{"id":2333,"date":"2020-06-16T06:26:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T14:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unicourt.com\/blog\/?p=2333"},"modified":"2021-11-16T00:28:10","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T08:28:10","slug":"open-data-advocates-are-forging-improved-access-to-the-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unicourt.com\/blog\/open-data-advocates-are-forging-improved-access-to-the-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Data Advocates Are Forging Improved Access to the Law &#8211; Josh Blandi Writes in Attorney at Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Open legal data is a critical component of transparency in government and government accountability, and it\u2019s a necessary ingredient for the expansion of the access to justice movement and the continued progress of the legal profession.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re thrilled to share the third and final installment in our open legal data series that was published in Attorney at Work and authored by UniCourt\u2019s CEO, Josh Blandi. Josh\u2019s first article, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/why-does-open-data-matter-and-how-can-it-increase-access-to-justice\/\" target=\"_blank\">Why Does Open Data Matter and How Can It Increase Access to Justice?<\/a>, and his second article, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/automation-ai-make-open-data-possible-valuable-for-lawyers\/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=automation-ai-make-open-data-possible-valuable-for-lawyers\" target=\"_blank\">How Automation and AI Make Open Data Possible and Valuable for Lawyers<\/a>, set up the final piece by laying the groundwork for why open data is important to lawyers and how it\u2019s made available through legal tech companies and nonprofits using automation and artificial intelligence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his third article, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/open-data-advocates-are-forging-improved-access-to-the-law\/\" target=\"_blank\">Open Data Advocates Are Forging Improved Access to the Law<\/a>, Josh discusses the recent historic win at the Supreme Court level in <em>Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org<\/em> and what it means for open legal data. He also highlights pivotal players in the open data movement, how open legal data affects lawyers across the US, and concludes by noting while there have been great advancements, open data advocates must keep the momentum moving forward as there is much work yet to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here below is an excerpt from the introduction of Josh\u2019s article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Legal data, from court cases to legislative materials, form the framework of our justice system, and automation and artificial intelligence are the tools that make legal data accessible, organized and useful for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the third article in a three-part series on the what, how and why of open legal data. In Part I, we discussed <a href=\"https:\/\/unicourt.com\/blog\/why-does-open-data-matter-and-how-can-it-increase-access-to-justice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"what open data is and how it can improve access to justice (opens in a new tab)\">what open data is and how it can improve access to justice<\/a> while strengthening attorneys\u2019 practices. Then, Part II delved into the <a href=\"https:\/\/unicourt.com\/blog\/how-automation-and-ai-make-open-data-possible-and-valuable-for-lawyers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"how of legal data and what it takes to make bulk access to structured data possible through automation and AI (opens in a new tab)\">how of legal data and what it takes to make bulk access to structured data possible through automation and AI<\/a>. To round out this discussion, we now turn to the who and, ultimately, the why of open legal data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ll look at the key players furthering the spirit of the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in <em>Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org<\/em> (a landmark decision prohibiting states from copyrighting the law) \u2014 and how their work practically affects lawyers and their clients. Surveying the open data landscape, we see the recent wins in this sphere translate to concrete benefits for practitioners, from those in BigLaw to solo practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When It Comes to the Law, There Should Be No Second-Class Citizens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Carl Malamud, president of Public.Resource.Org and a leading champion of the movement promoting open legal data, set the open access fight in motion. His 2019 win in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/unicourt.com\/case\/pc-ap1-code-revision-commission-et-al-v-publicresourceorg-inc-12456\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org (opens in a new tab)\">Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org<\/a><\/em> was a substantial victory for the movement: The 11th Circuit deemed the annotations to the Georgia statutory code public domain materials that were not copyrightable, against the state\u2019s wishes to hide the official law behind a prohibitive paywall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Responding to Georgia\u2019s petition for certiorari, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/19pdf\/18-1150_7m58.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" aria-label=\"SCOTUS recently ruled in favor of Public.Resource (opens in a new tab)\">SCOTUS recently ruled in favor of Public.Resource<\/a>, marking a watershed moment for open law advocates and the greater access to justice movement. By denying a state\u2019s right to effectively \u201cown\u201d the law, the high court affirmed that everyone, from lawyers to the lay public, should have unfettered access to the laws that bind them. As such, the court established that access to the law is no longer a privilege reserved for the upper echelons of the legal community and those who can afford restrictive \u201cpay-per-law services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This win notwithstanding, open law advocates have their work cut out for them. Even though states can no longer own the law, substantial barriers persist. Fortunately, open law advocates continue working to remove these barriers to make SCOTUS\u2019 ruling more than just a theoretical statement that legal data belongs to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can read the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/open-data-advocates-are-forging-improved-access-to-the-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">full article here on Attorney at Work<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow us on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniCourtInc\/\">Facebook<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UniCourtInc\">Twitter<\/a>, and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/unicourtinc\/\">LinkedIn<\/a> for legaltech updates!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Josh Blandi discusses how automation and artificial intelligence are necessary for making legal data available and useful for legal professionals to drive business development and intelligence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,49,98],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Open Data Advocates Are Forging Improved Access to the Law - Josh Blandi Writes in Attorney at Work &#8211; UniCourt Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Josh Blandi discusses the historic win in Georgia v. 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