Expert Signs and Legal Burdens

A Formal Model of Legal Proof Standards and Burdens

This paper presents a formal model that enables us to define five distinct types of burden of proof in legal argumentation. Four standards of proof are shown to play a vital role in defining each type of burden. These standards of proof are defined in a precise way suitable for computing in argumentation studies generally, but are based on a long tradition of their use in law. The paper present...

A Pragmatic Legal Expert System

Use of Legal Expert System LES-5 in Legal Education

It is an important task for a law professor to educate law students in the skill of legal reasoning. A legal expert system is a computer system,, which entails legal knowledge of lawyers as legal experts in its knowledge base. The legal knowledge involves not only written, explicit knowledge like conventions, statutes, cases, commentaries etc., but also implicit legal knowledge which a lawyer u...

What Makes a System a Legal Expert?

Since the 1980s, AI and Law has attempted to capture legal expertise in computer programs. But what is this expertise? This paper reviews a number of approaches, from the 1980s to the present day, which represent different answers to this question. It argues that our notion, and understanding, of expertise has developed and improved over the decades. As yet, however, only a few rather specific ...

Argument from Expert Opinion as Legal Evidence: Critical Questions and Admissibility Criteria of Expert Testimony in the American Legal System*

While courts depend on expert opinions in reaching sound judgments, the role of the expert witness in legal proceedings is associated with a litany of problems. Perhaps most prevalent is the question of under what circumstances should testimony be admitted as expert opinion. We review the changing policies adopted by American courts in an attempt to ensure the reliability and usefulness of the ...