Jeannette Eicks - Hackathon Courses ... for the New Legal Economy - GCS16

2. Professor Jeannette Eicks
Vermont Law School

3. Government-Citizen Interaction

4. People Need Assistance
Accessing Government Services

5. eGovernment Means Accessibility

6. More Efficient Government Services
… and More Effective

7. Law Students Bring New Ideas and New Energy

8. DIY Apps – the Legal Hackathon

9. Legal Hackathon Course
• 2 or 3 credit course
• Open to J.D. and undergraduate students
• Involved stakeholders in Vermont agencies,
legislature & judiciary
• Social good focused
• Prototyped web and mobile apps
• Stakeholders, faculty and other interested parties
judged apps

10. Flowchart of Processes

11. Rapid Application Prototyping

12. • Iterative process - teams and stakeholders
• Involvement resolving community problems
• Focused on areas where technology is changing
government, policy and legal practice

13. The Apps:
• Text-a-Lawyer
• Pocket Lawyer (now OccupyLaw)
• Agricultural Lease Agreement (sustainability)

14. Outcomes
• Portfolio for students
• Plain English conveyance of legal concepts
• Formed partnerships with stakeholder
• Delivers services in accessible way
• Built creative, collaborative solutions
• Responded to legal needs of underserved

15. Hackathons Foster the Ideas of Tomorrow

16. Goal: Educate the public on legislative processes by
developing proposals for policy and legislative action

17. Target:
“Law changes that will foster economic
development, particularly development involving
innovative technology, but which will not require
significant public expenditure or subsidy, and which
will respect the general good of society.”

18. Citizen Education through Creation
• Experiential educational event
• Two days
• Draft model legislation
• Coached legislative legal innovation
• Mentors drawn from academia, legislature and business
• Focus on economic development
• Fostered technology-based business while protecting the
public interest

19. Empower Change Leaders