Working Group Computational Legal Methods

ESELS Working Group

Computational Legal Methods

Description

The topic of the working group focuses on the use of computational methods, the application of data-driven techniques, to study law, legal material, or questions related to the law. This includes a great range of quickly evolving techniques, including e.g. machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP), for a variety of tasks. The overall topic of the working group is how computational methods can be developed and applied to the legal domain. This includes a number of discrete sub- topics, including

(i) the improvement of data-driven techniques generally but also the adaptation of such techniques to the specific conditions of the legal domain (method development);

(ii) the application of such techniques to answer specific research questions; and

(iii) the theoretical and conceptual advancements related to the use of computational methods in the legal domain.

Aims and objectives

The main objective of the working group is to further the advancement and use of computational methods in law in order to conduct accurate research, to tackle novel research questions, and to achieve novel insights.

Strategy

The field of computational methods in law is rapidly growing, though it is still in its early stages, particularly in Europe. This working group aims to provide a forum to bring together and support the development of this emerging discipline. While a small group of legal scholars already identify as computational legal scholars—many of whom are founding members—there is also increasing interest from younger academics.

In addition to those specializing in empirical legal studies, the working group also seeks to attract scholars in legal informatics and computer scientists who focus on law and legal data. From this we hope to grow the community and learn from each other and to support young academics seeking to enter this field.

Chairs

Tilmann Altwicker

Johan Lindholm

Group Members 

Corinna Coupette

Arthur Deyvre

Yoan Hermstrüwer

Ryohei Hisano

Elena Kantorowicz-Reznichenko

Michael Livermore

Måns Magnusson

Felix Steffek

Gijs van Dijk

Contact

johan.lindholm@umu.se