Law at the Crossroads of Change
From iPhones to medical devices to AI and even outdated tech like fax machines, the law shapes technology, and technology shapes the law. For lawyers, and for techies, this is an incredible space in which to build a career.
“Law and technology” is a nebulous concept, largely because it breaks down into at least two interacting but distinctly different areas: the law of technology and the technology of law.
Michigan Law offers a rich field of exploration in both branches, led by faculty engaged in cutting-edge scholarship, groundbreaking courtroom advocacy, and legal practice innovation.
The Law of Technology
The law of technology spans a wide range of legal interests. Patents, FDA regulations, and data privacy law all shape and react to technology, but so do less obvious areas like copyright, criminal law, international and comparative law, and human rights law.
The law of technology asks how the law shapes the course of technological advances (how does a new drug get approved?) and how technology shapes the law (how should criminal law treat cameras that can sense heat through walls?).
Whatever your area of interest, learning about the law of technology will help you understand how the law governs technology and how technological change shifts legal regimes—which in turn can help you develop persuasive challenges to existing law and carve out opportunity for your clients and your career.
The law of technology is the law of change.
Michigan Law students pursue the law of technology through a number of avenues. The impact of tech appears across the curriculum, including many courses which focus specifically on technology.
We have two law journals entirely devoted to the law of technology. We offer clinics, practice simulations, and externships that give you real-world legal experience, including the impact technology has on individual legal issues. And we offer innovative approaches to learning, like the Problem Solving Initiative, the Legal Practice Program, and dual degree opportunities that let you obtain your JD along with an MS in information.
The Technology of Law
From e-discovery to AI, the practice of law is changing rapidly to include and accommodate new technologies. If you want to be one of tomorrow’s lawyers, you have to start preparing today.
Michigan Law has extensive offerings to prepare you to practice law with an understanding of new legal technologies. Our faculty is dedicated to preparing you for the impact of technology across the span of legal practice, including writing and research skills, the nuts and bolts of litigation and civil procedure, and legal ethics and professional responsibility considerations. Our e-discovery and advanced research courses go deep into these topics.
Hands-on opportunities like the Legal Practice Program, moot court competitions, and practice simulations give you practical tech skills you will use throughout your career. And advanced courses on evidence, legal technology and innovation, and professional responsibility give you insight on these critical, complex issues in the practice of law.
