Law librarians are futurists. While our core mission is to provide the services our patrons need today, both our patrons and profession demand that we prepare for the future through training and research. The American Library Association (ALA) and American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) list continuing education and lifelong learning as core professional competencies (ALA, 2009; AALL, 2010). Librarians also publish futuristic research and practice recommendations (e.g., Hervieux & Wheatley, 2021; Masters, 2020; Varnum, 2017).

Law librarians share their futuristic experiments, predictions, and recommendations at workshops and conferences, in magazines and journals, and via websites. As a professional development practice example, this chapter surveys data workshops and publications from recent AALL conferences, AALL Spectrum issues, and law librarianship journals. The results illuminate developments and future trends in empirical legal research services.

American Association of Law Libraries Annual Conference Examples

A search for “data” in the 2022 AALL conference schedule yielded five programs and three vendors. The programs showcased empirical developments in technical services, research and reference services, faculty services, access services, scholarly communication services, and law firm and attorney services.

In “When Two Worlds Collide: Using Catalogue Records as Metadata,” Senior Legal Information Specialist for the Law Library of Congress (LOC) Jennifer Gonzalez shared how LOC is moving away from hand-curated metadata and mining catalogue records to gather metadata for digital items. In “Designing Data Projects Using Court Records,” Tom Gaylord (Northwestern Law School), Heidi Frostestad Kuehl (Northern Illinois University College of Law), and Adam Pah (Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University) reviewed bulk court records data tools (e.g., CourtListener’s RECAP, SCALES-OKN, PACER, vendor sites) and discussed bulk records study design. In “Data Analytics for Different Models of Faculty Services,” Meredith Capps (Vanderbilt Law School), David Isom (University of San Diego School of Law), and Maggie Kiel-Morse (Indiana University Maurer School of Law) discussed methods for gathering faculty and reference services data and using that data to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and library services. In “Wikidata: A New Tool to Enhance Access to Law Library Collections,” Joe Cera (UC Berkeley Law Library), Jake Kubrin (Stanford Law Library), and Chris Long (University of Colorado Boulder University Libraries) demonstrated how to theorize, plan, implement, and sustain Wikidata projects to enhance the findability and prominence of library collections and researchers. In “The Law Library’s Role in Data Integration, APIs, and Attorney Workflow Initiatives,” Erik Adams (Sidley Austin), Pam Noyd (Foley & Lardner LLP), Emily Rushing (Haynes & Boone LLP), and Keli Whitnell (Troutman Pepper) shared how they use APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to improve attorney workflows. In addition to these programs, data-focused vendors included Fastcase, a legal research and data visualization service; New Generation Research, Inc., an analytics and legal intelligence firm specializing in bankruptcy data, and TransUnion, a global information company whose TLOxp® product yields investigative research and risk management data. This sampling of recent conference offerings suggests that empirical legal research services are developing across law library types, specializations, and service areas, and that specialized vendors support law library, legal research, and legal practice work.

AALL Spectrum Examples

A search for “data” in just three recent AALL Spectrum issues revealed 10 insights into the future of legal practice and law librarianship. First, legal professionals will address the problem of data hoarding (Agnihotri, Bailey, Liebert, & Melhorn, 2022). Second, third-party/vendor data mining will be a key source of legal, business, and innovation information (Agnihotri, Bailey, Liebert, & Melhorn; LexisNexis, 2022). Third, law librarians will shed light on the U.S. government’s “treasure trove” of open access data (Radthorne, 2022, p. 63). Fourth, law librarians will use data to uncover legislative process evolutions (Cannan, 2022). Fifth, law librarians will gain ground in vendor and contract negotiations through homegrown and crowd-sourced data tools (e.g., Review-It; Carpino & Mentkowski, 2022). Sixth, law librarians will “be at the forefront of [artificial intelligence] adoption, training, and increased productivity” (Flanagan, Kilgore, & Mendez, 2022, p. 14). Seventh, law librarians will help firms use data and knowledge management tools to “upskill” (i.e., professionally develop) their attorneys (Davis, Branham, & Klausner, 2022, p. 38; see also Childs, Davison, & Vanderlin, 2022). Eighth, attorneys will get additional mentoring from artificial intelligence products (Thomson Reuters, 2022). Ninth, law librarians will use empirical self-reflection to improve our practices (Barley & Sullivan, 2022). Tenth, we will continue to seek out and teach each other data skills (Childs, Davison, & Vanderlin, 2022). This sampling of recent Spectrum articles showcases the research, views, and advice of nearly twenty law librarian authors and two vendors. It demonstrates that our profession’s flagship magazine promotes futuristic discussions, resource sharing, and professional development.

Law Librarianship Journal  Examples

Recent law librarianship journals featured articles on topics such as data privacy, using data to improve attorney efficiency and law library flexibility, and teaching law students emerging data skills. Our journals also published empirical research, including user experience studies and legal reform articles.

A number of recent Law Practice articles detailed emerging data loss and privacy issues (e.g., Ries, 2022; Tepper & Keeler, 2022). A separate Law Practice article argued that law firms might use client data, along with practice management applications, to automate routine tasks and improve attorney efficiency (Reach 2022). A Law Library Journal article advised law librarians to use data and evidence-based decision making to adapt to changing legal and higher education landscapes (Wallace, 2022). It also advised instructional librarians to teach data skills, including algorithmic bias, “[e]lectronic discovery, artificial intelligence (AI), and ‘[b]ig [d]ata.’” (Burchfield, p. 16).

An empirical research study in Law Library Journal showed how newer legal researchers navigate the “savannah” of modern research tools (Mart, Litzler, & Gunderman, 2022). Grounded in Communication and Information Science theory, the study posited four research platforms as independent variables affecting outcomes such as research time and number of access points. The researchers used an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistical model and presented their findings graphically as box plots. While the study offered novel insights into user experiences, it also demonstrated the skill of law librarians as empirical researchers (see also Callister & Neacsu, 2021). Law Practice published an article citing pro se litigant statistics to argue that the state court system is largely lawyerless and broken (2022).

Conclusion

This sample of recent workshops and articles suggests future trends in empirical legal research services ranging from client data privacy improvements to competitive intelligence advances, legal research instruction innovations to data-driven law library planning. But this is by no means a complete or representative survey of current innovations. Law librarians develop and offer cutting-edge services—like geospatial information system (GIS) workshops and virtual reality trainings—before finding time to present or publish about them. As service professionals, law librarians first do the work of innovation then find the time to share their discoveries. To learn about emerging empirical legal research services, law librarians join listservs, volunteer for committees, attend conferences, and read our professional publications. In sum, we engage with our patrons, our innovative colleagues, and the profession to discover and share visions for the future.

Reflection Questions

1. Prior to reading this chapter, how would you have learned about emerging and future services? Did the chapter change your thinking about your professional development practice? If so, how? If not, which facts or ideas in this chapter reinforced your existing critical reading practices?
2. Which emerging services interest you most? Why?
3. How would you prepare for a discussion of emerging data issues with law firm clients, attorneys, and partners?
4. What sort of research would you like to publish in the future?

References

Agnihotri, V., Bailey, S. D., Liebert, J., & Melhorn, S. (2022, July/August). Trending: Knowledge management 2022. AALL Spectrum, 11.

American Association of Law Libraries (2010). AALL competencies of law librarianship. https://www.aallnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/AALL-Competencies-of-Law-Librarianship.pdf

American Library Association. (2009). Core competencies. https://www.ala.org/educationcareers/careers/corecomp/corecompetences

Barley, J., & Sullivan, K. (2022, March/April). Take a good look at yourself: A study in self-evaluation. AALL Spectrum, 16-19.

Burchfield, J. W. (2021). Tomorrow’s law libraries: academic law librarians forging the way to the future in the new world of legal education. Law Library Journal, 113(1), 5-30.

Callister, P. D., & Neacsu, D. (2021). An ecological and holistic analysis of the epistemic value of law libraries. Law Library Journal, 113(4), 241-318.

Cannan, J. 2022. (March/April). Take a good look at yourself: A study in self-evaluation. AALL Spectrum, 45-47.

Carpenter, A. E., Shanahan, C. F., Steinberg, J. K., and Mark, A. (2022, July/August). America’s lawyerless courts: legal scholars work to recommend large-scale changes in lawyerless civil courts. Law Practice, 48-51.

Carpino, L., & Mentkowski, A. (2022, May/June). A closer look at Review-It. AALL Spectrum, 24-25.

Childs, M., Davison, A., & Vanderlin, S. (2022, May/June). Reference desk: Pandemic inspired technology adoption. AALL Spectrum, 44-46.

Davis, A. C., Branham, A., & Klausner, J. (2022, May/June). Talking tech: Providing legal practice technology upskilling support. AALL Spectrum, 38-40.

Flanagan, P., Kilgore, J. L., & Mendez, J. (2022, May/June). Innovation is changing the role of law librarians—And they’re ready for it. AALL Spectrum, 14-16.

Hervieux, S., & Wheatley, A. (2021). Perceptions of artificial intelligence: A survey of academic librarians in Canada and the United States. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 47(1), 102270.

LexisNexis. (2022, March/April). Vendor voice: LexisNexis® PatentInsight® is providing an in-depth view of invention around the globe. AALL Spectrum, 50-53.

Mart, S. N., Litzler, A., & Gunderman, D. (2022). Hunting and gathering on the legal information savannah. Law Library Journal, 114(1), 5-30.

Masters, B. (2020). Academic law libraries post Covid-19 pandemic. Australian Law Librarian, 28(4), 236-245.

Radthorne, D. (2022, July/August). Living in data: A citizen’s guide to a better information future [book review]. AALL Spectrum, 63.

Reach, C. S. (2022, July/August). Automation from simple to sublime. Law Practice, 56-59.

Ries, D. G. (2022, May/June). Safeguarding client data: Cybersecurity basics. Law Practice, 56-59.

Tepper, R., & Keeler, L. L. (2022, May/June). Technology: Tech from the trenches: Managing your practice to avoid common traps. Law Practice, 30-31.

Thomson Reuters. (2022, July/August). Vendor voice: Thomson Reuters’s take on post-pandemic tech needs. AALL Spectrum, 56-59

Varnum, K. J. (2017). Predicting the future: library technologies to keep in mind. International Information & Library Review, 49(3), 201-206.