NCJ Number
121043
Journal
Jurimetrics Journal of Law, Science, and Technology Volume: 29 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1989) Pages: 259-266
Date Published
1989
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Although the phrase "law, science, and technology" is used by the legal system to indicate that legal education and practice must accommodate the needs of an increasingly technologically driven, information-based society, there is no consensus on what this means in terms of curriculum, educational program, or client representation.
Abstract
Technology assessment -- the identification of societal impact concerns in order to take appropriate remedial action -- is not treated by the legal profession as an area of specialized practice. For example, computer and law courses often deal with issues more appropriate to traditional courses such as uses of computers in legal research, intellectual property problems, and commercial law issues. Instead, this type of course should focus on emerging legal issues including prediction and stereotyping, State power, rights of access, the "data concentric world," fair competition, human interaction, and computer crime. The law, science, and technology speciality must also try to lay down guidelines for managing rapidly developing technological complexity. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) must be explored in connection with socioscientific issues, and supplementary analytical tools for inquiring into legal problems must be developed. Lawyers must redefine their representational role with regard to law and technology matters to include acting as an early warning outpost identifying problems associated with new technologies. Legal students must be instructed in new skills relating to the sciences, and the public needs to be alerted to critical issues emerging in the information age.