Thursday February 12, 2015 is a special day.  It is my yearly trip back to my alma matter, Seton Hall University School of Law, for my annual guest lecture / simulation on some of the complexities associated with the collection of evidence in today's technology driven digital environment for 2L and 3L students enrolled in the school's e-Discovery seminar course.

Each year I go back, I see a new crop of students enthused about the law, and ready to leave their mark on the practice.  I am not that much older than they are (or at least I like to think I am not), but their experiences with technology certainly have been different than mine.  For one thing, I can remember what it was like before everyone had high speed internet and a mobile phone  – let alone a smart phone.

In speaking with the students, at risk of sounding a bit cliche, I like to try and motivate them about e-discovery and digital forensics with stories of how they will be the resident experts on the subjects once they graduate and enter the practice.  I do it because it is the truth.  Few areas of the law are more ripe for young leadership.

Our country was founded 229 years ago, and the United States Constitution was signed by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787. However, the commercial internet, by most accounts, did not come onto the scene in its present form until the mid 1990s.  Believe it or not, although we feel like we could not live without one, the iPhone did not make its debut until June 29, 2007.  That means that our system of laws, while old, is still in its relative infancy when it comes to issues surrounding technology.  Each successive generation of lawyers brings their increased knowledge of technological issues to the table, and applies it to their practice.  Few external forces have had the same impact on the law that technology has had.  The technological renaissance is full of opportunities for skillful advocacy, it is just a matter of capitalizing on the experiences that we are all living through in the digital world around us for the betterment of our clients.

In case you have not already done so, check out eLessons Learned, it is a blog featuring insightful content authored primarily by law students from throughout the country.  From time to time, they re-run my substantive pieces as well.  They have a clever way of boiling down cases of importance in this perpetually developing area of law in a very helpful, academic way.

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