also widely used in a commercial settings. The legal aid uses tend to be easier to find, so I have more examples of them.
We briefly looked at some material from the e-lawyering task force of the ABA. The task force's co-chairs are Richard Granat and Marc Lauritsen. Granat has several businesses going, including his own practice. He also runs Directlaw.com, which offers a ready-made platform for those wanting to set up a virtual law office to do so. If you're interested, look around on the page. The blog usually has an evolving list of new virtual law offices that have recently opened up as well. As far as I know, the Directlaw platform uses Rapidocs, a competitor to HotDocs.
Stephanie Kimbro is a lawyer licensed in North Carolina who delivers legal services over the Web. She was honored last year at the ABA Tech Conference with the James I. Keane Memorial Award for delivery of legal services over the Internet. Kimbro Law's site also offers links to many other interesting pieces of information about e-lawyering.
Lauritsen, the other co-chair along with Granat is a founding member of Capstone Practice Systems. Capstone offers consulting and assistance to companies looking to implement document assembly and related systems. Capstone's partial list of clients is illustrative of the higher-dollar market for document assembly work. However, Lauritsen and others from Capstone are regulars at conferences where people working on projects such as the one I am working on discuss the latest in the use of technology in legal aid. Capstone is also on contract with LawLine Vermont and legal aid offices in other states to provide guidance with HotDocs and A2J projects.
I don't mean for our focus on pro bono / legal aid uses of HotDocs to imply that it is not also widely used in a commercial settings. The legal aid uses tend to be easier to find, so I have more examples of them.
We briefly looked at some material from the e-lawyering task force of the ABA. The task force's co-chairs are Richard Granat and Marc Lauritsen. Granat has several businesses going, including his own practice. He also runs Directlaw.com, which offers a ready-made platform for those wanting to set up a virtual law office to do so. If you're interested, look around on the page. The blog usually has an evolving list of new virtual law offices that have recently opened up as well. As far as I know, the Directlaw platform uses Rapidocs, a competitor to HotDocs.
Stephanie Kimbro is a lawyer licensed in North Carolina who delivers legal services over the Web. She was honored last year at the ABA Tech Conference with the James I. Keane Memorial Award for delivery of legal services over the Internet. Kimbro Law's site also offers links to many other interesting pieces of information about e-lawyering.
Lauritsen, the other co-chair along with Granat is a founding member of Capstone Practice Systems. Capstone offers consulting and assistance to companies looking to implement document assembly and related systems. Capstone's partial list of clients is illustrative of the higher-dollar market for document assembly work. However, Lauritsen and others from Capstone are regulars at conferences where people working on projects such as the one I am working on discuss the latest in the use of technology in legal aid. Capstone is also on contract with LawLine Vermont and legal aid offices in other states to provide guidance with HotDocs and A2J projects.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Don't fear the math
We will be using almost exclusively text. I did want to show off a couple of math variables, though.
However, if anyone can think of a way to work a simple math calculation into their cover letter, that would be pretty neat.
However, if anyone can think of a way to work a simple math calculation into their cover letter, that would be pretty neat.
More complicated math
Here's one that is considerably more complicated. This calculates average monthly employment income. Do not worry about this. You won't have to do anything this complicated, or even any math at all. I just wanted to show you that this exists. My explanations follow the // in the second version:
0
REPEAT jobcount
IF(Income frequency TE = "Weekly")
SET Income multiplier NU TO 4.333
END IF
IF(Income frequency TE = "Biweekly")
SET Income multiplier NU TO 2.167
END IF
IF(Income frequency TE = "Monthly")
SET Income multiplier NU TO 1
END IF
SET Job pay NU TO (Income multiplier NU) * (Seasonal job months per year NU / 12) * (Pay NU)
RESULT + Job pay NU
END REPEAT
TRUNCATE (RESULT, 2)
0 // the zero at the start tells HotDocs this is a math variable
REPEAT jobcount // We won't worry about this, but this is a loop for multiple jobs
IF(Income frequency TE = "Weekly") // a previous question asked "how often do you get paid?"
SET Income multiplier NU TO 4.333 // We use 4.33 because most months do not really have 28 days
END IF
IF(Income frequency TE = "Biweekly")
SET Income multiplier NU TO 2.167
END IF
IF(Income frequency TE = "Monthly")
SET Income multiplier NU TO 1
END IF
SET Job pay NU TO (Income multiplier NU) * (Seasonal job months per year NU / 12) * (Pay NU)
RESULT + Job pay NU
END REPEAT
TRUNCATE (RESULT, 2)
// An earlier question also asked about seasonal jobs. To get an average monthly pay, we multiply the monthly pay when the person is actually working by the number of months worked. i.e. - A job that brings in $6000 a month six months out of the year averages out to $3000 a month over a full year.
// TRUNCATE (RESULT, 2) This rounds the result off at two decimal points because we are talking about dollars and cents. You can truncate to any number of decimal points.
0
REPEAT jobcount
IF(Income frequency TE = "Weekly")
SET Income multiplier NU TO 4.333
END IF
IF(Income frequency TE = "Biweekly")
SET Income multiplier NU TO 2.167
END IF
IF(Income frequency TE = "Monthly")
SET Income multiplier NU TO 1
END IF
SET Job pay NU TO (Income multiplier NU) * (Seasonal job months per year NU / 12) * (Pay NU)
RESULT + Job pay NU
END REPEAT
TRUNCATE (RESULT, 2)
0 // the zero at the start tells HotDocs this is a math variable
REPEAT jobcount // We won't worry about this, but this is a loop for multiple jobs
IF(Income frequency TE = "Weekly") // a previous question asked "how often do you get paid?"
SET Income multiplier NU TO 4.333 // We use 4.33 because most months do not really have 28 days
END IF
IF(Income frequency TE = "Biweekly")
SET Income multiplier NU TO 2.167
END IF
IF(Income frequency TE = "Monthly")
SET Income multiplier NU TO 1
END IF
SET Job pay NU TO (Income multiplier NU) * (Seasonal job months per year NU / 12) * (Pay NU)
RESULT + Job pay NU
END REPEAT
TRUNCATE (RESULT, 2)
// An earlier question also asked about seasonal jobs. To get an average monthly pay, we multiply the monthly pay when the person is actually working by the number of months worked. i.e. - A job that brings in $6000 a month six months out of the year averages out to $3000 a month over a full year.
// TRUNCATE (RESULT, 2) This rounds the result off at two decimal points because we are talking about dollars and cents. You can truncate to any number of decimal points.
Some simple math computations
Here are a few simple math computations drawn from the Vermont divorce financial affidavit I'm working on.
To total some variables-- This one totals household expenses:
Total household affiant CO + Total vehicle affiant CO + Total insurance affiant CO + Total personal expenses affiant CO + Total monthly credit card affiant NU
Note that some of those are computational variables, so there are two layers of computation going on.
To subtract -- This one is for business income:
Bus monthly gross receipts NU - Total business expenses CO
To total some variables-- This one totals household expenses:
Total household affiant CO + Total vehicle affiant CO + Total insurance affiant CO + Total personal expenses affiant CO + Total monthly credit card affiant NU
Note that some of those are computational variables, so there are two layers of computation going on.
To subtract -- This one is for business income:
Bus monthly gross receipts NU - Total business expenses CO
Correct full address computation
The reason the computation variable was not working was because I was forgetting to put in the "RESULT +" command. Here's how it looks when it's working fine:
Address line 1 TE + "
"
IF ANSWERED(Address line 2 TE)
RESULT + Address line 2 TE + "
"
END IF
RESULT + City TE + ", " + State MC + " " + Zip TE
"RESULT +" Carries down everything that has come before. Without the missing RESULT (in bold up there) every time there was a line 2 it was replacing the line 1.
Address line 1 TE + "
"
IF ANSWERED(Address line 2 TE)
RESULT + Address line 2 TE + "
"
END IF
RESULT + City TE + ", " + State MC + " " + Zip TE
"RESULT +" Carries down everything that has come before. Without the missing RESULT (in bold up there) every time there was a line 2 it was replacing the line 1.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
4th Amendment confusion regarding electronic searches
This might be jumping ahead a little bit, but it is still pretty interesting. As this post from the Volokh Conspiracy tells us, there is now a pretty clear circuit split on how the plain view exception to the warrant requirement under the 4th amendment should apply in electronic search requirements.
The cases in question are linked from the blog post.
I have to admit that the only one of these cases I know anything about (yet) is United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing (9th Circuit), and I've only read a synopsis of it, not the whole opinion. It set out a very protective set of guidelines for how to protect 4th amendment rights in electronic searches. The others from the 4th and 10th Circuits, maybe not so much.
They're all on my to read list.
The cases in question are linked from the blog post.
I have to admit that the only one of these cases I know anything about (yet) is United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing (9th Circuit), and I've only read a synopsis of it, not the whole opinion. It set out a very protective set of guidelines for how to protect 4th amendment rights in electronic searches. The others from the 4th and 10th Circuits, maybe not so much.
They're all on my to read list.
A2J Author 3.0 released
A2J Author 3.0 has just been released by the Center for Access to Justice and Technology and CALI (Computer Aided Legal Instruction.)
A2J is most often used in tandem with HotDocs to help pro-se litigants fill out court forms. However, some organizations have also used A2J to give advice or help with client intake.
Here's a neat presentation that actually used A2J (instead of PowerPoint or something similar) to do the presentation about A2J: http://www.a2jauthor.org/viewer/shared/A2JViewer.php?interviewID=2009-05-30-17-27-57
You can also see some links to actual A2J interviews as they are used in some states right now: http://www.kentlaw.edu/cajt/A2JAuthor.html (the examples are near the bottom of the page.)
Finally, here is a link to a release from CALI about the new A2J 3.0.
http://www.cali.org/blog/2010/01/21/a2j-author-30-released
We'll look at A2J in the next few weeks.
A2J is most often used in tandem with HotDocs to help pro-se litigants fill out court forms. However, some organizations have also used A2J to give advice or help with client intake.
Here's a neat presentation that actually used A2J (instead of PowerPoint or something similar) to do the presentation about A2J: http://www.a2jauthor.org/viewer/shared/A2JViewer.php?interviewID=2009-05-30-17-27-57
You can also see some links to actual A2J interviews as they are used in some states right now: http://www.kentlaw.edu/cajt/A2JAuthor.html (the examples are near the bottom of the page.)
Finally, here is a link to a release from CALI about the new A2J 3.0.
http://www.cali.org/blog/2010/01/21/a2j-author-30-released
We'll look at A2J in the next few weeks.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Corrected link
The link to find Darryl Mountain's "Could New Technologies..." didn't seem to be working before. Here it is again:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2001_1/mountain/
If you want to print it, you can also find it online in Hein Online through the VLS library.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2001_1/mountain/
If you want to print it, you can also find it online in Hein Online through the VLS library.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Lessons from "The British Nationality Act as Logic Program"
The following are some points I hoped you could take away from the British Nationality Act paper;
- Case law / statute law difference for purposes of programming
- Role of vagueness / limits of machines
- Affect of programming on formalizing thought about the area of law being programmed
- Difference between "simulating legal reasoning" and "implementing rules and regulations"
- Applicability of techniques of programming legal rules to other rules such as business or organizational rules
- Concept of "expert systems"
- Decision tree model
- Thinking about what legal subject areas are appropriate for programming and what are not
If you missed some of these, most of them are passed over in the introduction and conclusion. Try reading 370-375 and 383-end.
- Case law / statute law difference for purposes of programming
- Role of vagueness / limits of machines
- Affect of programming on formalizing thought about the area of law being programmed
- Difference between "simulating legal reasoning" and "implementing rules and regulations"
- Applicability of techniques of programming legal rules to other rules such as business or organizational rules
- Concept of "expert systems"
- Decision tree model
- Thinking about what legal subject areas are appropriate for programming and what are not
If you missed some of these, most of them are passed over in the introduction and conclusion. Try reading 370-375 and 383-end.
A2J examples
Click here to link to some examples of A2J interviews from other states. The interviews are near the bottom of the page and can be tried out to see how the system works.
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