The LawTech Center at UVA Law School focuses on pressing questions in law and technology, including policy concerns, data analysis of legal texts, and the use of technology in the legal profession.
Serving as a locus of faculty research, the center is led by Danielle K. Citron, a leading voice on issues of law and technology, and Elizabeth A. Rowe, an expert on intellectual property and trade secrets. The author of the books “Hate Crimes in Cyberspace” and the forthcoming “The Fight for Privacy: Protecting Dignity, Identity and Law in the Digital Age,” Citron has been deeply involved in reform efforts relating to the regulation of online platforms. Rowe, who is co-author of the first and leading U.S. casebook on trade secrets in addition to a “Nutshell” treatise on trade secrets, has written on the intersection of trade secrets with employment law and technology, as well as the interplay between intellectual property, government policy and innovation.
The Law School’s curriculum also benefits from the school’s proximity to the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, which offers several courses connected to cybersecurity and national security. Virginia’s programs and centers in national security, health law and intellectual property also add to the depth of the course offerings and extracurricular opportunities.
Policy and Regulation
Technology’s impact on everyday lives has raised new areas of concern in law, from the legal responsibilities of online platforms in protecting consumer privacy and data, to managing cybersecurity threats, to the interplay between intellectual property, government policy and innovation. Faculty members are addressing the question of platform governance and regulation from different directions, including moral philosophy and discrimination, privacy and cyber civil rights, criminal justice and antitrust. Their work has common themes — to what extent should powerful intermediaries be subject to regulation? What should regulation look like? What sort of transparency and accountability is feasible and desirable given trade secret protections? Do we need a federal agency devoted to algorithmic governance?
The Data of Legal Texts
Several affiliated faculty members are focused on using computational tools, including artificial intelligence and natural language processing, to reveal insights on laws and how lawyers, jurists and the public interact with them. Other scholars use empirical methods to consider possibilities for criminal justice reform, analyze constitutions around the world and generally look at the law through a different lens.
Technology in the Legal Profession
Technology is also affecting how law is practiced, how judges and juries are making decisions, and how policies get made. The Law School offers courses that teach students about the evolution of legal practice, and professors are researching the impact of what that means for both lawyers and the public.
Professor Danielle Citron, director of the LawTech Center, discusses law and technology and the school’s course offerings. This session was part of UVA Law’s 2023 Admitted Students Open House.
Contemporary regulation of artificial intelligence is dominated by a powerful intuition: that the risks posed by opaque machine learning systems can...
We are living in a dangerous inverted world. Abusers claim the mantle of victimhood while pummeling their victims with abuse. Would-be authoritarians...
A resilience agenda is an essential part of protecting national security in a digital age. Digital technologies impact nearly all aspects of everyday...
Contemporary regulation of artificial intelligence is dominated by a powerful intuition: that the risks posed by opaque machine learning systems can...
We are living in a dangerous inverted world. Abusers claim the mantle of victimhood while pummeling their victims with abuse. Would-be authoritarians...
A resilience agenda is an essential part of protecting national security in a digital age. Digital technologies impact nearly all aspects of everyday...
Content moderation is typically viewed as an affront to free expression. When companies remove online abuse, they face accusations of censorship. Lost...
This Essay expounds on the outsized role of private law in governing ownership of new technologies and data. As scholars lament gaps between law and...
Fifty years ago, federal and state lawmakers called for the regulation of a criminal justice “databank” connecting federal, state, and local agencies...
The use of autonomy to initiate force, which states may begin to view as necessary to protect against hypersonic attacks and other forms of ‘hyperwar...
This chapter provides an overview of computational text analysis techniques used to study judicial behavior and decision-making. As legal texts become...
Working hand-in-hand with the private sector, largely in a regulatory vacuum, policing agencies at the federal, state, and local level are acquiring...
This article argues that the fact that an action will compound a prior injustice counts as a reason against doing the action. I call this reason The...
This chapter examines several ways that the United States takes advantage of international law’s permissiveness and ambiguity to extend its criminal...
Income tax law and policy are fundamentally intertwined with private markets—causal effects run in both directions. The vitality of public markets can...
Now that the Supreme Court has revoked the constitutional right to reproductive autonomy, we must reckon with the risks that our surveillance economy...
The following is a list of courses offered during 2022-25. Numbers in parentheses indicate which academic year(s) the courses were offered, i.e., 2023-24 is coded (24), 2024-25 is coded (25) and 2025-26 is coded (26). (SC) stands for short course and (YR) stands for yearlong.
Advanced Topics in Trade Secret Law (SC) (26) AI and IP (25) Antitrust in the Digital Economy (SC) (24) Art Law (SC) (24,25) Biotechnology and the Law (25) Computer Crime Law (24,25) Copyright Law (24,25,26) Emerging Growth Companies and Venture Capital Financing: Principles and Practice (24) Intellectual Property Transactions and Contract Drafting (SC) (26) Law and Artificial Intelligence (25) Law and Technology Colloquium (24) Law of Artificial Intelligence (SC) (24) Music Law: Analytical and Client Management Skills (SC) (24) Patent Law (24,25,26) Survey of Patent, Copyright, Trademark (24,26) Trade Secret Law (24,25,26) Trademark Law (24,25,26) Transactional Intellectual Property Law (25)
With an array of classes related to artificial intelligence offered in the new academic year, University of Virginia School of Law faculty discuss why exploring the many facets of the emerging technology is critical for legal education.
Emory University School of Law professor Ifeoma Ajunwa discusses her 2023 book, “The Quantified Worker: Law and Technology in the Modern Workplace,” which argues the workforce science of today is more of a threat than an aid to employees. Ajunwa was introduced by Professor Danielle Citron. The event was sponsored by the LawTech Center.
LIST focuses on the novel legal, policy and business problems caused by the recent proliferation of emerging technologies. It educates students about issues in the area; prepares them with practical skills and experience to enter the legal workforce; connects them to a network of mentors, experts and resources; and collaborates with the policy, business and technology communities. Recent areas of focus have included cyber crime, net neutrality and autonomous vehicles, among others. Website
National Security Law Forum
National Security Law Forum connects UVA law students with national security law and broader government issues by hosting speakers, educating students about career opportunities and facilitating student work on national security problems during law school. The forum seeks to produce the next generation of national security law leaders by engaging the school’s faculty, alumni network and connections with the national security community.
Virginia Journal of Law & Technology
UVA Law's only e-journal, VJoLT, provides a forum for students, professors and practitioners to discuss emerging issues at the intersection of law and technology. Recent issues of the journal have included articles on biotechnology, telecommunications, e-commerce, internet privacy and encryption. Website
First-year University of Virginia School of Law student Lauren Grohowski discusses her inventions and how her father’s experience as a lawyer fueled her interest going into law.
Professor Andrea Matwyshyn of Penn State Law School discusses her article “Exploit Machina,” which looks at organizational choices to knowingly leverage technology as part of legally problematic conduct, including through various forms of fraud. The event was sponsored by UVA Law’s LawTech Center.
Students at the University of Virginia School of Law can shift from studying legal scholarship to helping create it as research assistants for faculty members. Five students share their experiences.
With an array of classes related to artificial intelligence offered in the new academic year, University of Virginia School of Law faculty discuss why exploring the many facets of the emerging technology is critical for legal education.
University of Virginia School of Law professor Danielle Citron examines Meta’s $17 billion settlement over claims that the company deliberately designed products to be addictive to children.
New courses offered this fall at the University of Virginia School of Law include the AI and Legal Tools Lab, Roman Law of Obligations and The Current Supreme Court.
The University of Virginia School of Law’s donor-funded grant program and the student-run PILA+ program are together giving over $1 million to 171 students working in public interest roles this summer.
Artificial intelligence expert and UVA Law professor Mike Livermore joins Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer ’08 to discuss how AI is affecting legal academia and the future of legal practice. Far from replacing the need for lawyers in the future, Livermore argues that AI — when harnessed properly by humans — could in fact elevate the standing of attorneys and democratize access to legal services.
Jessica Lake, a senior lecturer at Melbourne Law School in Australia, discussed her latest book, “Special Damage: The Slander of Women and the Gendered History of Defamation Law.” Professor Danielle Citron, co-director of the LawTech Center, introduced Lake at the event.
University of Minnesota law professor Jill Hasday discusses her award-winning book “We the Men: How Forgetting Women’s Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality.” Professor Danielle Citron, co-director of the LawTech Center, introduced Hasday at the event.
Professors Asaf Lubin of Indiana University, Martin S. Lederman of Georgetown University and Alan Rozenshtein of the University of Minnesota discuss Vice Dean Ashley Deeks’ new book, “The Double Black Box: National Security, Artificial Intelligence, and the Struggle for Democratic Accountability.” Professor Danielle Citron moderated the panel and Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06 introduced the event, which was sponsored by the Law School and co-sponsored by the LawTech Center.
Emory University School of Law professor Ifeoma Ajunwa discusses her 2023 book, “The Quantified Worker: Law and Technology in the Modern Workplace,” which argues the workforce science of today is more of a threat than an aid to employees. Ajunwa was introduced by Professor Danielle Citron. The event was sponsored by the LawTech Center.
In a new ranking, Professor Danielle Citron of the University of Virginia School of Law was the most-cited legal scholar of 2025 for work published from 2019-21, among other achievements and recognition for members of the Law School community.
University of California, Irvine School of Law professor Ari Waldman challenges what he calls the “over-prioritization of technology expertise in technology policymaking.” UVA Law professor Danielle Citron introduces Waldman and serves as moderator. The event was sponsored by the LawTech Center.
Have lunch with attorneys representing Pillsbury’s technology law and venture capital practices in their Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia offices.
This event is sponsored by a student organization.
Daniel Rauch is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland King Carey School of Law. His research focuses on the laws governing political speech and how they work in a digital democracy. A reception will follow.
The Intellectual Property Law Society, LIST and NSLF are co-hosting a Law Firm Mix and Mingle for 1Ls interested in law and technology careers. Attorneys from multiple firms will be attending, representing IP, national security and technology law practices.
This event is sponsored by a student organization.
This moderated discussion between legal scholars and a medical professional on the intersections of data privacy and women’s healthcare will focus specifically on the exploitation of sensitive health data through artificial intelligence tools that attempt to convince women that they are in perimenopause and how their OBGYNs are often left dealing with the fallout.
Neel Chatterjee is an internationally recognized technology litigator and trial lawyer who co-leads King & Spalding’s technology industry practice. Coffee and pastries will be provided.
A panel of scholars will discuss the book “Predicted: How AI Is Restructuring Social Life,” by UVA professor Mona Sloane. The book examines the move toward prediction as a means of organizing society — a paradigm shift that Sloane says leaves little room for other possible futures. In “Predicted,” Sloane issues a warning call around this phenomenon, which she calls the prediction paradigm, suggesting that people take ownership over artificial intelligence to proactively shape the future.
This symposium is aimed at addressing critical gaps in legal scholarship surrounding intellectual property rights in government contracting. “As government dependence on private contractors for technology increases across all areas, including national defense, fundamental unanswered legal questions require rigorous, balanced and systematic examination,” says symposium organizer Professor Elizabeth Rowe. “For the first time, this symposium assembles distinguished legal academics and military acquisition experts to actively engage in robust analysis and discussion of the role of intellectual property law in these complex challenges. This groundbreaking symposium will begin critical conversations, fill knowledge gaps in the literature, inspire reasoned policy reform, and inform the broader public discourse on government contracting and transparency.” The symposium will open with a conversation about government acquisitions featuring former Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro and former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. Symposium papers are available at VJOLT.org.
This event is open to the UVA community and members of the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. The event is free, but registration is required (lunch is available to those who register by April 10).
Law and technology scholar Ryan Calo will discuss his 2025 book, “Law and Technology: A Methodical Approach.” In his book, Calo offers readers a step-by-step approach to the legal analysis and regulation of technology. Calo is the Lane Powell and D. Wayne Gittinger Professor at the University of Washington School of Law. He is a founding co-director of the interdisciplinary UW Tech Policy Lab and a co-founder of the UW Center for an Informed Public. Calo is a board member of the R Street Institute and an affiliate scholar at the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society, where he was a research fellow, and the Yale Law School Information Society Project. A reception will follow the event.
Columbia University professor Steven M. Bellovin is a leading expert at the intersection of computer science and Fourth Amendment law. In his talk, Bellovin will examine how landmark Fourth Amendment cases established that content requires a warrant but metadata does not, apply to the modern internet. He will walk through the architecture of the internet, offering a technical explanation tailored to a legal audience, to better understand how these doctrines play out in practice. Food will be provided.
This event is sponsored by a student organization.
Scholars will discuss and celebrate Jonathon W. Penney’s book “Chilling Effects: Repression, Conformity, and Power in the Digital Age.” Penney is an associate professor and York Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance, and the Law at Osgood Hall Law School at York University, and a faculty affiliate of Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. His award-winning research focuses on the intersection of law, technology and human rights, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary empirical methods and emerging technologies. Penney’s book explores the growing weaponization of censorship, surveillance and technology to control and repress. Join Zoom.
Panelists
Danielle Citron, University of Virginia School of Law
Julie Cohen, Georgetown University Law Center
Carrie DeCell, Columbia Law School
Brenda Dvoskin, Washington University School of Law
Neil Richards, Washington University School of Law
Ari Waldman, University of California, Irvine School of Law
Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law School
This event is sponsored by a student organization.
Media law scholar and feminist legal theorist Jessica Lake will discuss her 2025 book, “Special Damage: The Slander of Women and the Gendered History of Defamation Law.” In her book, Lake analyzes a comparative legal history of gendered hate speech, verbal abuse and sexual harassment across the common law world. Lake is a senior lecturer at Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne in Australia. She researches the regulation of expression, reputation and creativity in the common law world from the early 19th century to the present, with a focus on gender. A reception will follow the event.
Professor Danielle Citron, one of the nation’s foremost voices on privacy, technology, and civil rights, explores what accountability looks like in the age of AI. Drawing from her groundbreaking research on intimate privacy, deepfakes, and online harm, Citron will examine how data-driven systems can amplify inequality, distort public trust, and challenge the rule of law — and how we might reclaim agency, dignity, and transparency in digital life.
Artificial intelligence expert and UVA Law professor Mike Livermore joins Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer ’08 to discuss how AI is affecting legal academia and the future of legal practice. Far from replacing the need for lawyers in the future, Livermore argues that AI — when harnessed properly by humans — could in fact elevate the standing of attorneys and democratize access to legal services.
