Amy A. Emerson
Professor of Law
Assistant Dean for Library and Information Services
Biography
Amy A. Emerson is assistant dean for library and information services and professor of law at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Emerson manages law library operations and strategic planning, oversees the legal research curriculum, and teaches courses in law and technology, including Law Practice Technology and Leveraging Technology to Promote Access to Justice, a course in which students build legal tech solutions for community partners. In 2023, Bloomberg Law named her Leveraging Technology to Promote Access to Justice course a top ten law school innovation.
Emerson’s personal scholarship interests draw upon her decade of experience as an attorney and focus on open access to legal information as it informs access to justice. She serves on the executive board of the Technology, Law, and Legal Education Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), as vice president of the Board of Directors of the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), as a site visit team member for the American Bar Association (ABA) Section on Legal Education, as an advisory board member of Law Archive, as immediate past chair of the Government Relations Committee of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), as past president of the Association of Law Libraries of Upstate New York and as a founding officer of the International Legal Research Interest Group of the American Society of International Law.
Emerson received her BA with honors from Wells College, and dual JD and MLS degrees with honors from Syracuse University.
Recent Publications
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Legal Research, Book Chapter, Scholarly, New 2024
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Search Algorithms, Book Chapter, Scholarly, New 2024
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The National Conference of Bar Examiners' Urgent Responsibility to Assess Algorithmic Literacy on the Bar Exam, Article, Legal Reference Services Quarterly, April 2024
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A Threshold Assessment: Is Technology Among the Competencies Tested by the MPRE?, Article, University of St. Thomas Law Journal, March 2024
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Leveraging Technology to Promote Access to Justice, Magazine or Trade Publication Article, AALL Spectrum, November 2023
Recent Presentations
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'Law and Public Interest Technology Career Exploration Fair ', Served as co-organizer and speaker, Temple, Villanova. Drexel, Penn, Temple Law. October 2024
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'Philadelphia's Second Social Justice Hackathon', Served as co-organizer and speaker, Temple, Villanova, Drexel, Penn, Drexel Law. April 2024
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'Philadelphia Law Department CLE', Negotiation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Philadelphia Law Department CLE, July 2023
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'CALICon 2023: Forging the Future of Legal Education', The Philly Social Justice Hackathon: Catalyzing Cross-Disciplinary Problem Solving and Creative Collaboration in Legal Education, Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), June 2023
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'CLE', ChatGPT in the Legal Profession: Uses, Limitations, and Future Implications, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, May 2023
Office: Rm 151, John F. Scarpa Hall
Phone: 610-519-7023
Courses & Seminars
- Law Practice Technology
- Legal Research, Analysis, Writing, and Communication
- Leveraging Technology to Promote Access to Justice
Education
- Wells College, BA
- Syracuse University College of Law, JD
- Syracuse University, MLS