Section on Technology, Law and Legal Education
This webinar introduces Artificial Intelligence for Legal Reasoning, a course the presenters teach at their respective law schools. The course equips law students with essential knowledge about AI and its use in legal analysis, practice, courts, and governments. It provides a foundation to understand the capabilities, benefits, and risks of AI used in law and use AI responsibly, ethically, and well. The session will cover course goals, structure, key themes, and practical guidance for faculty interested in teaching a similar course. Learn how the course promotes interdisciplinary knowledge and skills, engages with emerging computer science and law scholarship and case law, and prepares students to lead as technology transforms law practice, legal institutions, access to justice, and the rule of law.
April Dawson, Associate Dean of Technology and Innovation and Professor of Law, North Carolina Central University School of Law
April Dawson is the inaugural Associate Dean of Technology and Innovation and a Professor of Law at North Carolina Central University School of Law, where she leads the NCCU Technology Law and Policy Center (TLPC). Under her leadership, TLPC launched the Law and Technology Certificate Program, significantly expanding opportunities for law students in the technology space. April currently teaches Artificial Intelligence and the Law; AI Governance; AI and Legal Reasoning; Legal Technology, Equity and Leadership; and other courses that explore emerging technologies in law. April has also taught Constitutional Law, Torts, Administrative Law, Supreme Court Seminar, and Legal Writing. April is the author of Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity (Aspen, 2023). April received her undergraduate degree in computer science and was a computer programmer before earning her law degree from Howard University School of Law. She began her legal career in the Attorney General’s Honors Program at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she argued cases before the Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals. April later clerked for the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. April serves in multiple leadership roles, including serving on the ABA Center for Innovation Governing Council, the ABA Science and Technology Law Section, and the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility Working Group on Regulatory Reform.
Daniel W. Linna Jr., Senior Lecturer & Director of Law and Technology Initiatives, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law & McCormick School of Engineering
Daniel W. Linna Jr. has a joint appointment at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and McCormick School of Engineering as a Senior Lecturer and the Director of Law and Technology Initiatives. Dan’s teaching and research focus on innovation and technology, including the use of artificial intelligence and data analytics to improve legal-services delivery as well as the law, regulation, and governance of computational technologies. Dan is also an affiliated faculty member at CodeX — The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics. Dan received his BA from the University of Michigan, received a second BA and an MA in public policy and administration from Michigan State University, and graduated magna cum laude, Order of the Coif from the University of Michigan Law School. Dan began his legal career with a one-year judicial clerkship for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge James L. Ryan. After his clerkship, he joined Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, where he was elected equity partner in 2013. Before law school, Dan was an information technology manager, developer, and consultant.
