During the USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law’s second annual TechInLaw Symposium, generative artificial intelligence’s role in access to justice took center stage.

Hosted by the Technology and Innovation in Law Collaborative at the law school and co-sponsored by the Richland County Bar Association and the SC Council on Competitiveness, the symposium demonstrated the practical application of technology in a legal setting.

Panelists gave examples of how technology can remove barriers through services like the S.C. Access to Justice Commission's Legal Resource Finder, or activities like the S.C. Judicial Branch’s Technology Enhanced Courtroom project, which works to accommodate everyone in a courtroom not just the attorneys.

Why it matters

There are many benefits to using generative AI, but over-reliance and lack of training and oversight can lead to serious legal consequences.

One panelist referenced attorneys who have been sanctioned by courts for citing cases that didn’t exist because they used generative AI for research without fact checking.

There is also the ethical concern of client protections and privacy.

“If you're using a free version of generative AI, like ChatGPT, it’s training itself. So, if you put in confidential client data, it's training on that and you violated rules like the SC bar rules, ABA rules, because you’re not protecting that data,” says Gary Moore, assistant dean for Academic Technology and executive director of the TechInLaw Collaborative. “You also have a duty that any of your staff that's working with generative AI or AI tools need to be properly trained and properly understand safety precautions they need to take.”

Meet the experts

The panelists and speakers are leaders within the intersection of technology and law. Among them:

• Colin Levy, director, Malbek; adjunct professor, Albany Law School; author of The Legal Tech Ecosystem and Handbook of Legal Tech
• Jacqueline Schafer, founder and CEO of Clearbrief (Litigation Technology Product of the Year winner, LegalWeek 2023)
• Jack Pringle (‘96), partner, Nelson Mullins
• Kenneth Bible, chief information security officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (retired); distinguished visiting professor, Limestone University
• Ann McCrackin, founder of AI-Enabled Attorney LLC, adjunct professor at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law

Full-time faculty moderated two of the four panels, including Elizabeth Chambliss, one of the foremost experts in the country on access to justice.

The first panel was moderated by 3L Rebecca Kelley, president of the National Security Law Society. Moore said Kelley came up with the idea for the first panel and involved students to showcase their interest and ability in technology and innovation in law.

See a complete list of speakers »

What they’re saying

“I think the huge difference between this year and last year is that many more people are willing to interact with technology and understand its impact. I think a lot of people wanted guidance and tools that they could recommend, so I think the last panel hit home greatly,” Moore says.