Legal Industry Takes Note of OU Law’s Digital Initiative

As the first law school in the nation to launch a digital initiative, OU Law is pioneering the future of legal education. Now, the novelty and success of the college’s Digital Initiative is turning heads throughout the profession.

One of the key players in the college’s Digital Initiative is Darin Fox, Associate Dean and Director of the Law Library. Recently, Fox was interviewed for the ABA’s podcast “The Digital Edge,” where he discussed the Digital Initiative, how the recession affected the use of legal technology, and potential future uses of courtroom technology.

Listen to the podcast here:

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The podcast also has been featured on Law Technology Today, Above the Law, Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog, and in the American Association of Law Libraries’ KnowItAALL e-newsletter.

In addition, Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog hosted a Facebook Live tour of the Inasmuch Collaborative Learning Center, led by Fox and Kenton Brice, Digital Resources Librarian.

AALL Spectrum featured the Inasmuch Collaborative Learning Center in its May issue. The CLC at OU Law transformed 8,000 square feet of the library into a state-of-the-art space dedicated to promoting collaboration and giving law students an advantage in the digital age.

Fox and Brice also have been asked to speak on the Digital Initiative at several conferences. This year, their presentations include:

• AALL Annual Meeting (Fox) – The Linchpin Librarian: Becoming an Indispensable and Integrated Resource in Your Organization
• AALL Annual Meeting (Fox) – The Law Library as Technology Laboratory
• AALL Annual Meeting (Brice) – Teaching and Implementing Emerging Technologies in Legal Practice
• OU iPadpalooza (Brice) – More than OneDirection with OneNote
• (upcoming) MAALL Annual Meeting (Fox) – Creating 21st Century Lawyers: Teaching Law Practice Technology

Background

The OU College of Law embarked on its college-wide Digital Initiative in 2014. The program is built around three core elements: the common platform of the iPad, given to students at no cost; a digital training curriculum that educates OU Law students to use technology for productivity and practice; and the Inasmuch Foundation Collaborative Learning Center, a state-of-the-art space dedicated to connecting students to one another, and to the people and societies they will serve. 

The immersive training curriculum is designed and implemented by Fox and Brice. Fox has decades of experience in IT management and legal research expertise. Brice’s background consists of administering law firm technology to enhance efficiency in all aspects of professional and legal work. Together, Fox and Brice make up the team that oversees the creation, management and execution of OU Law’s Digital Initiative programming. 

Each year, the college offers more than 50 different types of training sessions that explore apps that aid in legal practice such as TrialPad, Firm Central and Drafting Essentials. Several sessions feature leading experts at tech companies such as Apple.

In May, the college celebrated the Class of 2017’s graduation, marking the first year an OU Law class collectively completed the school’s Digital Initiative programming, and making the college the first law school in the nation to do so.