Center for Legal and Court Technology
Begun as the Courtroom 21 Project in 1993, the Center for Legal and Court Technology is a joint project of William & Mary Law School and the National Center for State Courts. CLCT is best known for the Law School's McGlothlin Courtroom, the hub of the Courtroom 21 Project, which is the world's most technologically advanced trial and appellate courtroom. CLCT's primary mission is "to improve the world's legal systems through the appropriate use of technology." To accomplish this, CLCT:
- is heavily involved in judicial and lawyer education and training,
- provides courtroom design and needs assessments,
- holds legal technology demonstrations and discussions for jurists, lawyers, law faculty, court administrators, technologists, architects and others from throughout the world,
- is the world center for empirical and legal research on courtroom technology,
- partners with the American Foundation for the Blind to form the Accessible Courts Initiative, a consulting branch which offers services to courts to assure accessibility for all.
Law School Support
CLCT places great emphasis on service to the Law School. CLCT is an integral part of the law school experience for students with many opportunities to get involved. Law School support also includes teaching courses, support of the Legal Skills Program including student trials, financial support of selected students, and general assistance to the staff and faculty of both the Law School and College.
CLCT now provides the only technology-oriented summer school for law students in which we teach many of the technology-related courses also taught during the year.
Course offerings include: Electronic Discovery and Data Seizures, Privacy in a Technological Age , Technology Augmented Trial Advocacy, The Legal Technology Seminar, Internet Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution Survey, and Experimental Trials using Technology.
We conduct experimental trials, or "laboratory trials," annually that test the innovative use of technology for dispute resolutions. Our case simulations are the closest thing we can produce to the real world. In conducting lab trials, the Center often works with major national organizations such as the Justice Department and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. We frequently use the assistance of the Courtroom 21 Participating Companies and Organizations that support us through the loan of equipment and expertise. Students serve as counsel and distinguished federal and state judges preside over lab trials. Our experimental mediation used a noted retired Delaware judge and professional mediator. These trials often involve other universities; in the past, for example, we worked with affiliated programs at the University of Leeds, England, and the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Lab trials are often tied to the Law School's courses that teach the use of technology for attorneys.
Conferences
CLCT hosts a number of conferences in addition to the annual Court Affiliates Conference. Some notable examples include the Conference on Privacy and Public Access to Court Records, arranged with the support of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts; the Courthouse Construction and Renovation Conference; and the 10th Annual Conference on Substantive Technology in Legal Education and Practice with participants from many countries.
Other Projects
Courtroom 21 Court Affiliates, includes courts that are interested in learning from each other's experiences. There is an annual conference as well as consulting services from us.
Courtroom Information Project is a free website which shows photos of courtrooms and lists the equipment available in them.
Contact Us
Center for Legal and Court Technology
McGlothlin Moot Courtroom
William & Mary Law School
P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187
Phone: (757) 221-2494
Fax: (757) 221-3708/3261
[[clct,email: Center for Legal and Court Technology]]
