Center for Legal Innovation
Overview
Through technology and the direct application of legal skills, Vermont Law and Graduate School is educating the next generation of lawyers.
VLGS has a tradition of being at the leading edge of legal education. It has seen once avant-garde initiatives—such as our general practice and semester-in-practice programs, legal clinics, and international programs—become models for widespread adoption. The Center for Legal Innovation builds on this history, with a focus on the current challenges for effective and affordable education for the lawyers of the 21st century.
New challenges mean new approaches, many of which involve technology.
The Center for Legal Innovation is dedicated to helping create a future where innovation and entrepreneurial energy redefine legal education, the practice of law, and the law itself. Through the collaborative efforts of faculty, students, practitioners, and industry experts, our current projects include researching ways to standardize contracts, transform legal education through distance learning, and create transparency in financial transactions. We provide both a scholarly and practical environment for an exploration of what law is and a platform to influence what law will be.
Courses
Legal professionals increasingly rely on technology-enabled tools for discovery, litigation support, document assembly, and information management. In response to this growing dependence on technology in the legal field, the Center for Legal Innovation offers a range of courses in eLawyering. The center is also expanding its curriculum to include courses in cyberlaw, cybersecurity, application development for law and policy, and virtual practice.
6361/eLawyering: eDiscovery Data
Litigation often involves the collection, production, management and analysis of electronically stored information (ESI). An enormous amount of data (Big Data) exists that may help make a case or predict the outcomes of approaches and legal rulings. This course considers the legal and operational issues associated with managing electronic information.
6362/eLawyering: Practice Management
Legal practices are using practice management and litigation software. Courts have also moved in the direction of e-filing and calendaring. Students will gain the theoretical and practical background to understand these changes and to positively impact their employer’s responses to such changes. Students will use matter management software, prepare e-filings and use technology to strengthen and present a closing argument.
6360/Introduction to eLawyering
Focuses on how new technologies affect legal drafting, and surveys the historical background of law and technology; the logical basis for such legal documents as contracts, wills, statutes and regulations; and the theory of embedding law in code. The course also considers the secondary effects on law, lawyering and the legal profession likely to arise from the digitization of many legal tasks. In addition to the reading and class discussions, students will create a demonstrative virtual law practice and undertake drafting projects.
Legal Innovation Resources
The faculty, staff, and students in the Legal Innovation Center at the Vermont Law School are performing research, writing articles, and developing technology-driven legal education tools. Below is a collection of the latest scholarships and impacts made by VLS Legal Innovation Center community members.
- “Evidence Challenge Creator Discusses New Game” by Jeannette Eicks
- “Evidence Challenge,” a LexisNexis Legal Educational Game by Jeannette Eicks
- “GameOn! Educational Games for Law Students,” a presentation by Jeannette Eicks
- Educating Superior Legal Professionals: Successful Modern Curricula Join Law and Technology. Chapter 5 in Educating the Digital Lawyer. January 2012.
- Law Professor’s Blog by Jeannette Eicks and Oliver Goodenough
- “Digital Drafting” with Oliver Goodenough and Jeannette Eicks
- “Educating the Digital Lawyer” Jan. 2012, edited by Oliver Goodenough andMarc Lauritsen
- “Reimagining Legal Education,” Huffington Post, Sept. 5, 2012, by Oliver Goodenough and Rebecca Purdom
- “Developing an E-Curriculum: Reflections on the Future of Legal Education and on the Importance of Digital Expertise” by Oliver Goodenough
- “Oliver Goodenough on Creating a Law School e-Curriculum,” August 7, 2013
- “Who’s Eating Law Firms’ Lunch?” ABA Journal article featuring Oliver Goodenough and VLS alumnus Kevin Colangelo ’14
- “MakingLegal Technology a Practice not a Cost Center,” Oliver Goodenough Guest Comment, LEGALIT INSIDER, March 18, 2014
- “The Message From Harvard-‘New Law’ Is Replacing ‘Biglaw’ How Will The Profession Respond?“, Career Files, Above the Law, March 13, 2014
- “CreativeCorner: Meet the brave new world of governance,” Burlington Free Press, Feb. 13, 2014
- “14 Reasons Law Schools Must Teach Tech,” Michael Fitzgerald, Information Week, July 10 2013
- “The Law and ICTs: How Legal Infrastructure Can Support Economic Growth,” Convegno “Il diritto e le tecnologie di avanguardia,” talk by Oliver Goodenough, Milan, Jan. 15, 2013
Community Navigator Pilot Project
The Center for Legal Innovation at Vermont Law School received Small Business Administration grant funding beginning in 2021 through the Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) to offer support and outreach on legal topics impacting diverse and disadvantaged businesses and business owners in Vermont. With the coordination efforts of the VtSBDC, eight partner groups with various skill sets banded together to implement this comprehensive outreach and support program.
We began our outreach by conducting listening tours in Vermont communities to learn about legal business concerns.
Based on community input from the listening tour, our portion of the program provided:
- Online legal resources and tools to assist with a general understanding of legal requirements, options, and opportunities for small businesses
- Direct consultations to small businesses to help them to understand the legal aspects of owning and running a business
- Referrals for approved businesses for five to ten hours of free legal service with a Vermont attorney.
Inquire Here
For more information on the CNPP project, please visit the Vermont Small Business Development Center website. Since the close of the CNPP project, the small business legal clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School has reformed as the Vermont Small Business Law Center and continues to provide similar legal services as during the CNPP program, and is now funded by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Interested businesses may learn about the available services here.
