New Report Analyzes Tech Training in Law Schools

"New Skills, New Learning: Legal education and the promise of technology," a white paper by Berkman Fellow Gene Koo, has just been released.

Working in partnership with LexisNexis, the study found: "A large majority of lawyers perceive critical gaps between what they are taught in law schools and the skills they need in the workplace, and appropriate technologies are not being used to help close this gap."

Some of the report's findings include...

*More than 75 percent of lawyers surveyed said they lacked critical practice skills after completing their law school education.

*Learning through computer simulation mirrors the technology-based foundation of most legal practice settings today and enables participants to experience non-linear decision making closest to real-world casework.

*Smaller firms can stay competitive with larger firms through more nimble deployment of technology tools and by exploiting the exploding amount of data openly available on the Web. Attorneys at these firms need tech-related skills to realize these opportunities.

The report is available online and Gene welcomes comments and thoughts on the report's wiki.

Gene has also blogged some of his closing thoughts on the study.