Module SXL-3202:
Law and Technology

Module Facts

Run by School of History, Law and Social Sciences

20.000 Credits or 10.000 ECTS Credits

Overall aims and purpose

The key aims of this module are to introduce students to the ways in which technology is changing the nature of legal practice, business structures, and legal and related careers. Students will be introduced to the different ways technology impacts on black letter law, access to justice, and professional legal practice. Students will also develop an awareness of the ethical issues raised by the intersection of law and technology.

Course content

Key themes in this course include: • The intersections between law and technology and how these intersections are regulated • An introduction to examples of 'Law Tech' used by law firms including (for example); document automation, legal diagnostics and legislative analysis tools • Algorithms and algorithmic decision-making in the legal system • The basic functions of online case management systems • An appreciation of the online courts transformation programme • An introduction to visualisation and legal analysis • Technology and legal research • Ethics at the intersection of law and technology

Assessment Criteria

C- to C+

C- to C+ (50-59%) An answer which, while always in the main accurate and correct, fails to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant material and is lacking in criticism. An answer which while reliable with regard to correctness is either not comprehensive or not entirely pertinent.

threshold

D- to D+ (40-49%) An answer which, while predominantly correct in its presentation of material, contains a significant level of error and is therefore not entirely reliable.

excellent

A- to A* (70+%) An outstanding answer containing all the material relevant to the question and no irrelevancy, all the material and references being accurate and correct, there being no inaccuracy or error, the whole presented in a clear, logical, critical argument with little room for improvement. An answer which demonstrates a complete mastery of the subject.

good

B- to B+ (60-69%) High Standard: A comprehensive answer, containing all the material relevant to the question and no irrelevancy, all the material and references being accurate and correct, there being no inaccuracy or error, the whole presented in an argument which, while clear, logical and critical, leaves room for improvement in its construction and presentation. An answer which shows complete competence in the subject.

Learning outcomes

  1. Demonstrate the use of technology in conducting legal research

  2. Identify and explain both the basic and advanced functions of an online case management system

  3. Critically evaluate some of the intersections between law and technology and how these intersections are regulated, and provide examples of the ethical challenges caused by the intersection of law and technology and how these challenges might be addressed

  4. Critically evaluate the roles electronic visualisation might play in relation to law drawing on at least two practical examples

  5. Critically evaluate and contrast some of the roles algorithms and algorithmic decision-making play in the legal system and the challenges such decision-making can present to transparency and access to justice

  6. Identify and critically evaluate the functions of key examples of legal technology (or 'Law Tech') used by law firms (including, for example, document automation, legal diagnostics and legislative analysis tools)

  7. Critically evaluate the key stages in development and delivery of the online courts transformation programme in the United Kingdom in comparative perspective with at least one other legal jurisdiction

Assessment Methods

Type Name Description Weight
Exam 50.00
Essay 50.00

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Hours
Seminar

22 x two-hour seminars over one semester. Some seminars will be delivered by computer sciences and some will take place in computer rooms.

 44
Private study 156

Transferable skills

  • Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
  • Numeracy - Proficiency in using numbers at appropriate levels of accuracy
  • Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
  • Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
  • Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
  • Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
  • Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sensitevely with others
  • Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
  • Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
  • Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
  • Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others

Subject specific skills

  • Develop the ability to interpret legal rules and employ techniques of legal reasoning competently and efficiently in order to offer a range of solutions and conclusions to actual or hypothetical complex legal problems, all supported by relevant academic literature, jurisprudence and legislative research. Such solutions will be clearly communicated and presented
  • Develop the ability to analyse complex legal issues, set against the background of the political, social, economic or cultural contexts in which they may arise
  • Develop those skills which are necessary for scholarship and research in legal subjects, namely the ability to identify relevant primary and secondary legal sources and to retrieve accurate legal information using paper and electronic sources

Resources

Talis Reading list

http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/sxl-3202.html

Reading list

Richard Susskind, Online Courts and the Future of Justice (OUP 2019)

Richard Susskind, Tomorrows Lawyers (OUP 2nd ed, 2017)

Jack Newton, The Client-Centered Law Firm: How to Succeed in an Experience-Driven World (Blue Check Publishing 2020)

Woodrow Barfield, The Cambridge Handbook of the Law of Algorithms (Cambridge University Press 2021)

Various journals and other online resources in particular reports from the UK Ministry of Justice, Public Law Project, the Legal Education Foundation, journals include the Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Law

Courses including this module

Optional in courses: