96363 - Coding for Lawyers

Learning outcomes

This course offers an introduction specifically designed for lawyers to the basic principles of computational thinking and programming. The basic principles of computational thinking and programming will be introduced. You will learn how computational methods and tools can be used in law and legal practice as tools to support analysis and decision-making. By the end of the course, students will be able to develop simple algorithms and implement them in programming languages. They will be aware of the design, architecture and typical application of computer-based solutions in a legal context.

Course contents

The course will cover the following content:

• Introduction to computation and its relevance to lawyers and legal professionals
• Imperative languages: basics concepts and examples in the legal domain with JavaScript and Python
• Declarative languages: basics concepts and examples in the legal domain with Prolog and Logical English
• Rule-based systems: basics concepts and examples
• Machine-learning systems: basics concepts and examples
• Introduction to prompt engineering in Large Language Models (LLMs)

Readings/Bibliography

All materials are made available through the course web site.

Teaching methods

• Theory lessons – aimed at introducing fundamental issues of coding for lawyers
• Lab lessons – aimed at experimenting with technologies for coding for lawyers in the legal domain
• Seminars and invited speakers

Assessment methods

The assessment of the learning achievements is based on the development of an individual/group project (max 3-4 students depending on attendance level) chosen by the student(s). The project should results in the production of suitable artefacts, either documental or software.

The final test consists in the oral discussion of the project.

Final evaluation depends on: the level and extent of the project, the quality of the document and software artefacts produced, and the degree of knowledge on the course's subjects demonstrated in the final discussion.

Teaching tools

• Web site of the teachers
• Virtuale page of thee course with slides (PDF), other materials and useful links.

Office hours

See the website of Federico Galli

See the website of Giuseppe Contissa