Students at lower-ranked law schools more receptive to online classes, more judges and lawyers confront AI, key rulings loom at SCOTUS, and more ??
Reuters Legal
From the courts to law firms, we bring you the latest legal news. Subscribe to our newsletters: https://bit.ly/3nhgllA
?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here are today's top legal stories:
Students who attend less-prestigious law schools are more receptive to online classes than their counterparts at elite schools, as are older students and those with caregiver responsibilities, a new study found.
Thirty-five percent of surveyed students attending law schools ranked 150th or below by U.S. News & World Report, said they prefer attending classes online. Only 24% of surveyed students from schools ranked in the top 50 said they prefer online courses, according to?a report?released Tuesday by AccessLex Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for accessibility and affordability in legal education.
"If you are thinking about expanding distance education at your institution, consider the fact that not every student is going be attracted to online courses for the same reasons," said study co-author Tiffane Cochran, vice president of research at AccessLex.
AccessLex and Gallup first?surveyed?more than 1,700 law students at 147 schools in the spring of 2021 to gauge their perceptions of online classes, after the pandemic shifted classes online the previous year. They?repeated?the survey to 820 of the same law students in the spring of 2022 to learn whether their feelings about online learning had changed after faculty and schools had more time to adapt to the new format.
The third and final AccessLex remote class study used the earlier data to examine how the online experience differed across student groups. It found that 63% of students taking online courses reported feeling emotionally drained by those classes, compared to 48% of students taking in-person classes.
The perils of artificial intelligence keep spilling into U.S. courtrooms, with more judges issuing rules for attorneys using the technology and another lawyer inadvertently citing cases made up by ChatGPT.
Colorado Springs, Colorado, broadcaster KRDO reported this week that Zachariah Crabill, a local attorney, cited nonexistent cases generated by OpenAI's ChatGPT in a court filing in a case over contested car payments. He apologized in a May 11 affidavit and said ChatGPT accurately answered previous inquires, so it "never even dawned on me that this technology could be deceptive."
The case echoes another in New York, where a federal judge is weighing sanctions for two lawyers and their law firm after one of the attorneys, Steven Schwartz,?included six cases made up by ChatGPT?in a legal brief in his client’s personal injury case against an airline. Schwartz also apologized and cited ignorance of AI's research limitations.
At least four federal judges have recently issued orders governing how attorneys with cases before them use AI tools as more courts are taking preventative action.
Professional conduct rules issued by the American Bar Association do not explicitly address artificial intelligence. However, existing ethics rules apply to lawyers using the technology, experts have?told Reuters, including rules regarding competence and confidentiality.
领英推荐
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide by the end of this month the fate of race-conscious collegiate?admission policies, one of the major disputes - also including cases involving?LGBT rights?and?student debt forgiveness?- still yet to be resolved as the justices speed toward the end of their current term.
The court's conservative justices, who hold a 6-3 majority, signaled skepticism during oral arguments in December toward the legality of student admissions policies employed by Harvard University and the?University of North Carolina. The pending rulings concerning the two elite schools could?end?affirmative action programs that have been used by many U.S. colleges and universities for decades to increase their numbers of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority students.
The conservative justices a year ago wrapped up a watershed term in which the court?overturned?the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide - a decision that opened the door to a series of state bans on the procedure - and expanded?gun rights.
Opinion polls have revealed a sharp drop in public confidence in the top U.S. judicial body, which also has been embroiled in?ethics controversies?- in particular revelations about ties between conservative Justice Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire.
Law firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer said Tuesday that it hired a top lawyer from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to join its white-collar practice, as the Biden administration spotlights national security issues in its corporate enforcement efforts.
Deborah Curtis, a former CIA deputy general counsel, will be a partner in the firm’s white-collar defense and investigations group in Washington, D.C. Curtis said she will specialize in national security matters including export control restrictions, foreign influence laws, and supply chain regulations.
At the CIA, Curtis handled litigation and investigations, responding to congressional inquiries and lawsuits involving the U.S. intelligence agency, and started a task force to provide rapid legal advice during intelligence crises.
Law firms in Washington are beginning to stock up on legal talent in response to the Biden administration’s focus on national security-related issues like sanctions and export controls. Mayer Brown?hired?a former Justice Department national security official, Adam Hickey, last month.
?? That's all for today! Thank you for reading?The Legal File!
For more legal industry news, read and?subscribe?to?The Daily Docket.