Lawyer's Duty of Competence Extends to Technology

It's Not Enough to Keep Abreast of 

Changes in the Substantive Law

Robert Ambrogie, blogger at LawSites, lists the 10 Most Important Legal Technology Developments of 2013.  Two entries on the list especially caught my eye.

The first entry discusses the ethical obligation to be competent in the use of technology.  The second entry discusses increasing efforts by some law schools to teach students about the use of technology in law practice.

3.  Competence in technology turned from dalliance to necessity. 

In August 2012, the American Bar Association voted to amend the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to make clear that lawyers have a duty to be competent in technology. Specifically, the ABA voted to amend the comment to Model Rule 1.1, governing lawyer competence, to say that, in addition to keeping abreast of changes in the law and its practice, a lawyer should keep abreast of “the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.” During 2013, we saw several states follow up on the ABA’s action. Delaware became the first state to formally adopt a duty of technology competence and it created a Commission on Law and Technology to help lawyers comply. Massachusetts is considering adoption of this rule. And in Pennsylvania on Nov. 21, amendments took effect to that state’s professional conduct rules to comport with the ABA model rule.

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8. Law schools discovered legal technology. 

This was the year in which a second wave of law schools began to discover the importance of teaching and studying legal technology. The first wave came years ago when some truly innovative law schools started programs focused on legal technology. They include Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology, William & Mary Law School’s Center for Legal and Court Technology, Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver and, of course, Cornell’s Legal Information Institute. But in the decade or so since those programs launched, there has not been much new coming out of law schools. Until this year, when several schools took steps to recognize the undeniable importance of technology in legal education. A good example is Suffolk University Law School in Boston, which last April launched its Institute on Law Practice Technology & Innovation and then last month announced one of the country’s first formal law school concentrations in legal technology and innovation. This year also brought the launch of the Center for Law Practice Technology at Florida Coastal School of Law and the establishment of a joint degree program in law and technology at the University of Pennsylvania. Not to be overlooked is the ReInvent Law Laboratory at Michigan State University College of Law, founded in the spring of 2012.

Back to School: Mission of the Appalachian School of Law

A Mission Tied to Its Locality

As I noted in an earlier blog, I am using this week to remind faculty, students, alumni, and entering students why the Appalachian School of Law is so special.  Let's move to its unique mission.

The Mission

Appalachian School of Law (ASL) is a mission-driven school created by local business, legal, and political leaders concerned about the well-being of people living in the central Appalachian Mountains.   ASL’s founders hoped to create an opportunity for central Appalachians to see beyond their own mountain valleys and, having done so, to return home with greater insight, effective legal skills, leadership ambitions, high ethical standards, and a commitment to community service.   

A 2008 student survey, conducted in conjunction with the strategic planning process, revealed that on average the parents of ASL students only had “some college” or a “2-year degree.”  Thirty-four percent of our students reported that their mothers obtained only a high school diploma (or less).  Another 30 percent reported their mothers had business or trade school, some college, or a two-year associate degree.  Their fathers tended to be more highly educated, with 26 percent of alumni reporting their fathers had a high school education (or less), with 20 percent reporting their fathers had business, trade school, some college, or a two-year associate degree.  

Our students are ambitious, working-class kids looking for a way to increase their earning potential, engage in a service profession, and make changes in this part of the world. 

           

At the same time, ASL's founders hoped that lawyers educated within the region would more likely stay in and provide service to the people of the region.  In other words, they hoped to educate lawyers for Main Street, not Wall Street.  

That hope has been fulfilled.  ASL has conferred a total of 1,064 law degrees over the last thirteen years.  Approximately half of our alumni are employed in small law firms in Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina.  Our graduates have become community leaders,  holding positions as state legislators, judges, magistrates, Commonwealth Attorneys, public defenders, solo practitioners, and industry managers (especially in natural resource production companies).

For more information about the Appalachian School of Law, see here and here.

Under-served Client Population

ASL’s founders expected to provide legal services and civic leadership to under-served and economically depressed communities. In 2005, of the 250 counties in the U.S. with the lowest per capita incomes, Kentucky claimed thirty-five of those counties. Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia added another twenty-four counties to this list. Thus, the region ASL serves includes 23 percent of the poorest counties in the United States.

The map recently created by the Appalachian Planning Commission graphically represents this economic reality.