UNSW LAW : LAWS3035 - Developing Computer Applications to Law

Familiarity with the use of a microcomputer and a word processing program is a prerequisite, but a knowledge of programming is not required. Familiarity with computerised legal research is desirable, particularly internet legal research.

LLM Specialisation

This course may be counted towards LLM specialisation in Media, Communications and Information Technology Law.

Units of Credit: 8

Description

The practice of law is profoundly changing through the application of computers and networked information systems. This subject covers the three technologies central to the computerisation of law and legal reasoning: hypertext and the web; databases and text retrieval; knowledge-based systems. There is a focus on the integration of inferencing systems with hypertext and text retrieval, particularly via the internet, to provide comprehensive legal information systems. Practical applications in law office computerisation, litigation support systems and court computerisation are emphasised.

Information for Current UNSW Law Students

Course Outline

Objectives

To assist students to develop an understanding of the state of art in legal technology and an understanding of likely future developments
To give a basic working knowledge of the structure of the internet and its application to the practice of law
To give a theoretical and practical understanding of the use of technology in legal decision making (such as expert systems)

Main Topics

Theory:

Text retrieval and hypertext in legal applications
Knowledge-based legal applications
Public policy in access to legal information
Litigation support and court technologies
Computerisation of legal practice

Practice:

Hands on: Building a legal website
Hands on: Building a rule-based expert system for law