Human-Centered Legal Tech: Integrating Design in Legal Education

The Law Teacher, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 82-97 (2016). DOI: 10.1080/03069400.2016.1146468

Northeastern University School of Law Research Paper No. 262-2016

Posted: 23 Apr 2016 Last revised: 8 Mar 2022

See all articles by Dan Jackson

Dan Jackson

Northeastern University - NuLawLab; Northeastern University - School of Law

Date Written: April 12, 2016

Abstract

As the legal profession begins in earnest to deploy digital technology in service and information delivery, greater numbers of law schools are including technology instruction in their curricula. The prospect of more lawyers with digital expertise, while a welcomed development, amplifies a parallel imperative that new technology tools be designed to be responsive to evolving human needs. This paper argues that coupling technology instruction with training in human-centered design approaches offers legal educators a means of preparing lawyers not only able to generate novel technology solutions, but able to fundamentally improve legal institutions and programs through those results. The use of design pedagogies within legal education also provides educators and students with the opportunity to reimagine the law as a creative pursuit by exploring structured methods like empathy via observation, prototyping, and the embrace of failure, with learning outcomes that hold the potential to transform how lawyers approach their role. This paper concludes by detailing the insights the NuLawLab has gained in the application of design methodologies in the creation of digital legal resources, and the modifications we are adopting to the approach to produce better results for the legal sector.

Keywords: Design, Legal Education

Suggested Citation

Jackson, Dan, Human-Centered Legal Tech: Integrating Design in Legal Education (April 12, 2016). The Law Teacher, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 82-97 (2016). DOI: 10.1080/03069400.2016.1146468, Northeastern University School of Law Research Paper No. 262-2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2767486

Dan Jackson (Contact Author)

Northeastern University - NuLawLab ( email )

102 Dockser Hall,
65 Forsyth St.
Boston, MA 02115
United States

Northeastern University - School of Law ( email )

416 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
United States

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