Leaders of the bar, judges, and the most prestigious public-interest organizations turn to students in the Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic for help with pressing challenges.
Columbia Law School has pioneered the study of how technology affects the practice of law. Students in the clinic learn contemporary lawyering through hands-on experience using the digital technologies that are reshaping the profession.
Our clients are public interest legal organizations, prominent jurists and non-profit legal technology initiatives that have a serious interest in integrating technology to improve access to justice. In the classroom and in our work with clients, students learn to gather, manage and present information effectively. Through exercises and client representation, students gain proficiency with both the traditional skills of lawyering that are enhanced by technology, such as interviewing, counseling and drafting, as well as the skills necessary to practice at a high level in the digital age, including online fact-investigation, searching, knowledge management and digital presentation. Throughout, we emphasize how to use technology to help make the very human encounters we have with our clients satisfying and productive.