Join us on Thursday, April 27, 12pm to 1pm for a Legal Tech Institute Vendor Visit from our Westlaw representative who will discuss Family Law resources available for free on the Law Library’s Westlaw computers. Texas attorneys can earn 1.0 hour CLE credit. Visit the Legal Tech Institute Course Catalog to register.
PowerNotes: Organize Your Research In a Whole New Way
The Harris County Law Library recently discovered a new browser extension for Chrome that allows you to capture, customize, and organize your research in a more efficient and accessible way. Instead of highlighting content, cutting and pasting it into a Word document, adding notes, and then returning to your source material to capture additional content or the URL of the website you are visiting, PowerNotes lets you perform all of these tasks in one self-contained platform.
For a limited time, throughout the beta testing phase, download the PowerNotes Chrome browser extension for free. Try out the only online research platform that saves what's important and keeps it organized for you in customized project folders, which you create yourself for the various legal matters you manage. Read more about the features that make PowerNotes the new must-have legal research management tool, and download it for your Chrome browser today.
"Techno-Legal" Practitioners and Lawyers Learning to Code
Several months ago, we at the Harris County Law Library featured a post on Ex Libris Juris called Coding for Lawyers -- Novelty or Necessity?. It explored the arguments for and against lawyers learning to code, recognizing that some basic skills in practical technology are an asset.
At least one law school is beginning to offer coding classes as part of its curriculum. According to a recent New York Times article, Get With the Programming, Georgetown University Law Center offered a computer programming course last semester on an experimental basis. Demand for the course was overwhelming, and five additional courses were added this spring. The professor who teaches the course, Paul Ohm, recognizes that his law students are not going to become programmers, but, he feels, coding skills will help them to be better lawyers. And the trend seems to be catching on.
A course based on the Georgetown model, will soon be offered at the University of New South Wales. Sponsored by Gilbert + Tobin, an Australian corporate law firm, the new course will help develop lawyers into "techo-legal" practitioners as they "learn about the automation of legal tasks and advice, how to design and build legal information systems, and use technology to generate legal documents and create and code user-facing, law-related apps."
As demand for lawyers with software skills increases, expect to see more law schools -- and perhaps law firms -- offer coding classes in the near future.
Registration Open for Legal Tech Institute CLE
Register today for our upcoming Legal Tech Institute training session! On Thursday, April 27, 12pm - 1pm, our Westlaw representative will lead a training session on family law resources available for free on the Law Library's Westlaw computers. Texas attorneys can earn 1.0 hour CLE credit and all who are interested in learning more about free access to Westlaw at the Law Library are welcome to attend.
For more information and to register, visit the Legal Tech Institute Course Catalog.
Tech4Justice Hackathon + Veterans - Houston and Chicago, March 11-17
Tech For Justice, an initiative of the InternetBar.org Institute, is hosting a hackathon for veterans. It will kick off in Houston this weekend and continue at the ABA Techshow in Chicago. The event will wrap up in Houston on March 17th, when $10,000 in prizes will be awarded for the best proposals.
What is a hackathon?
A hackathon is a collaborative event that takes place over several days. Hackathons draw people together from a wide variety of backgrounds to solve a specific set of problems. Those who work in technology, research, legal aid, social services, government, business, education, advocacy, the justice system, civic organizations, urban planning, public health, or any number of other fields all have a role to play.
What is the goal of a hackathon?
Ultimately, the goal of a hackathon is to solve problems, often social or civic in nature, by pooling intellectual resources and drawing on the expertise of peers. Hackathon participants create apps, games, or other tech tools that address specific issues. They may also develop new models for using existing technology, such as social media or mobile devices, in original ways.
Who benefits from the outcome?
The Tech For Justice Hackathon is targeted at helping veterans address the challenges they face upon returning to civilian life. Participants will work in small teams to develop tech-based tools for facilitating reintegration, treating PTSD, overcoming homelessness, and addressing a variety of legal, financial, and mental health needs. Although Legal Aid offices offer programs for veterans, they are overburdened and unable to meet the overwhelming demand for their services. Innovative solutions are needed to meet veterans' needs where traditional channels are failing. The Tech For Justice Hackathon will produce real, viable solutions to the problems that veterans of every generation experience post-deployment.
How can people get involved?
Anyone can sign up to be involved in the hackathon happening March 11th-17th, whether you are an attorney, a veteran yourself or close to one, or simply feel passionate about veteran affairs.