Resources for CALI Representatives

For more on CALI Fellowships, click here.

Here's the PDF press release, text of which is below.

CALI FORMS CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FELLOWSHIP
CALI selects law professors for fellowship to produce new educational material on Criminal Procedure.

The non-profit Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) has selected a group of law professors for the CALI Criminal Procedure Fellowship. The fellowship will produce computer-based legal education materials in Criminal Procedure. From a talented and diverse group of law professor applicants, CALI selected these five:

• Edwin J. Butterfoss, Professor of Law, Hamline University School of Law
• Steven L. Chanenson, Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law
• Tom Lininger, Associate Professor of Law, University of Oregon School of Law
• Raneta Lawson Mack, Professor of Law, Creighton University School of Law
• David M. Siegel, Professor of Law, New England School of Law

“We are excited to have such an accomplished group of scholars participating in this project. The resulting 25 lessons from this team will capture their passion and expertise in Criminal Procedure and give students additional ways to learn this complicated subject,” said Deb Quentel, CALI Director of Curriculum Development.

The CALI Fellowships Project is a multi-year applied research effort. Resulting materials are peer-reviewed by the CALI Editorial Board and published to law schools as part of the CALI Library of Materials. The goal of the project is to create a high-quality pool of electronic teaching materials for faculty to supplement their courses, locally customize for specific instructional goals, and explore computer-mediated/distance learning. Started in 1999, previous fellowships have produced materials in Criminal Law, Property, Torts, Business Organizations, Legal Research, Remedies, Trademark, Copyrights, and Family Law.

ABOUT CALI

CALI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit consortium of U.S. law schools. CALI’s mission is to research and develop computer-mediated legal instruction and support institutions and individuals using technology and distance learning in legal education. CALI was incorporated in 1982 and welcomes membership from law schools, paralegal programs, law firms and individuals wishing to learn more about the law. Over 200 US law schools are a part of CALI. More information is available at www.cali.org.

Get the pdf here, text of which is below.

CALI’s Newest Member Law School a First from China

The China University of Political Science and Law is now a CALI international affiliate member.

Chicago, Ill., October 16, 2007 – The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) announced a first by welcoming its latest member: The China University of Political Science and Law, School of American and Comparative Law (www.sacl.net.cn/english/). “This is our first member law school located in China,” says John Mayer, CALI Executive Director.

CALI offers membership to an educational program located outside the U.S. for $250/year through CALI’s International Affiliate Membership. The membership includes unlimited access to CALI’s Library of Lessons for an entire educational program’s students, faculty, and staff. The Library of CALI Lessons is a collection of over 675 computer-based, interactive materials on 33 different legal subjects found at cali.org/lessons. “CALI membership is perfect for international schools that wish to supplement teaching of American or comparative law,” says Mayer. “CALI lessons are written and edited by American law professors or librarians, and all 675-plus lessons are available online at our website. It’s a tremendous value for international schools at $250 a year.”

ABOUT JOHN MAYER
John Mayer is an expert in the use of technology in legal education. He became the Executive Director of The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) in 1994. Prior to CALI, John was the Director of Computing Services at Chicago-Kent College of Law for 7 years. Mr. Mayer has a BS in Computer Science from Northwestern University and an MS in Networks and Telecommunications from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Mr. Mayer is available for comments and questions related to legal education and technology. He can be reached at jmayer@cali.org.

ABOUT CALI
CALI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit consortium of U.S. law schools. CALI’s mission is to research and develop computer-mediated legal instruction and support institutions and individuals using technology and distance learning in legal education. CALI was incorporated in 1982 and welcomes membership from law schools, paralegal programs, law firms and individuals wishing to learn more about the law. Over 200 US law schools are a part of CALI. More information is available at www.cali.org.

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CALI TURNS 25
Since its inception, the nonprofit Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) has been a leader in using computers and technology for legal education purposes.

Chicago, Ill., August 28, 2007 - When CALI was founded in 1982, computers barely existed in law schools; a stark contrast to today when a majority of law school classrooms are wired for internet and nearly every student takes notes with a laptop. This year marks the 25th birthday of the nonprofit Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, or CALI (www.cali.org). And for those 25 years CALI has been an innovator, infusing technology into the very traditional world of law school and legal education.

WHAT IS CALI?
CALI is a non-profit consortium of law schools. “We’ve grown from a side project at Harvard Law School and The University of Minnesota Law School in 1982 to having nearly every US law school participate as a CALI member,” says John Mayer, CALI’s Executive Director. CALI welcomes membership from all law schools (including those outside of the US), paralegal programs, undergraduate programs, and law firms. CALI charges no membership dues for legal aid organizations, state/county libraries, and library schools that sign on as CALI members. For a list of CALI member organizations, visit cali.org/members.

CALI is best known for its Library of CALI Lessons, The Conference for Law School Computing, and CALI Excellence for the Future Awards. And with ground-breaking new projects in the works, CALI continues to advance its mission to better legal education through technology and innovation.

WHAT CALI DOES
CALI Lessons (www.cali.org/lessons) are interactive, computer-based tutorials written by law professors and librarians. Each lesson focuses on a certain aspect of a legal subject to help the user learn the law. CALI’s Library of Lessons has grown from a handful of rarely used lessons to over 675 tutorials in 33 different legal subject areas. CALI lessons were run over 925,000 times by students during the 2006-2007 school year. “Students today grew up on technology and demand to learn interactively. We meet that demand with our CALI Lessons,” says Mr. Mayer.

The CALI Conference for Law School Computing (CALI Conference), hosted by CALI at a chosen CALI member law school each year, has been advancing technology in legal education since 1991. For 15+ years, it has been the preeminent conference for law school IT professionals, librarians, and faculty. At the CALI Conference, these law school professionals collaborate and learn about innovation as it applies to legal education. The University of Maryland in Baltimore hosts the 2008 conference this summer.

Legal professionals will also find CALI’s influence listed on a number of recent law school graduates’ resumes. CALI Excellence for the Future Awards are given to the top performer in each law school course at many member schools and, thus, the awards carry a certain prestige. The awards made CALI a verb. “You’ll hear law students say ‘she CALI’ed Torts,’ or ‘he CALI’ed Property,’” says Mr. Mayer.

One of CALI’s newer projects in line with its nonprofit mission, CALI recently developed the authoring software used for the Access to Justice (A2J) Project. A2J Author software assists self-represented litigants by enabling non-technical authors to build and implement user-friendly, web-based interfaces for pro se document assembly. Several court systems throughout the US have implemented A2J to assist pro se litigants. See www.a2jauthor.org for more information.

THE FUTURE OF CALI
Moving forward, CALI hopes to expand current offerings while introducing a handful of new projects:

• Classcaster Podcasting and Blog Network (www.classcaster.org) is currently available. It offers free class blogs, podcasting, and support of such for law professors.
• MediaNotes (www.medianotes-app.com), created by Brigham Young University Law Professor Larry Farmer, is a video/audio tagging application which allows analysis and annotation of video/audio performances for use with courses like negotiations, trial advocacy, and more. CALI will work with BYU and Prof. Farmer in the distribution of MediaNotes to CALI member schools.
• ELangdell, currently in the planning stages, will be a web-based course pack and casebook assembly system for law professors.
• CALI Spaces is a personal legal education social community space for law students, faculty, and staff. CALI Spaces will be open to the public soon.
• Legal Education Commons will allow law school personnel to share legal education materials including syllabi, podcasts, presentations, and more. Faculty and librarians from CALI member schools can upload materials to the commons under a Creative Commons license that allows colleaues and students to find and use the materials.

CALI is very excited about these new projects. “We think projects like ELangdell, Legal Education Commons, and MediaNotes have a chance to fundamentally change the way law professors teach and the way law students learn for the better,” says Mr. Mayer. “It’s our job to help usher in innovation with projects like these so that schools can help students learn the law through technology.”

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ABOUT JOHN MAYER
John Mayer is an expert in the use of technology in legal education. He became the Executive Director of The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) in 1994. Prior to CALI, John was the Director of Computing Services at Chicago-Kent College of Law for 7 years. Mr. Mayer has a BS in Computer Science from Northwestern University and an MS in Networks and Telecommunications from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Mr. Mayer is available for comments and questions related to legal education and technology. He can be reached at jmayer@cali.org.

ABOUT CALI
CALI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit consortium of U.S. law schools. CALI’s mission is to research and develop computer-mediated legal instruction and support institutions and individuals using technology and distance learning in legal education. CALI was incorporated in 1982 and welcomes membership from law schools, paralegal programs, law firms, and individuals wishing to learn more about the law. Over 200 US law schools are a part of CALI. More information is available at www.cali.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Austin Groothuis
CALI
565 W. Adams
Chicago, IL 60661
Phone: 312-906-5303
agroothuis@cali.org
www.cali.org

CALI Sends 140,000 CD’s to US Law Schools

• CALI wants to ensure that every law student has a chance to learn about CALI Lessons. So this year, it is sending 140,000 total CALI CD-ROM’s to its 206 member law schools for the schools to hand out to law students – enough for every law student in the United States.

Chicago, Ill., August, 03, 2007-- CALI Lessons are among the few free study aids available for law students. But getting law students to talk amongst themselves about study tips and techniques can be tricky.

“Sometimes we wonder if students are slow to tell other students about the quality of CALI lessons because a lot of law students want to keep the secret for themselves,” says John Mayer, Executive Director of The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI). “Everyone wants to be at the top of the curve in law school and CALI lessons can help.”

What are CALI CD-ROM’s?
The CALI CD-ROM contains CALI's entire catalog of exercises in 33 areas of the law, 675 lessons. The CD-ROM is available only to students from CALI member schools. It is issued every year with updated lessons and new materials to ensure that all materials contain current law. Law students should see someone in their law library to get a free CALI CD-ROM.

This fall marks the largest batch of CD’s CALI has ever sent to law schools. It first time CALI has sent its member law schools enough CD’s for all students.

What are CALI lessons?
CALI Lessons are computer-based tutorials written by law professors and are freely available to CALI member schools’ students. Students use CALI Lessons to supplement learning or for exam review. Lessons are also available at www.cali.org.

“We know students who use the lessons love them because CALI lessons were run over 925,000 times during the 2006-07 school year and we get amazing feedback from students who use the lessons,” says Mr. Mayer. “We just want to make sure all law students know that the lessons are free and available to them.”

ABOUT JOHN MAYER
John Mayer is an expert in the use of technology in legal education. He became the Executive Director of The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) in 1994. Prior to CALI, John was the Director of Computing Services at Chicago-Kent College of Law for 7 years. Mr. Mayer has a BS in Computer Science from Northwestern University and an MS in Networks and Telecommunications from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Mr. Mayer is available for comments and questions related to legal technology. He can be reached at jmayer@cali.org.

ABOUT CALI
CALI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit consortium of U.S. law schools. CALI’s mission is to research and develop computer-mediated legal instruction and support institutions and individuals using technology and distance learning in legal education. CALI was incorporated in 1982 and welcomes membership from law schools, paralegal programs, law firms and individuals wishing to learn more about the law. Over 200 US law schools are a part of CALI. More information is available at www.cali.org.

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Contact:
Austin Groothuis
CALI
Phone: 312-906-5303
agroothuis@cali.org
www.cali.org

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-Text of this Release

Cambridge, MA, Tuesday, June 19, 2007-- The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School and the non-profit Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) announced a new partnership to stimulate innovation in American law schools through a new educational resource sharing platform. This work will be perpetuated by the establishment of the CALI-Berkman Research Fellowship.

Today at the 17th annual CALI Conference on Law School Computing, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School and the non-profit Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) proudly announced a new partnership to stimulate innovation in American law schools through a new educational resource sharing platform. This work will be perpetuated by the establishment of the CALI-Berkman Research Fellowship.

“We are looking forward to renewing a fruitful relationship with Harvard Law School through the Legal Education Commons project, which will provide innovative tools and access to open-licensed course materials to our more than 200 member law schools” said CALI Executive Director John Mayer.

The partnership will establish the Legal Education Commons – known as eLangdell for Harvard Law School’s first Dean and the Law Library’s namesake, Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell – where law faculty can share and use openly-licensed course materials to offer students free or low-cost course packs, casebooks, podcasts, and video. Berkman and CALI will also research and develop innovative teaching tools to advance practice skills like client interaction, negotiations, and trial advocacy.

The first CALI-Berkman Research Fellowship will be held by current Berkman Fellow Gene Koo, a 2002 graduate of Harvard Law School, whose research has centered on the use of technology in legal instruction. Gene also helped found Legal Aid University, which provides training and development to poverty lawyers across the country.

“The Berkman Center is happy to build on the relationship Harvard Law established some 25 years ago as co-founder of CALI,” added Berkman Center Executive Director John Palfrey. “Gene’s devotion to improving education through technology will certainly make this effort a great success.”

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About the Berkman Center:
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School is proud to celebrate its tenth year as a research program founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. Founded in 1997, through a generous gift from Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman, the Center now is home to an ever-growing community of faculty, fellows, staff, and affiliates working on projects that span the broad range of intersection between cyberspace, technology, and society. More information can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu.

About CALI
CALI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit consortium of U.S. law schools. CALI’s mission is to research and develop computer-mediated legal instruction and support institutions and individuals using technology and distance learning in legal education. CALI was incorporated in 1982 and welcomes membership from law schools, paralegal programs, law firms and individuals wishing to learn more about the law. Over 200 US law schools are a part of CALI.

About John Mayer
John Mayer is an expert in the use of technology in legal education. He became the Executive Director of The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) in 1994. Prior to CALI, John was the Director of Computing Services at Chicago-Kent College of Law for 7 years. Mr. Mayer has a BS in Computer Science from Northwestern University and an MS in Networks and Telecommunications from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Mr. Mayer is available for comments and questions related to legal technology. He can be reached at jmayer@cali.org.