August 30, 2021
Dear Readers,
We are proud to bring you our Issue Four: Special Edition of the Twenty-Seventh Volume of the Richmond Journal of Law and Technology. In addition to spotlighting two articles from our Spring Symposium, our Special Edition also features a critique of an article published in JOLT’s Twenty-Sixth Volume along with a response to the critique from the article’s authors themselves.
Our first article is written by Andrew Bull and Tyler Harttraft. Mr. Bull is a graduate of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Drexel University and is the founder of Bull Blockchain Law LLP, where he practices Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Law. Tyler Harttraft is also a graduate of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Drexel University and is a senior partner at Bull Blockchain Law. This article examines the lack of clear regulation about the security status of certain digital assets and its effect on the U.S. blockchain market.
Our second article is written by Renee Danser. Ms. Danser is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and is the Associate Director of the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School. This article explores the viability of online dispute resolution and reviews the constitutionality of remote criminal trials.
In JOLT’s Twenty-Sixth Volume, we published an article titled Humans Against the Machines: Reaffirming the Superiority of Human Attorneys in Legal Document Review and Examining the Limitations of Algorithmic Approaches to Discovery. The original article explained the flaws of predictive coding and argued that its exclusive use in high-quality document reviews results in unwanted disclosures that threaten evidentiary privileges. The article was written by Robert Keeling, Rishi Chhatwal, Peter Gronvall, and Nathanial Huber-Flifet.
The critique, written by Maura R. Grossman & Gordon V. Cormack, calls into question the data used in the article and challenges the article’s overall conclusion that affirms the superiority of human review. The response from the article’s original authors (listed above) provides updated data and clarifies that the purpose of their research was to challenge the notion that predictive coding standing alone is a substitute for human review.
On behalf of our Editorial Board and entire JOLT staff, I first would like to thank our authors for their contributions to our Issue Four: Special Edition. I next want to thank Patrick Macher, our outgoing Editor-in-Chief, for the countless hours he has put into JOLT over the past year. JOLT has benefited greatly from your leadership, and I am grateful to have you as a friend and colleague. I also want to thank two of our Associate Executive Editors from Volume Twenty-Seven, Michael Marciano and Peyton Reed, for their work on this Issue. Your dedication to the journal is greatly appreciated, and JOLT will be in phenomenal hands under your joint leadership. The outgoing class of 2021 wishes you both an amazing year along with the rest of Volume Twenty-Eight’s new Executive Board, Editorial Board, and staff. As always, JOLT is incredibly grateful for the continued guidance and support of our faculty advisors, Professors Jim Gibson and Chris Cotropia.
On a personal note, I want to congratulate every single member of JOLT’s Volume Twenty-Seven staff on a successful year. Your comradery and commitment to excellence is unparalleled. It has been an absolute honor and privilege to serve as your Executive Editor, and it is an experience that I will carry with me for a lifetime. I wish you all the absolute best.
Sincerely,
Anne Walther Groves
Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Law: SEC’s Heightened Enforcement Against Digital Assets
By Andrew Bull & Tyler Harttraft
By Renee Danser
By Robert Keeling, Rishi Chhatwal, Peter Gronvall, and Nathanial Huber-Flifet
By Maura R. Grossman & Gordon V. Cormack