Adam Losey (JD 09) and Samir Mathur (JD 09) formed IT-Lex, a legal education nonprofit.

By Felicia Holloman
Law student writer

“The bar is very low for technology law humor,” observed Samir Mathur (JD 09). This was all the more reason for Mathur, Adam Losey (JD 09), Ralph Losey (JD 79), and Catherine Losey (JD 09) to form IT-Lex, a legal education nonprofit that promotes educational and literary advancement in the field of technology law.

Technology law (as defined by IT-Lex) covers legal issues regarding information security, privacy, and electronic discovery—all rapidly evolving areas of law that pose challenges to lawyers across the country.

Adam Losey compared the ever-evolving field of technology law to the “wild West. . . . It is interesting because we are creating the law, and watching collisions between antiquated legal doctrines and modern technological realities,” he said.

The idea for IT-Lex began last summer when Losey, and other attorneys and judges sent a letter to Above The Law, a popular legal blog. The letter discussed the importance of electronic discovery, or eDiscovery, and inspired Losey to create an organization that promoted education and scholarship in the burgeoning field of technology law, and that offered a merit-based way for the best and brightest law students to be integrated with leading scholars and practitioners (and to win cash prizes, to boot).

“If you understand technology law, you can add value from day one at nearly any law firm,” said Losey. As an attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP, Losey finds technology law a reoccurring topic in his work, and is a founding member of Foley’s brand-new eDiscovery and Data Management practice group.

Outside of work, both Losey and Mathur emphasized the importance of technology and its applicable laws in our daily lives.

“I brush my teeth with it every morning,” said Losey, who also builds computers as a hobby. In law school, Losey wrote a law review article on an eDiscovery issue that helped him to get a job teaching the same subject at Columbia University.

Although Mathur did not have a background in technology law before IT-Lex, he considers himself a “tech guy,” who is familiar with social networking sites and the latest technology products.

Mathur became involved in IT-Lex through Losey, whom he had known throughout law school. They lived a few blocks from each other on Second Avenue while attending UF Law.

Mathur is now the managing director of IT-Lex. He runs its website, which features twice daily posts covering technology law news.

The blog posts, submitted by law student interns and sometimes practitioners, are written in a style to make them entertaining for the less technology-savvy. “We try very hard to make them readable to those who can’t program their VCR’s and experts alike — a challenge indeed,” said Mathur.

The website also features videos of Losey, Mathur, and others explaining topics concerning technology law with skits and gags.

“Adam got slapped by his wife while speaking binary code in one, we had multiple takes for that one at his wife’s request,” noted Mathur when describing the lengths they went to create an entertaining video presentation on metadata.

However, Losey and Mathur also plan to make IT-Lex a scholarly venture with an anticipated journal publication. Submissions are reviewed by the members of IT-Lex, who are tasked with editing and generally prepping the articles for print.

Members are invited to join the organization based on their scholarship and work in the field of technology law. Current members include Ralph Losey (JD 79), Bill Hamilton  (JD 83), Francisco Ferreiro (JD 08), Catherine Losey (JD 09), and Jason Pill (JD 09); all UF Law alumni.

Meanwhile, a writing contest, sponsored by Foley & Lardner, is open to all law students who wish to have their technology law-related articles published in the first IT-Lex journal. The contest deadline is May 1. The grand prize winner will receive $5,000. However, all winners will get an invitation to become members of the organization and present their papers at a conference for those affiliated with IT-Lex.

The IT-Lex conference, called “Innovate,” will be held in Orlando, Fla. on Oct. 17 through 18, 2013.

“The hope is to get 100 to 200 attendees,” said Losey of the turn out to Innovate. The ultimate goal of the conference is to allow young lawyers and current practitioners to network and discuss all things technology law.

For more information on IT-Lex and how to become a friend of the organization, please visit: http://www.it-lex.org.

Adam Losey, a third-year law student, was invited to speak on electronic discovery issues on Feb. 11, in New York City at ARMA International’s education workshop. Losey said that he was very lucky to be given this unique opportunity.

“I was excited about the opportunity,” Losey said when asked about his initial feelings. “I was surprised, and honored to be able to do this. I know it will be a valuable and fun experience for myself and the attendees.”

Losey will speak to attendees – predominantly records managers from large financial, insurance and legal organizations – about how to communicate effectively with counsel who may not have the same level technological sophistication. Losey said he is going to encourage the attendees to become more proactive in communicating with counsel.

“In some cases there isn’t much communication going on between [records managers and counsel], and if there is, it can be garbled. In light of recent case law, this is a problem,” he said.

Losey’s presentation will also cover the basic legal concepts entwined with electronic discovery. Losey, a participant in one of the first electronic discovery classes in the country, said that schools are starting to realize the importance of teaching electronic discovery and thinks that technology-centric classes will begin to pop up at law schools nationwide. With more law firms looking for students with technological sophistication, Losey believes offering these classes are the smart way to go.

“If someone is trained in this and understands it, they are going to have a heck of a better chance getting a job . . . law schools that are looking to best serve their students will adapt their traditional curriculums to meet this demand in the marketplace, as it is a marketplace where law students are otherwise relatively fungible,” he said.

Though Losey said he was lucky to get this opportunity, his resume likely helped him secure the gig. Losey, currently on the Florida Law Review, recently published Clicking Away Confidentiality: Workplace Waiver of Attorney-Client Privilege, 60 Fla. L. Rev. 1190 (2008). He is the recipient of the Florida Law Review’s Frank E. Maloney award and received a Goodmark scholarship last semester.

In 2006 he was a law clerk at the Second Judicial Circuit state attorney’s office and a summer associate at Foley & Lardner’s Orlando office in 2008. One of the most valuable experiences he had was serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Chief Judge Patricia C. Fawsett, a UF graduate, of the Middle District of Florida in 2007.

“Having opportunity to clerk for a federal judge while in law school was probably the tipping point in my law-school career”, said Losey, who will working as an associate in the litigation department of Foley & Lardner, LLP, starting Sept. 7, 2009. “Working for a judge is probably the most valuable experience you can get as a law student; you get to see what goes on behind the curtains, and you have the chance to be around an affable group of highly-dedicated and extremely intelligent people whom you can learn from.”

Recently, Losey co-authored an article with Ronald J. Hedges, counsel to Nixon Peabody and retired United States Magistrate Judge, and also with Kenneth N. Rashbaum, director of consulting for Fios, Inc. The article, titled, “Virtual Jurisdiction: Does International Shoe Fit In the Age Of the Internet?,” considers whether jurisdiction can be established through an Internet presence and whether Internet communications can fairly be used to provide notice and exercise jurisdiction over a defendant.

The second-year law student from Winter Park, Fla., is co-authoring the self-help book, The Path More Traveled, with his high school friend and UF Law alumnus Francisco Ferreiro (JD 06) in hopes to educate students who are contemplating attending law school. The book delves into issues that are crucial for students to consider before attending law school, he said.

The book’s six chapters will cover subjects including whether to go to law school, how to tackle the LSAT, how to choose a law school, what to do while attending law school and how then to get a job once it’s over.

Losey’s firsthand knowledge for the book is derived from many of his past experiences. Prior to law school, Losey taught the LSAT for Kaplan Test Prep & Admissions for more than two years. This was his first job that put him into the position to help students who were applying to law school. Losey was looking for a challenge, and as a result, he decided to attend law school.

After being accepted to approximately a half dozen law schools but being denied by the Levin College of Law despite scoring in the 90 percentile on the LSAT and graduating from the University of Florida cum laude, Losey decided to forgo the other law schools’ offers. As a graduate from the University of Florida, Losey knew there was no other place he wanted to be more.

Losey’s uses his personal struggle with the admissions process to offer students further advice. Losey learned that the application process was more than just numbers, which is an important point he highlights in the book. “It was a mistake to rely on my grades and LSAT score,” he said. “Students get too focused on numbers—it’s a package deal.”

During his year off from school, Losey appealed to the admissions committee regarding his denied application and worked in the College’s Center for Career Services. It was in this office where he helped law students find jobs upon graduation. With his book, Losey hopes to help prepare students for the process of job searching.

Losey also gained experience as a law clerk for the Second Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office and as a summer law clerk to the Honorable Chief Judge Patricia C. Fawsett (JD 75). Losey will continue gaining hands-on experience while serving as a summer associate at Foley & Lardner LLP in Winter Park, Fla.

Losey felt the need to write a book to assist students who are overwhelmed in their application process and educate them of what to expect of law school. He also felt the need for a recent, pragmatic and non-technical approach for students to utilize throughout the process.

Losey developed the idea of writing a book after he was accepted to law school and was inundated with requests from students for his insight into law school. Losey originally created the book’s Web site www.pathmoretraveled.com to be left alone from the plethora of continuous questions from students.

Losey created this innovative website in eight hours. The ease of writing the website was attributed to the advice being second nature to him. “It’s stuff I’ve said a thousand times to friends and students,” he said.

Losey soon realized that he could easily write a book that would continue to help students to decide if law school is right for them. “If you take a path in life that you are suited for, it’ll be a much smoother ride,” he said.

Even though Losey began writing The Path More Traveled in the beginning of January, he expects the book to be complete in about a year. Losey hopes that the broad range of readers challenge their assumptions and gain the information they need to make their own educated decision to make their lives better. “Much of this boils down to the fact that if you enjoy doing what you are doing, you will likely do well,” he said.

Losey’s fast-pace nature and stay-busy attitude is fueled by lots of caffeine provided by his Starbucks espresso machine. “I enjoy being busy,” he said. “Some of the best race cars don’t idle well.”