Sarah A. Sutherland
@parallaxinfo.bsky.social
Digressions on the world, legal data, and information. Author of “Legal Data and Information in Practice” with Routledge Press. Humour may be attempted.
Principal consultant at https://www.parallaxinformation.com/.
📍 Vancouver and Edinburgh
Principal consultant at https://www.parallaxinformation.com/.
📍 Vancouver and Edinburgh
I am looking forward to speaking about my research in my session "Narrowing the Gaps Between Primary Law and Computational Systems Through Better Parsing of Secondary Document Elements." at the Law Via the Internet Conference next week in Sydney.
Here's the full program: lvi2025.org/program/
Here's the full program: lvi2025.org/program/
November 4, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I am looking forward to speaking about my research in my session "Narrowing the Gaps Between Primary Law and Computational Systems Through Better Parsing of Secondary Document Elements." at the Law Via the Internet Conference next week in Sydney.
Here's the full program: lvi2025.org/program/
Here's the full program: lvi2025.org/program/
I'm looking forward to presenting "Selective Memory: A Case Study on the Limits of Using Case Law to Understand Legal History", which will share research I have been working on with Amy Swiffen and Alec Duncan at the Law Via the Internet Conference in Sydney, next month. lvi2025.org/program/
LVI 2025: Program & Speakers | Law via the Internet Conference 12-14 November 2025
Connect with a diverse international community of legal professionals, technologists, policymakers, and researchers.
lvi2025.org
October 27, 2025 at 11:43 PM
I'm looking forward to presenting "Selective Memory: A Case Study on the Limits of Using Case Law to Understand Legal History", which will share research I have been working on with Amy Swiffen and Alec Duncan at the Law Via the Internet Conference in Sydney, next month. lvi2025.org/program/
My Slaw column "Quantitative Assessment of Access to Justice Initiatives" was published today.
www.slaw.ca/2025/10/08/q...
www.slaw.ca/2025/10/08/q...
Quantitative Assessment of Access to Justice Initiatives - Slaw
Quantitative methods are at once well-established and novel when speaking about access to justice. We’ve been reporting on our activities to funders, boards, and communities for decades, but we’ve als...
www.slaw.ca
October 8, 2025 at 3:54 PM
My Slaw column "Quantitative Assessment of Access to Justice Initiatives" was published today.
www.slaw.ca/2025/10/08/q...
www.slaw.ca/2025/10/08/q...
The categories of academic collaborators and nerdy friends with overlapping niche interests seem to significantly overlap…
September 18, 2025 at 6:16 PM
The categories of academic collaborators and nerdy friends with overlapping niche interests seem to significantly overlap…
I'm looking forward to presenting on "Process, Purpose, and Time: Examining the Gap Between Judicial Decision Making and Legal Prediction" at the Autonomy through Cyberjustice Technologies (ACT) Conference at @cyberjusticelab.bsky.social on Oct 16
Registration: fcdroit.umontreal.ca/Web/MyCatalo...
Registration: fcdroit.umontreal.ca/Web/MyCatalo...
Formation continue en droit
Colloques, conférences, formations spécialisées et autres activités. En développant de nombreuses activités adaptées de formation continue, la Faculté entretient des liens solides avec ses anciens é...
fcdroit.umontreal.ca
September 3, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I'm looking forward to presenting on "Process, Purpose, and Time: Examining the Gap Between Judicial Decision Making and Legal Prediction" at the Autonomy through Cyberjustice Technologies (ACT) Conference at @cyberjusticelab.bsky.social on Oct 16
Registration: fcdroit.umontreal.ca/Web/MyCatalo...
Registration: fcdroit.umontreal.ca/Web/MyCatalo...
Good morning!
I started working on a daily art habit some months ago. Here’s yesterday’s sketch.
I started working on a daily art habit some months ago. Here’s yesterday’s sketch.
July 14, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Good morning!
I started working on a daily art habit some months ago. Here’s yesterday’s sketch.
I started working on a daily art habit some months ago. Here’s yesterday’s sketch.
Ah, the traditional Monday morning ritual when I have a moment of panic about not getting enough done yet this week before 9am on Monday morning.
July 14, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Ah, the traditional Monday morning ritual when I have a moment of panic about not getting enough done yet this week before 9am on Monday morning.
I'm happy to share that I joined UVic Access to Justice Centre for Excellence as a research fellow.
I'm looking forward to working with so many new smart and interesting people!
bcace.org
I'm looking forward to working with so many new smart and interesting people!
bcace.org
BC ACE
bcace.org
July 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
I'm happy to share that I joined UVic Access to Justice Centre for Excellence as a research fellow.
I'm looking forward to working with so many new smart and interesting people!
bcace.org
I'm looking forward to working with so many new smart and interesting people!
bcace.org
I'm looking forward to presenting on "Quantitative Assessment of Access to Justice Initiatives" at the 2025 People-Centred Justice Workshop on May 30-31 in Vancouver. There's still time to register. I hope to see you there!
Here's the registration link: docs.google.com/forms/d/17DV....
Here's the registration link: docs.google.com/forms/d/17DV....
May 6, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I'm looking forward to presenting on "Quantitative Assessment of Access to Justice Initiatives" at the 2025 People-Centred Justice Workshop on May 30-31 in Vancouver. There's still time to register. I hope to see you there!
Here's the registration link: docs.google.com/forms/d/17DV....
Here's the registration link: docs.google.com/forms/d/17DV....
"Justice is an abstract ideal whose precise content in any particular dispute is uncertain and debatable.…the law is a kind of system, a collection of principles, makeshifts fictions and expedients, none of them unchangeable, and most varying in character…" - Lord McCluskey, 1987
April 15, 2025 at 3:58 PM
"Justice is an abstract ideal whose precise content in any particular dispute is uncertain and debatable.…the law is a kind of system, a collection of principles, makeshifts fictions and expedients, none of them unchangeable, and most varying in character…" - Lord McCluskey, 1987
Reposted by Sarah A. Sutherland
“If one already knows the thought that one wants to express, it is possible to assess whether text generated by AI captures it correctly. However, this hope neglects that the process of writing is not—or not usually—a mechanical one, whereby we put on paper thoughts that we already possess […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
April 4, 2025 at 7:07 PM
“If one already knows the thought that one wants to express, it is possible to assess whether text generated by AI captures it correctly. However, this hope neglects that the process of writing is not—or not usually—a mechanical one, whereby we put on paper thoughts that we already possess […]
Today it seems that the biggest impact on improving health would come from providing food security and access to stable housing. And not from trying to find genetic confounders of common diseases. - @gedankenstuecke.scholar.social.ap.brid.gy quoted in @404media.co
www.404media.co/open-source-...
www.404media.co/open-source-...
Open Source Genetic Database Shuts Down to Protect Users From 'Authoritarian Governments'
"The risk/benefit calculus of providing free & open access to individual genetic data in 2025 is very different compared to 14 years ago."
www.404media.co
April 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Today it seems that the biggest impact on improving health would come from providing food security and access to stable housing. And not from trying to find genetic confounders of common diseases. - @gedankenstuecke.scholar.social.ap.brid.gy quoted in @404media.co
www.404media.co/open-source-...
www.404media.co/open-source-...
The creator of an open source genetic database is shutting it down & deleting all its data because he has come to believe that its existence is dangerous with “a rise in far-right and other authoritarian governments” in the United States and elsewhere. — @jasonkoebler.bsky.social in @404media.co.
Open Source Genetic Database Shuts Down to Protect Users From 'Authoritarian Governments'
"The risk/benefit calculus of providing free & open access to individual genetic data in 2025 is very different compared to 14 years ago."
www.404media.co
April 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
The creator of an open source genetic database is shutting it down & deleting all its data because he has come to believe that its existence is dangerous with “a rise in far-right and other authoritarian governments” in the United States and elsewhere. — @jasonkoebler.bsky.social in @404media.co.
Reposted by Sarah A. Sutherland
The deadline for CALL/ACBD Awards and the Education Reserve Fund has been extended to April 11!
The Silverstein, Laprise, and McCormack Awards are sponsored by Thomson Reuters, and each provide the winner with a monetary reward. Please review each award for full criteria: www.callacbd.ca/Awards
The Silverstein, Laprise, and McCormack Awards are sponsored by Thomson Reuters, and each provide the winner with a monetary reward. Please review each award for full criteria: www.callacbd.ca/Awards
April 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The deadline for CALL/ACBD Awards and the Education Reserve Fund has been extended to April 11!
The Silverstein, Laprise, and McCormack Awards are sponsored by Thomson Reuters, and each provide the winner with a monetary reward. Please review each award for full criteria: www.callacbd.ca/Awards
The Silverstein, Laprise, and McCormack Awards are sponsored by Thomson Reuters, and each provide the winner with a monetary reward. Please review each award for full criteria: www.callacbd.ca/Awards
Reposted by Sarah A. Sutherland
AustLII will host the 2025 Law Via Internet Conference lvi2025.org & meeting of the Free Access to Law Movement falm.info. Call for Papers: lvi2025.org/callforpapers/ Registration: secure.austlii.edu.au/cgi-egate/re.... We look forward to welcoming you to Sydney.
LVI 2025: Law via the Internet Conference 12-14 November 2025
Empowering a just society through legal information, policy, technology, and practice.
lvi2025.org
March 31, 2025 at 5:36 AM
AustLII will host the 2025 Law Via Internet Conference lvi2025.org & meeting of the Free Access to Law Movement falm.info. Call for Papers: lvi2025.org/callforpapers/ Registration: secure.austlii.edu.au/cgi-egate/re.... We look forward to welcoming you to Sydney.
My @slawdotca.bsky.social column on the internet's drawn out, one could almost say "eternal", September and its parallels with legal scholarship was published this morning:
www.slaw.ca/2025/03/28/t...
www.slaw.ca/2025/03/28/t...
The Opportunities Hidden in Law's Eternal September - Slaw
I was recently speaking with someone about the Internet’s “Eternal September”, which is the concept that starting in 1993/1994 so many new users started using the internet that it could never settle i...
www.slaw.ca
March 28, 2025 at 3:11 PM
My @slawdotca.bsky.social column on the internet's drawn out, one could almost say "eternal", September and its parallels with legal scholarship was published this morning:
www.slaw.ca/2025/03/28/t...
www.slaw.ca/2025/03/28/t...
My column "The Case for Algorithmic Scepticism in Law" was published in @biall.org.uk's journal, Legal Information Management, this week. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
(If you don't have access, it is also still available on @slawdotca.bsky.social: www.slaw.ca/2022/08/23/t...)
(If you don't have access, it is also still available on @slawdotca.bsky.social: www.slaw.ca/2022/08/23/t...)
The Case for Algorithmic Scepticism in Law | Legal Information Management | Cambridge Core
The Case for Algorithmic Scepticism in Law - Volume 24 Issue 4
www.cambridge.org
March 24, 2025 at 2:28 PM
My column "The Case for Algorithmic Scepticism in Law" was published in @biall.org.uk's journal, Legal Information Management, this week. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
(If you don't have access, it is also still available on @slawdotca.bsky.social: www.slaw.ca/2022/08/23/t...)
(If you don't have access, it is also still available on @slawdotca.bsky.social: www.slaw.ca/2022/08/23/t...)
Research suggests that the more sophisticated the AI model, the more likely it is to try to “hack” the game in an attempt to beat its opponent by overwriting the chess board to take control and delete its opponent’s pieces, etc. — @rhiannonwilliams.bsky.social writing in @technologyreview.com
AI reasoning models can cheat to win chess games
These newer models appear more likely to indulge in rule-bending behaviors than previous generations—and there’s no way to stop them.
www.technologyreview.com
March 10, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Research suggests that the more sophisticated the AI model, the more likely it is to try to “hack” the game in an attempt to beat its opponent by overwriting the chess board to take control and delete its opponent’s pieces, etc. — @rhiannonwilliams.bsky.social writing in @technologyreview.com
Reposted by Sarah A. Sutherland
An important statement from the American Bar Association. www.americanbar.org/news/abanews...
March 3, 2025 at 11:35 PM
An important statement from the American Bar Association. www.americanbar.org/news/abanews...
I finished my book draft 4 years ago, and I've kept my index card notes in order from that process since. I am disaggregating them today for reuse, and need a minute to mark the moment. I want to reuse the work but worry that somehow I will need the compilation in that format again.
February 22, 2025 at 8:54 PM
I finished my book draft 4 years ago, and I've kept my index card notes in order from that process since. I am disaggregating them today for reuse, and need a minute to mark the moment. I want to reuse the work but worry that somehow I will need the compilation in that format again.
Interpret it how you will, but I choose to understand this decision as the BC Supreme Court finding that the patriarchy is bad policy: Lam v Law Estate, 2024 BCSC 1561 (CanLII), canlii.ca/t/k6h97.
(Judge decided that uneven bequests between son and daughter based on gender were inappropriate)
(Judge decided that uneven bequests between son and daughter based on gender were inappropriate)
canlii.ca
February 20, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Interpret it how you will, but I choose to understand this decision as the BC Supreme Court finding that the patriarchy is bad policy: Lam v Law Estate, 2024 BCSC 1561 (CanLII), canlii.ca/t/k6h97.
(Judge decided that uneven bequests between son and daughter based on gender were inappropriate)
(Judge decided that uneven bequests between son and daughter based on gender were inappropriate)
I’m the kind of person who has a favourite reference book, and it’s always a good morning when the new Chicago Manual edition arrives.
February 19, 2025 at 6:46 PM
I’m the kind of person who has a favourite reference book, and it’s always a good morning when the new Chicago Manual edition arrives.
"…between Babbage's idea that mindless machines could calculate and our anxieties about being replaced by mechanical minds lies almost a century of calculating machines working in tandem with humans from about 1870 to 1970." from Rules, by Lorraine Daston
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Rules
A panoramic history of rules in the Western world
press.princeton.edu
February 10, 2025 at 4:48 PM
"…between Babbage's idea that mindless machines could calculate and our anxieties about being replaced by mechanical minds lies almost a century of calculating machines working in tandem with humans from about 1870 to 1970." from Rules, by Lorraine Daston
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
"When you are famous it is hard to work on small problems.…The great scientists often make this error. They fail to continue to plant the little acorns from which the mighty oak trees grow." — www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouA... HT @matthomann.com
You and Your Research
www.cs.virginia.edu
February 10, 2025 at 4:34 PM
"When you are famous it is hard to work on small problems.…The great scientists often make this error. They fail to continue to plant the little acorns from which the mighty oak trees grow." — www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouA... HT @matthomann.com