LESSONS FROM THE WEB

As with most articles about the Web, we begin with Jimi Hendrix.[1] Hendrix, of course, was a legendary electric guitarist. The electric guitar was originally created to serve simply as a louder guitar, one capable of being heard above the combined volume of other instruments in dance bands that were playing in increasingly larger venues.[2] While Hendrix was a uniquely gifted musician, his most significant contribution to music was his applied understanding of technology. Hendrix realized that the electric guitar was not just an amplified acoustic guitar, but a completely different instrument. That understanding, combined with his talent, allowed Hendrix to transform the musical landscape. He radically expanded our sonic vocabulary by experimenting with sounds that could only be created using an electric guitar, changed the way the instrument was played, was at the forefront of sound processing, altered recording techniques and revolutionized both the possibilities and economics of live performance.

So what? We face the potential for similarly far-reaching transformation as we contemplate the integration of the Web into our work. The Web is not simply a digital version of conventional teaching, publishing or lawyering tools. It is something wholly different. Coming to grips with this can change both what we do and how we do it. My own recent efforts may provide a small window on this enormous challenge.

These efforts point to two lessons from the Web. One involves the impact of the Web on the design and pedagogy of "Lawyering in the Digital Age", a clinic now in its second semester of operation. The second speaks to the capacity of the Web as a robust milieu for building and re-purposing content.

Impact of the Web on clinic design and pedagogy: An Example

In the Spring of 2001, I launched, "Lawyering in the Digital Age: The Clinic", not to be confused with our seminar, e-course, certificate course, book and movie by the same name, (OK, there are no plans for a movie version...yet). The Clinic, which is co-directed by Prof. Mary Marsh Zulack and Brian Donnelly,[3] is the first of its kind. Our goal is to help students understand contemporary law practice and explore the profound impact of information technologies on lawyering and the legal profession. Participants step beyond theory into practice. Through a combination of classroom teaching and hands-on experience, students learn about technology and acquire contemporary lawyering skills while working shoulder-to-shoulder on real cases with public interest lawyers in the most challenging practice environments in New York City. In so doing, they assist those working in public interest law offices to leverage technology to level the playing field for their clients.

Like most traditional clinics, we hold regular classroom sessions, supervise case work through small-group "team meetings" and handle cases with students in the field.[4] Unlike traditional clinics, the Web serves as a center of activity and a critical component of our teaching and service delivery repertoire. For us, the Web is not merely the digital equivalent of traditional resources. It does not serve as just an electronic version of the law library, syllabus or file cabinet any more than the electric guitar, properly understood, served simply as a louder acoustic guitar. In our Clinic, the Web is a place to manage knowledge, come together outside the bounds of place and time, as well as a point of connection between our work and the world beyond the classroom.

To be more specific, we orchestrate our use of the Web by harmonizing conventional web resources, highly produced original content and "QuickPlace", a web-based software package that makes it very easy for participants to post and organize content.[5] This allows us to utilize the Web for many complimentary purposes:

• as a method of delivering materials;
• as a shared learning environment in which students interact with their student colleagues, as well as faculty and attorney collaborators;
• as a medium for case supervision;
• as a "lab" for experimenting with knowledge management, intranets and extranets;
• as a locus for collaborative work with our colleagues in the field offices where our students work.

Given the centrality of the Web in our work, it is hard to imagine teaching any offering without providing a web-based learning environment of some kind. The efficiencies of materials distribution, increase in collaboration, capacity to manage/share information and active engagement with concepts under review are just a few of the benefits that easily make the minimal effort to create and maintain these environments worthwhile. Moreover, by more fully integrating the Web into our work, we seek to move from theory to practice and from passive observation on the part of our students to hands-on implementation.

The Web as a robust milieu for building and re-purposing content.

Building Content: 

The impact of technology on law practice and the profession is a wide field of study. Building content to support that study often requires the knitting together of many previously unconnected threads of information. Frequently, my research takes me well outside traditional legal subject areas. The process of prospecting for meaningful connections between my field and heretofore non-legal themes is rewarding, but time consuming. The Web, and digital technologies generally, provide unparalleled mechanisms for making the most of each foray.

Perhaps, I am just not that adept at finding what I need. In my wanderings, I typically come across information that is not immediately "on point", but certainly of value. In the print world, the idea of copying, highlighting, cross-referencing, remembering or retrieving information was sufficiently daunting so as to discourage the impulse to retain the interesting, but tangential nuggets found along the way. In the digital world this is no longer the case.

Whether you employ a database program like Folio Views, web-based intranets, or organize materials through word processing documents containing links to the Web, the ease with which digital information can be stored, annotated, linked, searched, shared, modified and retrieved makes life on the research trail a lot more civilized. The result is more, "here it is" and less, "where did I see that."

This is not a matter of mere convenience. The consequence for me has been the inclination to value, preserve and share the process of discovery. The recognition that we are often rewarded more from searching than from finding what we seek, finds tangible expression and outright support in the Web. This is as true in academic research as it is for the practicing attorney who no longer reinvents the wheel if she consults and contributes to her law office's intranet. This speaks to a very different way of working, one that is less end-product driven and more concerned with creating a process whereby individuals and groups consciously build a body of work. This process is far more consonant with our natural research patterns and the evolving needs of contemporary legal education and law practice. Building content in this way creates an ever expanding treasury of relevant information that can be re-purposed through the Web to serve a variety needs.

Re-purposing Content:

Earlier, I mentioned that the Clinic is but one permutation of "Lawyering in the Digital Age". Indeed, the Clinic grows out of a larger set of related projects. With the exception of the book, every project incorporates the use of a web-based learning environment. These projects include:

• a certificate course which is discussed below;
• a seminar version that predated the Clinic at the Law School;
• our E-course - "The Impact of Technology on the Legal Profession". One of five prototype e-courses commissioned by the University for public (lawyer and non-lawyer) consumption through Columbia Interactive;
• a forthcoming book for the West Publishing Company.

Because we create and utilize digital, web-based materials, we are able to reshape our content with relative ease. In every new context, the materials need to be tailored to suit the audience and goals of presentation. Happily, this is a process that both builds on work already done and requires the addition of new components. Each new component permits us to be more helpful to a wider audience. This process recognizes the truth that every project can be completed, but our work is never done. With the each new component, we add depth and breadth to an inquiry that has no end.

For example, since 1999, the certificate course version of "Lawyering in the Digital Age", has been offered as part of the Columbia-Leiden-Amsterdam Summer Program in American Law. The course has been taught in the Netherlands at both the University of Amsterdam Law School and the Leiden University School of Law.

The audience in each case was comprised mostly of recent law graduates from Europe, eastern Europe and South America. The course consists of ten, one-hour sessions, is graded on a pass/fail basis and involves no field work. This calls for materials that are geared to participants who are already practicing law, mostly in the private sector, with a particular interest in those aspects of lawyering in the digital age that affect the practice of international law. Naturally, there are portions of the syllabus and pedagogy we employ in the Clinic that translate well in this setting. However, the materials and approach adopted in the certificate course need to be modified to accommodate a different audience and make the most efficient use of our limited time together.

As the Clinic is a "paperless" offering, all of our materials are either already on-line or in digital format. Altering the scope and direction of the syllabus for the certificate course requires thought, but not tremendous effort. The lesson for me in this regard, is that web-based content can be conceived of as a malleable resource capable of multiple context-contingent refinements.

There are other benefits to consider:

• Web-based materials can be easily updated, circulated and annotated;
• There is a substantial amount of relevant information already on-line;
• As information of all sorts gravitates to the Web, there is a subtle raising of the bar in terms of the sweep of information that academics and practitioners are expected to address and include in our work. This is part of a larger discussion for another day, but the Web makes it possible for us to extend our reach beyond the resources found in traditional law libraries to meet this challenge;
• We are not limited to text when presenting material on-line. We can insert audio, video, graphics, databases etc.;
• Interaction. The Web can be a two-way environment in which authors gain insight from those using their work;
• Information presented on-line can be structured to accommodate a range of learning styles. For example, through the use of search mechanisms, interactive devices, graphics, text, audio and video, we can better communicate with those who prefer learning through reflective, text-based materials, as well as those who learn more through interaction and visual stimulation.

Ironically, but not surprisingly, it is more difficult to re-purpose content for the book than for any of the related on-line projects.[6] In large measure, this is because the palette of communication and interaction is severely limited. Contrast the book format with that of the E-course. There is no possibility of in-person contact with the audience in either project. Nevertheless, the E-course seems infinitely better suited to a fuller and more meaningful connection between author and reader. Among other reasons, the E-course combines text with graphics, video segments, links to outside sites, a time line, glossary and a shared space where participants can post responses to questions posed by the authors. Moreover, because the E-course can be updated and modified quickly, participants are assured of having the authors' current thinking. Finally, in producing the E-course, we can more completely draw from the on-line content that we have assembled for our other web-based projects.

The overarching lesson is that if we conceive of the Web as an altogether unique instrument, we are more likely to fully explore its potential to transform the landscape of our work. I cannot claim to have Jimi's genius, but I can learn from his experience.

© Conrad A. Johnson, 2002

1. There are a plethora of sites devoted to Hendrix. See, http://www.google.com/search?q=Jimi+Hendrix

2. For an interesting history of the electric guitar see, "Electric Guitars and Basses", George Gruhn and Walter Carter, GPI Books, Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco, 1994. See also from the Smithsonian, http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/music.htm "From Frying Pan to Flying V: The Rise of the Electric Guitar" http://www.si.edu/lemelson/guitars/index.htm .

3. Brian is the Director of Instructional Services and a "Lecturer-in-law" at Columbia Law School.

4. The Clinic is a seven credit offering and is designed to comprise approximately half of the usual student credit load for a semester.

5. I wish I could provide access to the Clinic QuickPlace. However, the QuickPlace that we constructed is password-protected. The privacy of the environment permits our students a measure of safety which, in turn, often fosters candid comment and useful experimentation. It also allows us to create digital case files for our clients and the attorneys with whom we work. Obviously, these case files must remain confidential. The next best alternative is to link you to the QuickPlace product site which offers a more detailed description of the software.

6. I recognize that the idea of writing a book about "lawyering in the digital age" seems counterproductive. Conversations with the publisher are ongoing. We welcome suggestions concerning marketable digital alternatives or ways to make a book useful to a target audience of academics, law students and practitioners.

© 2002 by Conrad Johnson. All rights reserved.
—————————————————————————————
The views expressed in this column are solely those of its author, and do not reflect those of JURIST, its Advisory Board, its staff or its host institutions.
———————————————————————
Talkback

Engaged? Enraged? JURIST would like to hear your reactions to this column and the issues it raises...