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Daily Archives: December 10, 2018

Doing Law School Wrong: Case Teaching and an Integrated Legal Practice Method

Marsden, Gregory, Doing Law School Wrong: Case Teaching and an Integrated Legal Practice Method (November 15, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3284875 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3284875

“Since its inception, the Langdellian case method has been used to teach legal analysis and reasoning to generations of U.S. law students. For nearly as long, business school students have used their own version of the case method to learn and practice management decision-making. In law school, a ‘case’ is an appellate court decision, which students must analyze in preparation for Socratic questioning. To business students, a ‘case’ is a narrative problem they must solve, before debating and defending their solutions in a moderated classroom discussion. This paper contrasts the two case methods, first defining the methods themselves, as well as related concepts including Socratic dialogue and problem-based learning. It then asserts that neither the law school nor the business school case method is optimal to prepare students for bar admission and the practice of law. Following a detailed examination of both methods, with particular emphasis on the role of group work, the focus then shifts to a proposed Integrated Legal Practice Method. This proposed method draws on business-school case teaching, in an effort to address the shortcomings of current U.S. legal education by providing students not only with substantive and adjective legal knowledge, but also with the skills necessary for legal practice.”

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humans

Pew: “Experts say the rise of artificial intelligence will make most people better off over the next decade, but many have concerns about how advances in AI will affect what it means to be human, to be productive and to exercise free will. Digital life is augmenting human capacities and disrupting eons-old human activities. Code-driven… Continue Reading

Right to Try: Access to Investigational Drugs

EveryCRSReport.com: Right to Try: Access to Investigational Drugs, November 27, 2018 – “The Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try (RTT) Act of 2017 became federal law on May 30, 2018. Over the preceding five years, 40 states had enacted related legislation. The goal was to allow individuals with imminently… Continue Reading

Dimensions.Guide

“Dimensions.Guide is a comprehensive reference database of dimensioned drawings documenting the standard measurements and sizes of the everyday objects and spaces that make up our built environment. Created as a universal resource to better communicate the basic properties, systems, and logics of our world, Dimensions.Guide is a free platform for increasing public and professional knowledge… Continue Reading

50th anniversary of Demo on Personal and Collaborative Computing

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of Doug Engelbart’s groundbreaking 1968 Demo – also known as “The Mother of All Demos.” It was there at the 1968 Fall Joint Computer Conference that Doug and his team at SRI first presented their seminal work in personal and collaborative computing to the world – this was the debut of the mouse, windows, hypermedia, file sharing, teleconferencing,… Continue Reading

Every moment of every day mobile phone apps collect detailed location data

The New York Times – “The millions of dots on the map trace highways, side streets and bike trails — each one following the path of an anonymous cellphone user. One path tracks someone from a home outside Newark to a nearby Planned Parenthood, remaining there for more than an hour. Another represents a person… Continue Reading

Report – What is the future of office spaces?

World Economic Forum: “A lot of us spend long stretches in the office, but outdated design could be damaging our wellbeing and mental health. What’s more, it’s killing our productivity. One study found that office workers spend more time sitting than pensioners, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and even cancer.… Continue Reading

House Cmte Investigation Issues Scathing Report on Equifax Breach

The Hill: “The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, following a 14-month probe, released a scathing report Monday saying the consumer credit reporting agency aggressively collected data on millions of consumers and businesses while failing to take key steps to secure such information. The breach is estimated to have harmed 148 million consumers. “In 2005, former Equifax Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard… Continue Reading

Tim Berners-Lee We Need a Set of Guiding Principles That Can Define the Kind of Web We Want

The New York Times: As We Forge the Web of Tomorrow, We Need a Set of Guiding Principles That Can Define the Kind of Web We Want Tim Berners-Lee: “All technologies come with risks. We drive cars despite the possibility of serious accidents. We take prescription drugs despite the danger of abuse and addiction. We… Continue Reading