Legal Hackathon

A hackathon (hack + marathon) is an event where computer programers, often in conjunction with graphic designers or other related disciplines, get together for marathon sessions to collaborate intensly on a project. There is a specific goal in mind, such as coding specific software or solving a specific problem.

Brooklyn Law School’s Incubator and Policy Clinic recently held its first legal hackathon, a day long event for law students, lawyers and entrepreneurs to help lawyers think more like hackers. One of the organizers said “What I’m hoping to get at today is to figure out how we as lawyers stop being roadblocks and how we participate in a world moving rapidly around us.”

More detail about the session can be found here, here, and here.

So is this the start of a new trend, or is it simply an amusing academic exercise?

Comments

  1. Robert Richards

    Thanks for this very interesting post. Several other legal hacking events are scheduled for the coming months; they are listed here: http://www.shareable.net/blog/hack-the-law

  2. Robert Richards

    Sorry: I included the wrong link in my previous comment. The upcoming legal hacking events are listed here: http://legalinformatics.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/legal-hacking-is-a-movement/