Beware of Vague Drafting!
Introduction In everyday legal drafting, lawyers commonly use “elastic” expressions such as “reasonable”, “as soon as practicable”, “material” and “satisfactory”.[ref] Peter Butt, Legal Usage: A Modern Style Guide (Australia: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2018) at p 664 (“Legal Usage”).[/ref] While precise word
What is Your Artificial Intelligence Quotient?
A report released in May 2018 by the Law Society of England and Wales, titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession” (AI Report),[ref] The AI Report can be downloaded from <http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/news/stories/artificial-intelligence-and-the-legal-profession-horizon-scanning-report/> (accessed 24 September 2018).[/ref] highlights the growing influence of
Looking for Help or Asking for Trouble?
Ethical and Risk Issues with Lateral Hiring Introduction Lateral hiring is a common solution for law firms looking to expand. While a candidate’s experience, cultural fit or client following might naturally come to mind when a law firm is seeking to hire
Disruptive Legal Technologies – Is Ethics Catching Up?
In December 2017, DeepMind, a leading AI company, sent ripples through the AI world when it announced that it had developed a computer program (known as “AlphaGoZero” or “AlphaZero”) which learned the rules of three games – chess, Shogi and
Soft Skills for Success
Recent studies of American lawyers and their clients have revealed an interesting finding: lawyers and clients view lawyer effectiveness differently. Whereas American lawyers ranked legal expertise and knowledge of the law as their most important competencies, their clients emphasized regular