a biennial conference exploring substantive legal technology since 1990

Hosted by Vanderbilt Law School's Program on Law and Innovation

 

SUBTECH 2020 IS GOING VIRTUAL!

 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to interrupt travel and in-person gatherings, the organizers of SubTech 2020 will be hosting a Virtual SubTech on July 16 - 17. Information will be shared with confirmed participants via email as we confirm the schedule and further details.

 

We aim to host the in-person SubTech in the summer of 2021 on the Vanderbilt campus and will keep the SubTech community apprised as we confirm details.

 

SubTech's Roots

 

SubTech brings together legal scholars, educators, practitioners, and technologists from around the world who influence the development and substantive application of technology in legal education and practice. Since 1990, SubTech offers a unique experience at the intersection of the technology of law and legal education—not simply for SubTech's longevity, but also in its informal, collaborative approach to crafting the content based on participants' interests and expertise.

 

Historically, SubTech focuses on where the technology of law intersects with legal education. In a truly international gathering that nurtures inter-specialty exchange. By “substantive” we mean applications that deal with the distinctively legal substance of what lawyers, judges, and law teachers do. By “legal education” we mean all contexts in which law is studied and taught (not just traditional law schools).

 

At SubTech 2020, we had planned (pre-pandemic) for plenary and small group sessions to offer highly engaging and interactive opportunities for participants to shape both the content of our time together and potential outcomes that extend beyond SubTech. The virtual event will be much shorter and equally interactive, with two to three hours of sessions on July 16 and July 17.

 

Designing for Justice: Teaching Tech for (a) Change

 

The original (pre-pandemic) theme for SubTech 2020 (which may be carried forward to 2021, weaves in the following strands for exploration at SubTech. How might we?

• help the public understand when a problem is a legal one, i.e. legal knowing and understanding
• create human-centered legal (self?) service delivery tools to democratize the law
• create technology-driven alternative justice systems
• create alternative legal service delivery models
• move tech curriculum out of silos and into mainstream legal education, from law schools and beyond
• move what we teach (and what students create) into meaningful impact within our institutions, organizations, and systems of justice
• break into SubTech tribes to explore advancing justice through technology beyond ideation to realization