The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law is focusing on fostering AI literacy and accessibility in the legal landscape through the recent launch of the Delta Institute for AI and the Law (DIAL).
“With courts, government agencies, law firms, corporations, and policymakers increasingly requiring practical guidance and applied research addressing new AI applications in the legal field, DIAL and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law are uniquely positioned to become a nationally recognized hub for research and innovation,” said Memphis Law Dean Jim Strickland.
DIAL will utilize research, policy guidance, and practical education to develop effective and fair AI-powered solutions for courts, legal professionals, and everyday litigants and ensure that young attorneys enter practice prepared to use the power of AI for good. With AI advancing incredibly rapidly, combined with the legal system’s much slower standard pace, the country’s legal infrastructure is being challenged to adapt and harness the power of new technology while maintaining a transparent and ethical judicial system.
“The speed at which the legal tech landscape is changing is unprecedented,” Deb Ireland, interim director of DIAL said. “It will be completely different in just two years’ time, when this year’s incoming class graduates. They’ll need to be AI literate as soon as they enter the practice of law. DIAL can ensure they understand the benefits, risks and challenges of AI, and know how to use it effectively and ethically as attorneys.”
DIAL will focus on the applied legal research that will have a high societal impact, which benefits public regulatory environments and the judicial system itself. DIAL will also have directly impact the legal system in Memphis and across West Tennessee.
“The District Court for the Western District of Tennessee is one of the busiest in the country,” Ireland said. “Our state judicial system also has heavy caseloads. Through DIAL, we hope students and practicing attorneys will be able to leverage the use of AI for the tasks that come with being a lawyer so that they can devote their energy and judgment into serving clients instead of spending time on tasks that could easily and safely be handled by an AI agent.”
The Institute is already hard at work developing several projects, including an AI lab where law students fluent in AI can show practicing attorneys how to make the best use of available AI tools to better serve their clients; and launching an AI and Internet Law Legal Certificate Program.
“DIAL is designed to meet the needs of our law students and to provide education to attorneys in Memphis too,” Ireland said. “We intend to find ways to bring those two groups together, with our law students, who are digital natives, learning from local attorneys how to run a practice and serve clients and attorneys learning from our students about the ins and outs of legal technology.”
Before leading DIAL, Ireland worked at the United States Department of Justice as a trial attorney in Washington, D.C. in the Criminal Division, Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. While there, she led case teams throughout the country to investigate and prosecute cybercrime. She worked with international prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to investigate cybercrime, intellectual property crimes, and the laundering of criminal proceeds through cryptocurrency assets. Prior to her time at the DOJ, Ireland was a longtime Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis Division, where served as the coordinator for Project Safe Childhood, prosecuting child exploitation and sex trafficking cases, and prosecuted cybercrime and cyber-facilitated fraud schemes.
For more information about DIAL at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, please visit memphis.edu/law/dial/.
