Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction
Encyclopedia
The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, also known as CALI, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit consortium of mostly US
law school
s that conducts applied research and development in the area of computer-mediated legal education
. The organization is best known in law schools for CALI Lessons, online interactive tutorials in legal subjects, and CALI Excellence for the Future Awards (CALI Awards), given to the highest scorer in a law school course at many CALI member law schools. Nearly every US law school is a member of CALI.
CALI was incorporated
in 1982 in the state of Minnesota
by the University of Minnesota Law School
and Harvard Law School
. The cost of membership to CALI is US$5,000 per year for US law schools; free for legal aid organizations, library schools, state and county law librarians; and US$250 per year for law firms, paralegal programs, undergraduate departments, government agencies, individuals, and other organizations.
Tutorials are authored by law faculty using CALI's lesson authoring software called CALI Author. CALI Author is available to download for free by member school faculty.
CALI first hosted The Conference for Law School Computing in 1991 (then known as the Conference for Law School Computing Professionals) at Chicago-Kent. From 1991 to 1994 the conference was hosted at Chicago-Kent, and since 1995 the conference has been hosted on-site by various CALI member law schools.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
s that conducts applied research and development in the area of computer-mediated legal education
Legal education
Legal education is the education of individuals who intend to become legal professionals or those who simply intend to use their law degree to some end, either related to law or business...
. The organization is best known in law schools for CALI Lessons, online interactive tutorials in legal subjects, and CALI Excellence for the Future Awards (CALI Awards), given to the highest scorer in a law school course at many CALI member law schools. Nearly every US law school is a member of CALI.
CALI was incorporated
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
in 1982 in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
by the University of Minnesota Law School
University of Minnesota Law School
The University of Minnesota Law School, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, is a professional school of the University of Minnesota. The school offers a Juris Doctor , Masters of Law for Foreign Lawyers, and joint degrees with J.D./M.B.A., J.D./M.P.A, J.D./M.A., J.D./M.S., J.D./Ph.D.,...
and Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. The cost of membership to CALI is US$5,000 per year for US law schools; free for legal aid organizations, library schools, state and county law librarians; and US$250 per year for law firms, paralegal programs, undergraduate departments, government agencies, individuals, and other organizations.
CALI Lessons
In the early 1980s, CALI set the precedent for creation and use of computer-assisted legal instruction exercises. CALI pioneered pre-packaged, interactive, computer-based legal education materials in text form with its CALI Lessons. CALI Lessons are web-based tutorials on a variety of legal subjects known as CALI Lessons. Currently there are over 800 lessons in over 30 law school subjects in CALI's library of lessons. The lessons are free to all CALI member schools' students.Tutorials are authored by law faculty using CALI's lesson authoring software called CALI Author. CALI Author is available to download for free by member school faculty.
Conference for Law School Computing
CALI sponsors an annual conference with computer-related programming for law school professionals. The annual CALI conferences "have been a focal point for the interchange of ideas and innovation in legal education."CALI first hosted The Conference for Law School Computing in 1991 (then known as the Conference for Law School Computing Professionals) at Chicago-Kent. From 1991 to 1994 the conference was hosted at Chicago-Kent, and since 1995 the conference has been hosted on-site by various CALI member law schools.
CALI Excellence for the Future Awards
CALI member law schools can opt to give CALI Excellence for the Future Awards ("CALI Awards") to the students who have the highest scores in individual law school courses. CALI Award winners are chosen by the professor of the class.History
- 1970s - Interactive tutorials are developed on the University of Minnesota mainframe.
- 1982 - CALI is incorporated as a Minnesota non-profit.
- 1987 - CALI publishes its 100th interactive tutorial.
- 1991 - First Conference for Law School Computing Professionals (later the "professionals" was dropped from the title) at Chicago-Kent
- 1993 - First CALI website created.
- 1994 - The first CALI CD-ROM containing the entire library of tutorials is published and distributed to over 100 U.S. law schools.
- 1995 - The Conference for Law School Computing is hosted for the first time at a law school other than Chicago-Kent (University of Oregon School of LawUniversity of Oregon School of LawThe University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, on the corner of 15th and Agate streets,...
). - 2003 - CALI distributes free CD-ROMs for every first year law students at 196 US law schools (over 50,000).
- 2007 - CALI distributes over 140,000 CD-ROMs (one for every law students at 205 US law schools).
- 2008 - CALI distributes a DVD-ROM with over 720 tutorials.