LIASON NOTES

ABA’s Science and Technology Section Covers Issues in Emerging Law

A few years ago, e-commerce was unheard of. But today, with the Internet’s explosive growth, e-commerce has become part of our daily lives.

With the click of a mouse, we buy cheap airline tickets and vacation packages, send flowers and gifts, apply for loans, and trade stocks. But what happens when an Internet deal goes wrong and a client walks into your office and wants to sue for contract performance, reformation, or recession? Was there a contract? Did your client "sign" the e-contract? Who has "cyber jurisdiction"?

These issues are becoming the norm for lawyers, and you don’t need to be a computer junkie to deal with them.

Now consider this scenario: A loved one needs a liver transplant and the waiting list is too long. Can you pick up the phone and call Dr. Grow Bodyparts to develop a liver using human embryonic stem cells obtained from "leftover" human embryos after a successful in vitro fertilization or from an aborted fetus? What if the liver is patented? Can it even be patented? Do you license the liver? What if you default on your license payment? What are the legal consequences and remedies? Are such deals ethical?

The American Bar Association’s Section of Science and Technology is far ahead of these and many other techno-legal issues. The section works with legislative bodies and legal experts on the national and global levels to find answers and identify legal solutions to these problems.

To stay abreast with techno-legal issues, all law students should consider joining the Section of Science and Technology. Members can not only learn about different approaches to problems and their solutions but also can stay informed about new and emerging legal issues caused by developing technologies, which are becoming an integral part of our lives.

Students interested in knowing more about the section can visit its web site at www.abanet. org/scitech. The section also maintains approximately 12 List Serves that practitioners and law students alike can join to stay informed and participate in the development of law in the areas of their interest. Some of the List Serves involve computer law, privacy, computer crime, biotechnology, information security, physical science, and regulation of research.

The section’s dues for law students are only $5 a year, which includes a subscription to the section newsletter BLAST, section journal Jurimetrics, and best of all, information about emerging technological issues affecting every law practice today no matter which area of law you may want to practice.

To join the Section of Science and Technology or any other ABA entity, call 800-285-2221. •

 

Abdul Zindani

Abdul Zindani, a final-year evening student at the Oklahoma City University School of Law, is the Law Student Division’s liaison to ABA’s Section of Science and Technology.