AALL Webinar: Bridging the Research Gap between Law School and Legal Practice

Includes a Live Web Event on 06/16/2026 at 11:00 AM (CDT)

Building on the AALL webinar, “Bridging the AI Gap between Law School and Professional Life,” this session will focus on the evergreen traditional material that continues to be a staple of training students, incoming summer associates, and law clerks, such as court opinions, enacted laws/annotated codes, securities, and corporate structure/company background research. Learn how training programs are being updated to complement the prevalence of AI-assisted legal research while emphasizing standard competencies, evaluation skills, and critical thinking.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Law Librarians who teach and train students and incoming professionals.

TAKEAWAYS:

List the key areas of training necessary for incoming professionals, outside of AI-assisted legal research
Evaluate your current training programs to identify gaps.
Optimize your training programs with new methods geared towards the next generation of law librarian professionals

SPEAKERS:

Tanya Livshits, DLA Piper
Ryan Marcotte, DePaul University College of Law, Rinn Law Library
Allie Penn, Dickinson Wright PLLC

MODERATOR:

Megan Duffy, DLA Piper

AALL BODY OF KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS: Teaching + Training

CANCELLATION AND OTHER POLICIES

No refunds will be given for any purchased live AALL webinar. This applies to non-AALL members only as AALL webinars are free for AALL members.

All AALL webinars include live captioning services.

The opinions shared during this program represent the views of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). Recording, capturing, or using AI tools to duplicate, transcribe, or otherwise reproduce an AALL program in any form is strictly prohibited without prior written consent from AALL. This includes, but is not limited to audio, video, or any other content shared. By attending an AALL program or accessing an AALL recording, you agree to adhere to this policy.

Ryan Marcotte

Research, Instruction & Scholarship Law Librarian

DePaul University College of Law, Rinn Law Library

In his work at DePaul University's Rinn Law Library, Marcotte enjoys the privileges of assisting members of the faculty with their research, teaching law students how to perform legal research of their own, and producing his own scholarship on the confluence of AI and legal research. His most recent article, “AI-Assisted Legal Research (AIALR),” was published in summer 2025 in the British & Irish Association of Law Librarians' quarterly publication, Legal Information Management. Prior to joining DePaul, he was the Los Angeles office librarian for the international law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP, where he conducted research for the attorneys of that firm. Still in his first five years as a law librarian, Marcotte is excited to join fellow law librarians in exploring how law schools are preparing students to work with AI tools—both those embedded in legal research platforms and those developed outside traditional databases.

Tanya Livshits

Senior Manager of Knowledge Research

DLA Piper

In her role, Livshits manages a national team of researchers. Prior to joining DLA Piper in 2022, she was a research manager at Holland & Knight and director of research services at Irell and Manella. Livshits is the current chair of the Council of Chapter Presidents and the Sothern California Association of Law Libraries (SCALL) Immediate Past President. She has previously served as an Annual Meeting Program Committee team lead and participated in several programs at the AALL Annual Meeting & Conference, SCALL Institute, ARK Conferences, and Private Law Librarians & Information Professionals webinars.

Allie Penn

Manager of Library & Research Services

Dickinson Wright

Penn is the Manager of Library & Research Services at Dickinson Wright, a firm headquartered in Detroit, Michigan with offices across the country and in Canada. She serves around 450 attorneys with a team of two. Before that she was a solo librarian at Butzel Long for four years. She is the co-founder of the Solo & Small Library Team Caucus within AALL.