“For more than a decade, state bars . . . have noted that a lawyer's duty to meet ethical obligations related to client confidentiality is no longer severable from a duty to understand the fundamental concepts associated with knowledge about cloud computing and data security.”
Purpose:
In a world of rapidly evolving technology, competency in the use of the latest applications, software, and other useful tools is fundamental to lawyering. Georgia State’s model aims to provide a structure for legal education that integrates technology and technology concepts into law school curricula so future lawyers keep in step with an equally evolving meaning of competency.
Origin:
Many states have adopted Comment 8 to the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.1 on Competency, which says in the relevant part that “a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.” In adopting this language, these states are highlighting the importance that lawyers stay current on the latest technologies being used in law practice.
The Model:
The model is built on a foundation called BASE, which establishes the minimum competency thresholds all lawyers must exercise for competent practice. The elements of this foundation include:
- Basic Applications – command of drafting tools and ability to manipulate data
- Software – understanding how research services and databases function
- Expectations – adequately protecting client confidential information
The model then builds on the BASE requirements by dividing competency in legal technology into four knowledge categories called Topical Quadrants:
- Practice Technology: technologies used to assist in fundamental tasks
- Data: data-driven decision making, data literacy, coding skills
- Automation and Efficiency: technologies used to streamline legal practices
- Emerging Technology: known and developing technologies
Lawyers need not necessarily be experts in each of the Topical Quadrants, which is where the model’s final component of mastery comes in. Using a concept of mastery, akin to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, which is likely familiar to teachers, professors, and students, the model scales the Topical Quadrants into three levels:
- Know – working knowledge or familiarity with technology in a certain area
- Integrate – assimilating legal technology into daily work
- Create – develop, invent, or revolutionize legal technology
For more info, see the model explained in depth here: Georgia State Legal Technology Competency Model[1].
You can also watch the following presentation given by the authors at CALICon 2023:
[1] Parsons, Patrick and Dewey, Michelle and Niedringhaus, Kristina L., Georgia State Legal Technology Competency Model: A Framework for Examining and Evaluating What It Means to Be a Technologically Competent Lawyer (November 4, 2022). University of St. Thomas Law Journal, Symposium Issue, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4411686