It’s time for a round up of 2023! We’ve been thinking about which are some of the hottest papers across different networks at SSRN, and what sort of topics they cover.
First up is our Legal Scholarship Network (LSN). We’ve picked out five of the papers with the most downloads, and noted the focus on the interaction of AI and law, and how ChatGPT might affect law education going forward. We’ve included some in our selection, as well as a few others on various law topics. Check out the papers below!
Jonathan H. Choi, Kristin E. Hickman, Amy Monahan, Daniel Schwarcz
How well can AI models perform on law school exams without human assistance? The abstract discusses a study where an AI model, ChatGPT, was used to write answers for law school exams at the University of Minnesota. The results showed that ChatGPT performed at the level of a C+ student, obtaining passing grades in all four courses, and the implications for legal education and writing are discussed, along with advice on how ChatGPT can assist in legal writing.
The Sweep and Force of Section Three
William Baude, Michael Stokes Paulsen
Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits former officeholders from holding office if they participate in insurrection or rebellion, but this article argues that its full legal impact has been overlooked. This article clarifies that Section Three is still valid, immediately disqualifies individuals from office without needing Congress’ action, supersedes prior constitutional rules, and could disqualify former President Donald Trump and others involved in attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
AI Tools for Lawyers: A Practical Guide
Daniel Schwarcz, Jonathan H. Choi
This article offers advice to lawyers and law students on how to use advanced AI models like GPT-4 in legal research and writing. It suggests that by applying traditional legal skills to refine and verify AI-generated legal analysis, individuals can turn these models into valuable personal legal assistants.
Robert J. Jackson, Jr., Joshua Mitts
Recent research shows that traders are disguising their trades in certain types of financial assets like ETFs. By examining the behavior of financial markets during military conflicts, the study finds a significant increase in short selling in Israeli-company ETFs just before the October 7 Hamas attack. This suggests that some traders may have had advance knowledge of the attack and profited from it, highlighting gaps in enforcement of laws against insider trading.
Daniel Martin Katz, Michael James Bommarito, Shang Gao, Pablo Arredondo
This paper tests the performance of an early version of GPT-4 on the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), which includes multiple-choice questions and open-ended essays. GPT-4 shows significant improvement over previous models, scoring higher than human test-takers in some areas and surpassing the passing threshold for all UBE jurisdictions, suggesting its potential in supporting legal services.
You can read all of our papers on the Legal Scholarship Research Network here.