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Archive for June, 2018

Artificial Intelligence Makes Inroads On Legal Profession

Posted on: June 25th, 2018 by Dependable Website Management No Comments
technology

Artificial intelligence is making inroads in the legal profession.

A recent experiment sheds light on the changes technology has in store for the legal profession. In this case, artificial intelligence bested lawyers in one aspect of legal work.

According to Mashable:

A new study, conducted by legal AI platform LawGeex in consultation with law professors from Stanford University, Duke University School of Law, and University of Southern California, pitted twenty experienced lawyers against an AI trained to evaluate legal contracts.

Competitors were given four hours to review five non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and identify 30 legal issues, including arbitration, confidentiality of relationship, and indemnification. They were scored by how accurately they identified each issue.
Unfortunately for humanity, we lost the competition — badly.
Human lawyers were 85 percent accurate, while the machines were 95 percent accurate. The technology was also way faster, taking 26 seconds to complete their task, while humans took 92 minutes.
All that isn’t actually bad news for humans. “Having the AI do a first review of an NDA, much like having a paralegal issue spot, would free up valuable time for lawyers to focus on client counseling and other higher-value work,” said Erika Buell, clinical professor at Duke University School of Law.
In fact, attorneys are already using AI in the real world to enhance their work, according to Small Firm Central.
Small Firm Central reports:
If you envision some kind of futuristic world with robots running the show, you’re thinking way too far into the future. Artificial intelligence (AI) is already here. In our everyday lives – and in our professional lives. It’s prevalent in the workflows of legal professionals everywhere, not only helping automate common tasks to make our jobs easier and more efficient, but also helping us practice law more confidently, allowing us to provide better service to our clients. Here are five ways AI is being used in the legal industry today.

Technology Alters Legal Profession Along With Court Reporting

Posted on: June 18th, 2018 by Dependable Website Management No Comments
court reporters

There’s still a place for courtroom stenography in the technological revolution by court reporting agency CourtScribes.

All aspects of the legal profession are being altered by technology, as are those of court reporting.

Billionaire 365 points out that technology has changed the way lawyers bill their clients, how corporate legal departments operate, how legal filings are done, and has improved research. According to Billionaire 365 reports:

Technology in the courtroom isn’t just limited to software. Many courtrooms today are equipped with state of the art technology that allows lawyers to present their cases on built-in monitors, and while cameras and other equipment have increased courtroom security.

Lastly, technology has made legal researcha more efficient and less time consuming. Legal professionals can now access a wide range of legal databases to do their research and verify case laws. While law libraries still do exist, and may not yet be near extinction, electronic research is now the most common method of gathering information.

With all these changes and advantages in technology, and the enormous impact it has had on the legal profession, it is imperative for lawyers, paralegals and other legal professionals to become tech savvy. Those who want to be successful in the legal field must be open to learning about and using new technology in their practices, or get left behind.

CourtScribes knows a thing or two about leveraging technology to improve both its business and the legal system.

Here’s a rundown of some of Courtscribes’ services:

Court Reporter Shortage Hits Broward

Posted on: June 11th, 2018 by Dependable Website Management No Comments
Court reporters

Miami court reporters Courtscribes bring technology to the table.

The national court reporter shortage has reared its head in Florida, as Broward County wrestles with fallout from too-few qualified people.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that administrators in Broward County are being urged to boost the attractiveness of the profession before the shortage affects felony cases. According to the newspaper:

Court reporters in Broward are paid $100 for a morning of work and $100 for an afternoon in the felony division. On the civil side, they are not mandatory. When they are hired, they are not paid with taxpayer money.

Private lawyers are charged — $250 each for the morning and afternoon session.

Broward is just one of many places that finds itself facing a shortage of qualified court reporters, as we noted here.

According to Ducker Worldwide: “Increased legal activity and new opportunities will drive demand despite the steady transition of some courts to digital recording. Decreased enrollment and graduation rates for court reporters, combined with significant retirement rates, will create by 2018 a critical shortfall projected to represent nearly 5,500 court reporting positions.”

Ducker Worldwide predicts there will still be a strong market for courtroom stenography in the years to come.

CourtScribes is a pioneer in using technology to help enhance court reporting.

Entrepreneur and professor Barry Unger, in a white paper, writes that the court reporting agency is leading a wave of change to disrupt the centuries-old profession.

Unger writes: “CourtScribes is changing the court reporting industry by using Internet age technology to create the official record of court proceedings, using remote transcriptionists and charging attorneys up to 50% less than what they now pay, and as … a disruptive technology will not only improve the quality of services, but also ultimately extend and even democratize the use of services that are today often restricted only to high profile or high dollar value cases.”

Court Reporter Shortage Hits Home In South Carolina

Posted on: June 4th, 2018 by Dependable Website Management No Comments
court reporter

A court reporter shortage means choosing the career could set you up for success in the job market.

All around the country, there’s a court reporter shortage. In South Carolina, that shortage has become particularly acute.

The Charleston Post and Courier reports that more than a quarter of that state’s court reporter positions are vacant. Those vacancies are resulting in delays and last-minute cancellations of proceedings across the state, the newspaper reports.

According to the Post and Courier:

Rescheduled hearings can mean additional expenses for litigants, according to a Family Court judge who said she and others on the bench are upset by how they say the state has failed to recruit and hire reporters.

The S.C. Court Administration supervises the trained stenographers who transcribe verbatim records of Circuit and Family Court proceedings. A wave of retirements and a lack of training at state technical colleges has created the shortage, the office says.

The judge, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, disagrees with that explanation.

“This whole shortage has been a creation of the court system. It’s a total disruption. … Court reporters are trying to apply and not getting hired.”

The South Carolina troubles are an extreme example of a nationwide trend, and one that’s expected to grow more acute. Retirements and increased demand are leading to court reporter shortages across the country.

A study by Ducker Worldwide predicts a shortage of court reporters in the coming year, as court reporting professionals retire without enough replacements ready to fill their shoes.

According to Ducker Worldwide: “Increased legal activity and new opportunities will drive demand despite the steady transition of some courts to digital recording. Decreased enrollment and graduation rates for court reporters, combined with significant retirement rates, will create by 2018 a critical shortfall projected to represent nearly 5,500 court reporting positions.”

Ducker Worldwide predicts there will still be a strong market for courtroom stenography in the years to come.