legal informatics

Legal informatics is a general term describing information science and technology applied to law. Much of the focus in this field is on how information science and technology can advance the study and practice of law. Some examples are: the standards of organization of legal information, automation, gamification, and the engineering and redesign of legal databases. An application of legal informatics in the legal field is the use of e-discovery (see discovery). Another example that is increasingly permeating into the legal informatics field is artificial intelligence. Much is unknown about how artificial intelligence will impact the legal field in the future. See this article from Harvard Law Today on the legal profession and AI, and this Yale Law School article on the future of artificial intelligence. 

See also: Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), International Legal Technology Association (ILTA), Standards Advancement for the Legal Industry (SALI), the Vanderbilt AI Law Lab (VAILL) and the Suffolk Law School Legal Innovation & Technology (LIT) Lab. 

[Last reviewed in July of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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