This is the transcript for the video Legal Futures & Technology Major
00:01
Hello! Welcome to this webinar on Legal Futures and Technology.
00:06
My name is Maxine Evers and I am the Associate Dean for Education here in the
00:10
Faculty of Law. I thank you for joining me as I take
00:14
this opportunity to tell you about our Legal Futures and
00:17
Technology Major but also about the Faculty here
00:22
at UTS. So thank you for giving us the time to learn more about our faculty
00:28
and to learn more about our undergraduate law degrees
00:31
here and particularly for those students
00:35
or our parents or audience that are interested in really
00:38
knowing about the future of law and the future of legal practice.
00:43
So the purpose of this information session is to give you some details
00:47
around the Legal Futures and Technology Major.
00:51
It’s still relatively new here in the faculty.
00:53
It commenced in 2018 and to give you an insight into what it’s like to be a
00:58
student undertaking the major.
01:06
We know that our society is changing rapidly as a result
01:10
of both technology and innovation and the time of COVID-19 has really
01:16
shown to us that we are able to respond to
01:20
the challenges brought about by a pandemic
01:24
because of technology has helped us be able to work remotely,
01:28
it’s helped our students to be able to study remotely
01:31
and it is really been assisted in ways across community around
01:36
medical problem solving, around communication
01:40
and around the workplace. So you can see here on this slide
01:45
different examples of how the practice of law
01:49
and the law itself is being disrupted. And being disrupted in many ways, many
01:55
ways that are greater than the law has really ever faced
01:59
in modern times, so we know about the impact of
02:03
artificial intelligence, we know about the way that transactions can now be
02:09
conducted using the blockchain. We talk about new law, new law is about
02:14
the practice of law and also about the application of law.
02:18
And then data analytics is very much changing the way
02:22
that we conduct the practice of law, particularly in the courts.
02:27
So we see as everyday examples of how the law
02:30
is being impacted by technology and that’s happening in relation to the
02:35
collection, the analysis of evidence. It’s very much
02:39
also in around how the courts are managed and
02:43
how our court cases are decided and how
02:46
judges are making their decisions in relation to litigation. We also know
02:50
how it’s impacted on transactions that lawyers are involved in. We have
02:54
smart contracts, we have electronic wills, we have different transfers of land
02:59
title all now being changed by technology and also by innovation.
03:06
At UTS, we believe technology and innovation go
03:10
hand in hand and very much have shaped the design of our Legal Futures and
03:15
Technology Major.
03:17
Here in the Law Faculty at UTS, we talk
03:21
about legal professionals and the role of
03:23
legal professionals. We see that the law and a law degree is
03:28
yes, leading to be a solicitor or a barrister
03:32
or as a in-house counsel, working as a corporate lawyer
03:36
in a firm, in a company or a government or a community legal
03:42
officer. So we know that many of our graduates will
03:47
go into practice but some will not go into legal practice.
03:51
Many of our undergraduate students are undertaking a double degree
03:55
and may will also go into that other discipline of the degree that they’re
03:59
undertaking, but we know that our students will go into industries where
04:05
they will be working with clients in some way or another whether they be
04:09
individual clients government clients or corporate clients.
04:13
And so our degree here at UTS, including the
04:16
major, is very much designed to bring together legal
04:20
knowledge and skills to ensure that our graduates
04:24
are work ready. If you’re thinking about studying a law degree, you probably have
04:29
an idea of what lawyers do. That might be from having family or friends
04:34
that are lawyers, it might be from movies and television, it might be from books,
04:38
it might be from undertaking legal studies
04:42
at school. So you would know that in society lawyers play a key role
04:49
in the regulation and the management of society, including technology and most
04:55
important ethics and ethical decision making.
04:58
We know that technology has thrown up challenges
05:01
for society, how to manage it, how to really,
05:05
one of a better expression, control it and how to work with technology
05:09
and how to be able to understand technology. And
05:12
much of that discussion and that thinking is around having an
05:16
ethical approach to ensure that the use of technology is done so with
05:20
integrity. Again the role of legal professionals is
05:25
changing very much around now what clients are expecting from lawyers
05:31
and how lawyers work with other professionals. Lawyers have to work
05:35
with other industries, they have to work with
05:39
clients, they have to work with other lawyers to
05:41
ensure that the service and the advice and the
05:45
representation that they give to their clients is a holistic
05:50
one. So that’s again something that we focus on
05:54
here at UTS Law being very much around the practical application of legal
06:00
knowledge. This slide gives you some information
06:04
around the Legal Futures and Technology Major.
06:08
So as I said earlier, it was launched in 2018
06:11
after a very extensive period of research and consultation
06:16
with the profession and the legal industry more broadly about
06:21
what employers really wanted graduates to have,
06:25
what knowledge did they want them to have, what skills did they need them to
06:29
have to be work ready and so we
06:33
established an advisory group that consisted of
06:36
lawyers from large law firms, from in-house counsel
06:40
and from legal startups to ensure that we could really have a very broad
06:45
and high level understanding of the type of workplace that graduates
06:52
would be going into. So after that period of consultation and
06:56
research we developed the major, which is the first major in an
07:01
undergraduate law degree and it was the opportunity for
07:05
our students to specialise in the area of technology
07:09
and innovation.
07:13
The major really brings together both the theory
07:16
of law and the practice of law within the framework of technology and
07:21
innovation. So I’ll give you some more
07:24
information about the actual design of the major and you will see that some
07:29
areas focus on the theory of law and others focus on the practical
07:34
application of law and and certainly that fits very well with UTS and the Law
07:39
Faculty because it is a university that’s very much
07:42
professionally based, has had very strong links to the profession and industry
07:46
since the establishment of the university. So we’re very comfortable
07:50
and confident about working closely with the profession
07:53
to ensure our graduates are work ready. One of the opportunities that the major
07:58
provides to students is to undertake an internship which we
08:03
encourage our students to do so and to
08:07
plan in the major because there are some options on
08:11
how to really take the subjects that suit
08:14
students interests and strengths. Another advantage of the major is that
08:20
sitting besides the academic program of the of the major, what we call
08:25
co-curricular or extracurricular activities, so our
08:29
students here have many opportunities to participate in
08:33
areas that support their learning and we work very closely with the UTS Law
08:39
Student Society to provide those opportunities. So in the
08:42
area of innovation and technology students, can undertake
08:48
to be involved in competitions, they can be involved in a technology
08:52
moot, they can be involved in often projects that are supported by
09:00
the profession that really enhance student skills
09:04
and give them the opportunity to work with professionals. So it’s
09:08
very much both a formal and a non-formal approach to
09:12
technology innovation.
09:15
It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to
09:18
my colleagues that work in the Legal Futures and Technology
09:22
Major and the four colleagues that you see
09:25
here on this slide are really the key people
09:28
in designing and reviewing and delivering
09:32
the subjects within the Legal Futures and Technology Major
09:35
and the major is really headed by Professor David Lindsay.
09:38
Professor Lindsay is a well-established academic researcher
09:45
that has been for a lengthy period involved
09:48
in technology and intellectual property and privacy data security. So David
09:54
has a wealth of knowledge and very strong
09:58
connections with the profession to ensure that the major
10:02
is up to date, is very future-focused and gives students that really hands-on
10:08
opportunity. David is joined by Dr. Genevieve
10:12
Wilkinson and Dr. Evana Wright that are both intellectual
10:16
property lawyers and also work in technology and Evana
10:20
and Genevieve teaching to the major and also
10:24
work very closely with David and with Kris to work with students
10:29
and one area that they they work is supervising students who
10:33
are undertaking honours in technology. We’re very lucky
10:36
to have recently joined the faculty Dr. Kris Wilson.
10:39
Kris undertook his PhD in the UK into cybersecurity, so
10:44
Kris brings that strength and that expertise
10:48
into the major as well. So these four colleagues together with
10:53
professionals from the industry and from the legal
10:56
profession and with our sessional academics put
11:00
together the subjects that form the major. So if
11:04
you undertake the major, it’s more than likely that you will have
11:07
one of my colleagues teaching you in the subjects. They also teach in
11:12
subjects outside of the major as well and we’re very
11:16
lucky here at UTS in our new building in
11:20
Building 2 to have some great spaces for students
11:25
to undertake group work and to
11:29
to work with their teachers in some very well supported very comfortable
11:36
with technology learning spaces as well.
11:42
Here are some details about the major, so you can get an idea of
11:46
when and how you do the major as part of your undergraduate law degree.
11:52
So the major consists of five subjects, which equates to
11:57
30 credit points of your degree. Compulsory subjects within the major so
12:04
all students undertaking a major will study Capstone 1 and Capstone 2. And
12:10
this is where really, as I mentioned earlier, the theory and the practice of
12:14
law within the framework of a technology,
12:17
students are exposed to. So Capstone 1,
12:21
I’ll go into a little bit more detail on a further slide, but that’s really what I
12:24
would call the Theory of Law. Capstone 2 is very much about the
12:29
practical application of technology and innovation.
12:34
Compulsory subjects: Capstone 1 and Capstone 2,
12:38
but students in the major also have several options,
12:41
which again they can really match up to what their strengths are.
12:45
So one of our electives that all students can do, not just students in the
12:48
major, is Disruptive Technologies and the Law,
12:51
which looks at specific topics around
12:55
disruption technology innovation, so artificial intelligence
12:59
blockchain, smart contracts etc. and each topic then comes together for
13:05
students to undertake some assessments there.
13:08
I’ve mentioned I think the rich opportunity for students to do
13:11
an internship, whether that be a legal startup, whether it be in a bank, say
13:16
legal and technology division, there are many opportunities that are expanding
13:21
all the time for students to see how technology has
13:24
impacted in the workplace and to be part of that.
13:27
And then finally, students have a list of subjects from which they can undertake
13:31
two electives and there are a couple of examples there.
13:35
On the slide, if you’d like to look at the other subjects that we offer within
13:38
the major as electives please go and have a look at the handbook
13:42
and the full list is there. So there is some flexibility
13:46
within that in the major as well as ensuring that all students have that
13:50
capstone, or bringing together is the purpose of a capstone,
13:54
bringing all the learning, all the knowledge and all the skills together.
13:58
As I also mentioned students who are high achieving students, who have a very
14:03
good academic record, may undertake an honours project
14:08
supervised by one of my colleagues that I’ve just spoken about
14:13
in relation to technology. So that’s really giving students the opportunity
14:18
to drill down, to research at a much deeper level
14:22
into specific areas, questions, challenges that
14:26
technology has given us. And as many of our students have gone on
14:32
to complete honours in technology to publish
14:35
their research. A little bit more detail about the Capstone 1 and Capstone 2,
14:40
Capstone 1, as I mentioned, is I think, about the
14:44
theory of the effect of technology and innovation on
14:50
society, on the legal profession on the practise of law,
14:54
the application of legal knowledge, so it really is asking some of those
14:58
questions that inform policy, that help with ethical
15:05
decision-making, where society looks to lawyers, legal professionals
15:10
as leaders to really give them guidance around how to solve these problems, how
15:14
to respond to technology and very much about obligation of
15:18
lawyers to ensure that technology is used in an in a way
15:23
with integrity and sense.
15:28
Capstone 2 is very much highlighting what we call the graduate attributes
15:33
here in the Law Faculty UTS, so all our courses are designed around
15:38
attributes that students will have, will take with them
15:41
when they complete their degrees with us and Capstone 2
15:45
because at the hands-on nature, the working with real problems and real
15:50
clients very much highlights the graduate
15:53
attributes around critical analysis, around collaboration
15:57
and around communication. So students work in a project management approach,
16:02
they work in collaboration to produce an outcome for a client and that outcome
16:08
can be then either put into a written communication
16:11
form or into a presentation form so students are look
16:15
looking at those skills that they take a problem from a very
16:20
challenge at the beginning right through to
16:24
the solution. And that Capstone 2 is led by Professor David Lindsay, so
16:31
very much a great opportunity at the end of the degree before students
16:36
to go into the workplace, to be very well equipped
16:40
and to be aware of what is happening in workplaces.
16:45
I’ve already mentioned the internships and several of our students are doing
16:48
internships in the Legal Futures and Technology
16:51
Major. As I’ve mentioned, some are working in legal startups with entrepreneurs,
16:56
so very much about cutting edge law, new law as it’s been described, and
17:01
others are working in more traditional workplaces
17:04
where they have technology as part of a division, so in banks, for example, that
17:09
have a technology section.
17:12
Our students are working there with lawyers and other professionals around
17:16
problem-solving using technology and again
17:19
internships are very much focused on those work ready skills. For students who
17:25
don’t undertake the major you can also
17:29
do an internship. And we have a very strong internship program here in the
17:34
Faculty of Law. This slide gives you some information
17:38
about applying to study law at UTS. So you don’t have to make a decision
17:43
about undertaking the major when you first join us at UTS, you’ll
17:47
learn more about the major as a first year student.
17:49
You’ll be exposed to technology in your degree from first year because
17:53
it is so much a part now of the legal profession and the practice
17:58
of law but the major itself commences in your penultimate or second last year
18:03
and then is completed in your last year. So the handbook provides a
18:09
very good example of how the structure of a law degree, whether it be an LLB
18:14
four years or a five year combined law degree, how that looks and
18:17
where the major fits in. So you join us in the Law
18:21
Faculty, you commence your law studies and you
18:24
might think about in second or third year
18:26
that you really do want to do the major. We have information sessions
18:30
throughout your study here to give you some more
18:33
opportunities to learn about the major you can then enrol in the major and
18:37
undertake it at the end of your degree. As I said, that’s the capstone bringing
18:42
everything together. So all undergraduate students are eligible to
18:47
undertake the major. And finally here’s where you
18:50
can find out other informational or further information about the major
18:55
but also about our undergraduate law degree. You’ve got opportunities to ask
18:59
questions and one of my colleagues will get back to you at the email address.
19:04
You can also find some information on the website. I would encourage you to
19:09
look for more detail in the UTS Handbook, which is
19:12
online and list subjects courses for our undergraduate degrees. And if
19:18
you’re looking at studying in Autumn of 2021,
19:22
applications are now open. I’d encourage you if you’re in the
19:28
vicinity of UTS, to come and have a look at Building
19:31
2 where we are situated to see the beautiful space that our
19:35
students study in and that we work in and I would encourage you to reach out
19:39
and other opportunities that you have to learn more about UTS Law and about
19:44
our Legal Futures and Technology Major. So finally, once again thank you for
19:48
taking the time to learn more about our major!
19:51
I wish you all the very best and particularly in your decision making
19:54
about your further study and careers thank you and goodbye!