Artificial intelligence tools for brief writing and analysis are a small firm litigator’s new best friend

We’re in the midst of a seismic technological shift that will reinvent workflows and radically alter the practice of law. Artificial intelligence is improving at an unprecedented pace, with new legal AI tools rolling out regularly, some stand-alone and others as features built into existing legal software platforms.

May 24, 2024 10:17 AM CDT

How ghostwritten Supreme Court briefs are used as a strategy

Metadata offers a clue that a New York consumer fraud attorney who signed a U.S. Supreme Court brief was not the actual author.

May 21, 2024 12:02 PM CDT

ABA Journal named Magazine of the Year for second year in a row

For the second year in a row, the ABA Journal took home the Magazine of the Year award for overall excellence in a national contest held by the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

May 20, 2024 1:38 PM CDT

Lawyer writes children’s book based on her childhood in Nigeria

In March, Bunmi Emenanjo, an ethics and compliance lawyer, released her debut children’s book, I’ll See You in Ijebu. The book tells the story of a Catholic girl growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, who takes a trip to the rural town of Ijebu to celebrate Eid al-Adha with her Muslim extended family.

May 16, 2024 9:32 AM CDT

When states’ rights and health care access clash

From the COVID-19 response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the results of 50 states having individual approaches to public health, medical outcomes and health care access raise troubling questions. A husband-and-wife team of University of Utah professors dig into the ethics of the American health care system in States of Health: The Ethics and Consequences of Policy Variation in a Federal System.

May 15, 2024 4:40 PM CDT

Lawyer’s true-crime book explores how he defended a neurodivergent client charged with murder

Updated: In 1997, in the small town of Ringgold in northwest Georgia, a reclusive man was accused of keeping his wife captive in his home and murdering her. A local politician-turned-defense attorney took on the case.

May 13, 2024 4:00 PM CDT

Lawyer’s new book traces today’s true-crime fascination to salacious 1800s murder trial

The case of Polly Bodine is the subject of Alex Hortis’ new book, The Witch of New York. But a whodunnit is only part of the story that Hortis, the associate university counsel at the University of Maryland Baltimore, sets out to tell. The book’s subtitle shares the rest: “The cursed birth of tabloid justice.”

May 2, 2024 2:16 PM CDT

Should ABA strike ‘nonlawyer’ from its vocabulary? Petition says it’s time

The word “nonlawyer” fails to acknowledge the wide range of contributions of all legal professionals and should no longer be used by the ABA, according to a petition posted on LinkedIn.

Apr 11, 2024 11:14 AM CDT

Blaming Word setting for overlong briefs is ‘somewhat hard to believe,’ federal judge says as she tosses footnotes

A setting in Microsoft Word is to blame for a failure to include footnotes in word counts for briefs filed on behalf of online casino provider High 5 Games, its lawyers told a federal judge in fighting a bid for sanctions.

Apr 1, 2024 11:42 AM CDT

New Legalese: You may have heard a deepfake, but what about ‘Twiqbal’?

In many ways, the new legal vocabulary reflects the time in which we live. As you look through the terms that have arisen over the last 24 years, you’ll see much of our recent history.

Apr 1, 2024 1:40 AM CDT

More lawyers—and clients—want to learn about sustainable development practices

As many industries develop sustainable development practices, lawyers can play a role too. In a book released by ABA Publishing, Sustainability Essentials: A Leadership Guide for Lawyers, John Dernbach, with co-authors Irma Russell and Matthew Bogoshian, provide digestible how-to tips for proactively infusing a sustainable development framework into legal work.

Apr 1, 2024 1:20 AM CDT

Retired Justice Stephen Breyer discusses new book in interview with ABA Journal

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer makes his case in Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism, scheduled for release on Tuesday. After 40-plus years as a judge, Breyer’s book is a logical capstone. “For better or for worse, it might be helpful to put down my approach how I go about interpreting difficult phrases, the Constitution or statutes.”

Mar 25, 2024 8:23 AM CDT

James Patterson dishes on his new legal thriller, ‘The #1 Lawyer’

James Patterson has written bestsellers in many genres. But as he tells the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles in this episode of The Modern Law Library podcast, he has always been fascinated by legal thrillers, courtroom dramas and crime novels. He even considered becoming a lawyer—before his literary career took off.

Mar 20, 2024 9:46 AM CDT

Writing advice for lawyers from nonlawyers

From pretty much the moment that we start law school, we get advice on how to be better writers. Most of it is from lawyers (or ex-lawyers). That’s fine to start. Legal writing is a genre and has unique considerations that you have to master, if only because courts demand it, like The Bluebook.

Mar 14, 2024 9:09 AM CDT

Could automated transcription tools replace human court reporters?

Recent advances in technology, as well as a shortage of court reporters nationwide and the increased use of virtual depositions and hearings, has led to an opening for automated transcription tools.

Mar 13, 2024 8:38 AM CDT