PUBLISHED:July 14, 2017

From the Dean

Dean David F. LeviDear Friends:

Our faculty and students know that excellence in the legal profession depends both on depth of experience and the continued acquisition of new knowledge and skills. In addition to mastery of the basic analytic skills, legal writing, and professionalism, the faculty attempts to imbue our students with a willingness and ability to learn new areas of law and to adapt to and benefit from changes to law practice. For some, change is surely coming. It would be startling if law practice 25 years from now were the same as law practice today. One can either resist or attempt to shape and take advantage of the dynamism in the legal economy. Change and the need to learn new practice areas and skills are what can make the law such a satisfying and exciting career, even if the prospect takes us a bit out of our comfort zone and routine.

The arrival of potentially disruptive new technologies in the practice of law is described in one of our feature articles in this issue. Already we are seeing major law firms use artificial intelligence to do jobs that previously went to associates and paralegals, such as document review and contract drafting. Whether this development ultimately benefits the legal profession as a whole is not clear. Our hope is that our graduates, who are among the most creative and thoughtful in the legal profession, will welcome the assistance of machines to handle the routine tasks at less cost to their clients. But the power of this market force seems undeniable whatever the outcome in costs and benefits.

Access to justice by those who cannot afford civil legal services may be significantly advanced by new technologies that are interactive, intuitive, and available on a smartphone. Access to justice is one of the great challenges for our profession, and it is exciting to see the possibilities that technology may offer, in addition to pro bono efforts and legal aid offices.

Duke Law is becoming one of the leaders in the “law tech” space. We believe that we have an obligation to our students to understand the ongoing impact of technology on the legal profession and ensure they are ready to meet both the challenges and opportunities it is creating. We are preparing students not just for a career that starts the day they graduate, but also for a practice that will span decades into the future. We began looking at law tech a few years ago. There is interest and enthusiasm in our faculty and also in other Duke faculties, such as computer science and engineering, where some of the same possibilities are explored in somewhat different contexts. Last year I asked Associate Clinical Professor Jeff Ward ’09, who has served as director of our Start-Up Ventures Clinic since 2013, to take an in-depth look at how we are doing in the law tech field and what more we need to do. The result is a range of initiatives described in these pages, including the establishment of a new Center on Law & Technology.

This is not new territory for Duke Law School. We have long had one of the strongest intellectual property faculties in the country, as well as a library that led the transition to the digital era of legal research and scholarship under the leadership of Dick Danner. Our LLM in Law and Entrepreneurship has readied scores of lawyers to go to work in the innovation economy, and with the Start-Up Ventures Clinic, has enmeshed itself in the technology community in Durham and the Research Triangle. We have taken the lead in educating the bench and the bar about e-discovery through the acquisition last year of EDRM, and we have on the drawing board plans to broaden our offerings and expertise in cybersecurity, an area of much-increased importance.

Innovation, technology, and new ways of practicing law are all very promising, particularly here in the Research Triangle, one of the great concentrations of innovation, especially in the medical field. But these changes, exciting and awesome as they may be, are only as good as the minds that direct them to certain ends. The timeless debates over values and purposes in the study and practice of law remain central.

 

Shortly before this issue of Duke Law Magazine went to press, I announced that I will step down as dean of Duke Law School on June 30, 2018. By then, I will have been your dean for 11 years, which is a long time for any dean!

It has been a great privilege to lead the Law School, but an even greater privilege has been the opportunity to meet and work with you, Duke Law’s amazing alumni. We have something very special here at Duke Law in our dedicated faculty and staff, and you recognize and appreciate this. As I embark on a busy final year as dean, I am grateful for your continued friendship and support, and I look forward to expressing my thanks to you in person.

Best wishes for a wonderful summer.

Dean David F. Levi
Dean and Professor of Law