CALL FOR PAPERS
Legal Education and the Human Lawyer
June 27, 2025
9:30 am – 3:00 pm ET (online)
Submission Guidelines
Interested participants are invited to submit a paper abstract of no more than 250 words by
11:59 pm ET on April 17, 2025 to https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/78405/submitter.
Submissions from thoughtful scholars at all levels are welcome. Selected participants will be notified in
early May.
In a world of rapidly developing artificial intelligence, the theme for this research symposium will be
legal education and the human lawyer. Participants will engage with the twin questions, what is unique
and important about human legal expertise, and how should legal education support students in
developing these capacities?
The legal profession is in a moment of profound anxiety about the potential for artificial intelligence to
displace much of the work of lawyers. As legal educators, it is incumbent on us to explore and study the
uniquely human aspects of legal expertise and to ensure that we provide a legal education that will
ultimately enable students to help their clients and contribute to their communities and society in ways
that artificial intelligence cannot. This event will provide a forum for these early-stage discussions and,
hopefully, provide a foundation for continued study, reflection, and active experimentation in legal
education, including informing decisions about how and why to engage students in using generative AI
tools.
The symposium will offer three provisional sub-themes that contributors will be asked to engage with in
any way they wish. The themes describe non-exclusive and overlapping aspects of human legal expertise
that, it is hypothesized, will continue to be important.
1. Sense making:
Human lawyers will continue to be needed to make sense of the complex legal problems faced by
individuals, organizations, and society, and to exercise judgement in creating strategies or solutions
for these problems. In other words, human sense-making will be crucial in both framing complex
problems and in working to resolve them. As Schön argues in the context of another
profession, where “[p]roblems are interconnected, environments are turbulent, and the future is
indeterminate ... [w]hat is called for ... is not only ... analytic techniques ... but the active, synthetic
skill of ‘designing a desirable future and inventing ways of bringing it about.’”
2. Human values:
Human lawyers will continue to be essential in bringing human values to bear in the use of law to
structure human relationships at the level of individuals, communities, and society. Part of the work
of lawyers has always been to exercise ethical judgement in selecting from a range of possible
solutions to legal problems. This will be even more crucial in working with technology. In particular,
critical perspectives point to the importance of investigating the values embedded in technological
tools, including whose values are privileged and whose values are excluded.
3. Human connection:
Legal work is much more than simply providing legal information and solving technical legal
problems. Particularly in working with individual clients, but also in serving organizations and
communities, good lawyers are adept at connecting with others to support, counsel, guide, and create.
As Gowder explains, the non-cognitive aspects of legal work are particularly critical for those
who are already disadvantaged. However, this aspect of human legal expertise will continue to be
important to a wide range of people, organizations, and communities that seek the help of lawyers.
As Furlong argues, people will continue to come to human lawyers for their “insight, counsel, and
honesty,” asking: “What do you think I should do?” “What does the best course of action seem
like?” “Will you help me navigate that course?” “Will you speak to others for me?” “Will you deal
with others on my behalf?” “Will you accompany me on my journey?”
Papers from this symposium may be considered for a special issue of The Law Teacher.
Submission Guidelines
Interested participants are invited to submit a paper abstract of no more than 250 words by
11:59 pm ET on April 17, 2025 to https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/78405/submitter.
Submissions from thoughtful scholars at all levels are welcome. Selected participants will be notified in
early May.
Optional Pre-Submission Workshop
An optional and very informal pre-submission workshop will be held online on March 28, 2025 from
12:00 – 1:00 pm ET. Join us to discuss your paper ideas, or submit an abstract in advance of the
workshop for review and discussion with other participants in a supportive environment. All are
welcome. Please register for the workshop at https://machformopd.osgoode.yorku.ca/ext/view.php?id=515545.
Contact Information
For any questions about the call for papers or the pre-submission workshop, please contact Audrey
Fried at [email protected].
This symposium is funded through a grant from the Association of Law Teachers and The Law Teacher,
and co-sponsored by Osgoode Hall Law School and Osgoode Professional Development.
Showing 1 reaction