The Conflict Analytics Lab will be accepting applications for its upper-year practicum course (LAW 551) until August 6, 2021. Applications for the 1L certificate program will remain open until September 15, 2021. The Conflict Analytics Practicum is a project-based course jointly offered with Smith School of Business Masters in Artificial Intelligence program. The course can be taken in either semester (2 credits), or full year (4 credits), and is ungraded (NG).
The practicum is a forum for lawyers, data scientists and computer scientists to collaborate and develop new technology for the legal industry (mainly, but not exclusively, for industry partners of the Conflict Analytics Lab). Participants will act as either project leaders or analysts. CAL offers free AI-powered legal advice to members of the public at www.myopencourt.org. At this stage, the Lab has identified discrete tech projects in the following fields:
- Employment Law (calculation of severance and determination of worker status)
- Insurance Law (calculation of non-pecuniary damages)
- Dispute settlement (an intelligent negotiation system for law firms)
- Trademark Law (risk-of-confusion assessment)
- Customer Disputes (determination of customer compensation), and
- Covid-19 (Vaccine Mediator, in partnership with the British Institute of Comparative Law, and Oxford University)
Practicum students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with the use of AI in law, legal research, and project management. Classes are orchestrated through guest lectures by keynote individuals such as Rob Morris (COO, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP), and Maxime Cohen (Professor, McGill University), as well as 1-on-1 meetings with the lab’s directors.
1L students are eligible to apply for the Conflict Analytic Lab’s 1L certificate program – an introductory way for 1L’s to get involved with the lab on a volunteer basis. Graduates of the 1L certificate program will receive the Scotiabank Certificate in Law and Data Analytics upon completion. The CAL employs up to 15 research assistants each summer for the projects above, as well as for flagship projects akin to the BLG and Fasken Project. Past and present CAL students are given preference when selecting summer interns and applying to LAW 551.
CAL will be accepting 15 students per semester into LAW 551, and 20 1L students for the certificate program. Students should submit a short 300-word paragraph outlining their interest in the lab, and any relevant experiences if applicable.
Applications for either section can be emailed to Professor Samuel Dahan (samuel.dahan@queens.ca), with a CC to Avinash Pillay (avinash.pillay@queensu.ca) and Natalie Moniz-Henne (natalie.henne@queensu.ca) by 5 PM on August 6, 2021, or September 15, 2021 for the 1L certificate program.