Tech law syllabus

Professor

1. My name is Bryant Walker Smith, and you are welcome to call me Bryant.
2. My office hours are after class and by appointment.
3. You can contact me by email.
4. My bio is at here, and my publications are available here. You need not read these.

Logistics

1. Regular class sessions
   1. Wednesdays (2:40pm - 4:45pm) (except as announced) in room 395, online, or outdoors (as announced).
   2. If you will be absent for a class, you must communicate with me and coordinate with your classmates -- in advance unless you are facing an emergency.
2. TechInLaw symposium
   1. The TechInLaw symposium on January 12th (8:30am to 4:30pm) is part of this course.
   2. If you cannot attend the day's events in person, contact Dean Gary Moore prior to January 12th to make alternate arrangements for viewing and documenting your engagement with the symposium.
3. Course schedule

Objectives

1. Apply a holistic problem-solving model to a topic of emerging importance.
2. Relate legal and technological developments to each other and to broader social, cultural, political, and economic changes.
3. Understand the roles of uncertainty, responsibility, and trust.
4. Assess the utility of analogies to previous emerging technologies.
5. Appreciate technical perspectives and proficiencies.
6. Perform and critique cost-benefit analyses within appropriate systems.
7. Analyze legal issues from a variety of public and private perspectives.
8. Articulate policy rationales for particular legal and technical approaches.
9. Recognize key legal issues implicated by emerging technologies.
10. Demonstrate practical skills relevant to public- and private-sector legal work.
11. Read, listen, think, write, talk, collaborate, and behave like a competent lawyer.

Expectations

1. Try!
2. Prepare.
3. Respect others.
4. Challenge yourself.
5. Comply with the honor code.
6. Behave like the lawyer you will become.
7. If you have concerns (general or specific), talk with me.

Attribution

1. Attribute both the sources you use and the tools you use to find those sources. Potential tools include Westlaw, Lexis, Casetext, Google, ChatGPT, Bard, Wikipedia, a study guide, our librarians, a friend who is a lawyer....
2. This means that if you rely on a case from a Wikipedia article you found through a Google search, you must cite not only the case but also the Wikipedia article and the Google search. Similarly, if you incorporate or consult output from ChatGPT, you must identify not only that output but also the prompts you used to produce that output.
3. By incorporating output from a generative AI tool, you vouch for the accuracy and originality of that output. You must therefore independently substantiate claims made by a generative AI tool.

Sensitivity of subject matter

1. Recognize and respect that your colleagues’ experiences may be different than your own.
2. Some students may be personally familiar with the kinds of tragedies, biases, and conditions present in our materials.
3. All of us (including me) will make mistakes in what we say and how we say it.
4. If you have concerns about particular topics, I invite you to talk with me.

Multitasking

1. You must be fully prepared prior to class.
2. You may not participate in any class session or other course activity while driving.
3. Use the bathroom and take a break when you need to do so.
4. During class, you may engage in activities conducive to your learning and participation, including communications that are relevant to our discussion.
5. During class, you may not engage in activities that are distracting to you or your classmates, including communications that are irrelevant to our discussion.
6. Familial obligations are an exception to this last rule: While I strongly encourage you to arrange for the care of your dependents during class time, I recognize that this is not always practical, and I support your efforts to balance these multiple responsibilities.

Weekly submissions

1. This course includes a number of assignments that you must submit.
2. Unless I specify otherwise, you must:
   1. Add a title to your submission that includes an appropriate title, your full professional name, and the due date.
   2. Save the document as a PDF.
   3. Upload the file to the specified location before the specified date and time.
3. A submission that does not comply with these instructions will receive at most partial credit.
4. You will pass the course only if you submit every required assignment.
5. If you would like feedback on a submission, reach out to me. I'd be happy to hear from you.
6. Unless I specify otherwise, your submissions may be available to others in the course.

Grading

Two-credit component

1. Grades will be based on your individual and collective inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts.
2. Prepare, participate, and perform—or make arrangements in advance.

Third-credit component (optional)

1. If you are registered for a third credit, you must contact me no later than February 1st of this year to discuss an extended writing assignment.
2. You must complete this assignment no later than April 16th of this year unless I have granted, in writing, an extension to you.
3. Extensions are subject to the following policy:
   1. If you do not turn in your final paper by April 16th of this year, your grade for the entire course may appear as blank (unreported).
      1. This will not affect your GPA but might have consequences for financial aid.
      2. You may still be eligible for a CALI award in the course, but your name might not appear in the public record.
   2. If you do not turn in your final paper by August 15th of this year, your grade for the entire course will automatically convert by September 1st of this year from unreported to incomplete.
      1. Until you receive an actual grade, this incomplete will have the same effect on your GPA as an F.
      2. You will not be eligible for a CALI award in the course.
   3. If you do not turn in your final paper by November 15th of this year, your grade for the entire course will automatically convert by December 1st of this year from incomplete to F.
4. To satisfy the law school’s writing requirement:
   1. You must either be graduating later than spring of this year or have my advance written consent.
   2. You must be registered for the three-credit option.
   3. You must complete the extended writing assignment.
   4. You must proactively seek and receive my input on both an outline and a draft of your extended writing assignment.
   5. The combination of your written output for the two-credit component and your extended writing assignment for a third credit must constitute "as much legal writing, in any appropriate form, as … the traditional 30-50 page paper" (Student Handbook Section III(C)(4)).
5. It is your sole responsibility to ensure that you complete the extended writing assignment in a timely manner: Neither the registrar nor I will remind you about deadlines, inquire about the status of your work, or notify you about grade postings.

Community norms

1. Student Handbook Section VIII(B) contains our law school's honor code. Read it, know it, and comply with it.
2. Students who commit to the Carolina Creed "oppose intolerance by promoting integrity within our campus community."

Accommodations

1. You deserve equal access and opportunity.
2. You may, but you need not, speak with me about your SDRC-directed accommodations.

Interpersonal violence and mandatory reporting

1. You deserve to be safe.
2. Confidential reporting officers can provide confidential and anonymous support.
3. All other employees (including faculty) must report incidents of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, and partner or relationship violence to the university’s Title IX Coordinator.

Covid-19 and flu season

1. Covid-19 and the flu could each imperil the successful completion of your semester.
2. We can and should all take common-sense steps to avoid this risk among even more serious risks.
3. Do not come to class if you feel sick.
4. I will use public-health guidance, including indicators of community spread, to decide whether I will mask and on what terms I will interact with others.
5. Regardless, if you mask when closely interacting with me, I will endeavor to reciprocate.

Wellness generally

1. Law school is stressful, and the practice of law is stressful. Your physical, mental, and emotional health matters.
2. If you are lonely, scared, desperate, insecure, or unsure, you are not alone. Please reach out. Every semester I hear from students in crisis.
3. Our law school, university, and community have people who care about you and resources that are available to you. These include:
   1. Our law school's wellness page.
   2. Our in-house counselor, who provides free mental health support services to the law school community.
   3. Our Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Office of Student Affairs.
   4. Food pantries at our law school (room 106), university, and community.
   5. Our university's crisis hotline (+1-803-777-5223) and counseling services.
   6. A specialized team dedicated to helping people you identify as potentially in need.
   7. Lawyers Helping Lawyers (+1-855-321-4384).
   8. An expansive network of creative and connected people throughout the state and country.
   9. And many others.
4. For people in their early 20s, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death. Aggressive, distracted, drowsy, and intoxicated driving are unlawful and irresponsible. Jokes that trivialize texting-while-driving are not funny. We owe better to each other.
5. Please take care of yourself and others. Prepare now by visiting MyHealthSpace.