Technology and the Future of the Legal Profession Lecture Series

The Technology and the Future of the Legal Profession Lecture Series will bring together experts from academia, industry and legal practice to debate the ways in which technology is being taken up by the legal profession and the impact that this might have in the future. Accelerating technological change has already affected the legal profession, and it will inevitably have broader effects on law and legal practice in the years to come. The purpose of the lecture series is to highlight the challenges and opportunities that these changes present for lawyers.

The series is organised by the UQ Law, Science and Technology Program.

Past sessions

Digital Legislation

23 October 2019 6:00pm–7:00pm

in Technology and the Future of the Legal Profession Lecture Series

In this talk, Professor Guido Governatori will introduce the paradigm of digital legislation.

Law Firms of the Future

12 September 2019 1:00pm–2:00pm

in Technology and the Future of the Legal Profession Lecture Series

Kim Trajer (Chief Operating Officer, McCullough Robertson) and Milan Gandhi (Innovation Ambassador, McCullough Robertson/Founder of The Legal Forecast) will explore the basics of how and why modern day law firms are pushing to innovate, and what this actually means in practice particularly for those seeking to enter the profession within the next few years.

Demystifying Artificial Intelligence: What Lawyers Really Need to Know About Technology

29 August 2019 6:00pm–7:00pm

in Technology and the Future of the Legal Profession Lecture Series

The automation of various aspects of legal services delivery, from discovery and due diligence to predictive analytics, have raised questions for university and continuing legal education. To work effectively alongside technology, lawyers will need to understand it, not by learning to code, but by grasping the underlying logics.

The Resilience of Contract Law in Light of Technological Change

18 July 2019 6:00pm–7:00pm

in Technology and the Future of the Legal Profession Lecture Series

While the Internet hardly creates academic excitement anymore, a number of internet-related technologies seems to challenge the principles of contract law and may, finally, test their ability to withstand technological change.

Text Analytics in Legal Practice: Opportunities and Challenges

16 May 2019 6:00pm–7:00pm

in Technology and the Future of the Legal Profession Lecture Series

Recent developments in text analytics offer new tools for legal practice. Increasingly, these techniques will identify argument-related information in legal decisions raising the possibility of ever more effectively matching documents’ substantive concepts and argument roles with those required to solve users’ particular legal problems.

Text Analytics in Legal Practice: Opportunities and Challenges

How Computational Models of Legal Reasoning Can Help Legal Apps

16 May 2019 12:00pm–1:00pm

in Technology and the Future of the Legal Profession Lecture Series

Due to popular demand, Professor Kevin D. Ashley, University of Pittsburgh, will present a second lecture at noon in the UQ Law boardroom. Professor Ashley has kindly agreed to present at St Lucia in addition to Queensland Supreme Court Library in the evening. We hope the additional time allows for more UQ academics to attend and learn from Professor Ashley, an expert on computer modelling of legal reasoning and cyberspace legal issues.

Technology and the Future of the Courts

26 March 2019 6:00pm–7:00pm

in Technology and the Future of the Legal Profession Lecture Series

Presented by Chief Justice James Allsop, this lecture provides an overview of the role of the court in the uptake of technology (both the Federal Court of Australia and other courts in Australia and around the world).