The Next Generation
Dear Readers
IT and law or LegalTech are relatively recent developments. The discipline is gaining in relevance, not only analyzing legal problems at the intersection of IT and law, but also reflecting on how technology affects law. Exciting and relevant is an interdisciplinary approach that takes a holistic view of the interaction between IT, law, new business and work models, etc.
The changes brought about by the use of technology in law should also be addressed at the university level. LegalTech-courses are needed, students - the future lawyers - should learn already during their studies in a technology-driven environment that "law" alone will not be enough in the future, that interdisciplinary, collaborative, interactive and multidisciplinary work and advice is needed.
The first steps in this direction will be taken with the students from the course "LegalTech and its effects on the working world" at the University of St Gallen. They not only learn the basics of LegalTech, but also work in groups on projects and present them. In addition, they prepare written papers in this subject area. Several exciting projects and ideas have already emerged from the first two sessions of the course. Two of them - the project "Watchchain" and the subsumption machine - were presented at the Weblaw Forum 2019 and in Jusletter IT. The project "TrackRank" for monitoring the external perception of law firms on the Internet was presented by the students at the Weblaw Forum 2020. Also worth mentioning is the project justus-beratung.ch by Andreas Nef, for which there is also a podcast. In addition, Jusletter IT of September 26, 2019, features an article by Benjamin Camavdic on predictive policing and the issue of December 5, 2019, features Florian Furger's work on lootboxes in video games.
The present issue is intended to further support the idea of demand and promotion. It publishes student works from the Spring Course 2020, a "Next Generation" that deals with a number of topics in their work. The ideas range from chatbots to automated document analysis and disposable algorithms to online dispute resolution or legal design thinking. Others are active in the field of blockchain technology.
Several universities and universities of applied sciences in Switzerland, including HSG, ZHAW, Kalaidos, HWZ, FFHS and the HSLU, have now integrated LegalTech into their educational programs (see also our list of training providers in the area of LegalTech). With Jusletter IT we give innovative ideas a mouthpiece. So that many more may follow! If you are interested, please feel welcome to contact us for joint projects or publications.
Furthermore, this issue includes an article by Fabian Teichmann and Léonard Gerber, who follows on from the blockchain-focused articles in this issue with their question of how crypto-currencies can be used to finance terrorism.
We wish you an exciting read
Franz Kummer
Founder and CEO Weblaw AG
Lecturer LegalTech at the University of St. Gallen
Note: The Jusletter issue of 16 November 2020 contains several articles on data protection. The Webinar@Weblaw: "The new Data Protection Act: Selected Topics for Practice" with David Rosenthal and David Vasella will take place on November 25, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Participation is free of charge if you sign up for a new Jusletter or Jusletter IT annual subscription.