YONATHAN A. ARBEL Generative Interpretation
N.Y.U. Law Review (forthcoming 2024) (with David A. Hoffman).
A
rtificial intelligence (AI) has shown great promise in a variety of applications. But does AI have anything to add to the judicial craft? In his recent work, co-authored with Professor Dave Hoffman (University of Pennsylvania, Carey School of Law), Arbel explores this question.
They introduce generative interpretation, a new approach to estimating contractual meaning using AI large language models. By taking wellknown contracts opinions, and after sourcing the actual agreements that they adjudicated, they show that AI models can help factfinders ascertain ordinary meaning in context, quantify ambiguity, and fill gaps in parties’ agreements. They also illustrate how models can calculate the probative value of individual pieces of extrinsic evidence. After offering best practices for the use of these models given their limitations, they consider the implications of using AI models for judicial practice and contract theory. The use of these models allows courts to estimate what the parties intended cheaply and accurately; as such, generative interpretation unsettles the current interpretative stalemate. Their use responds to both efficiency-minded textualists and justice-oriented contextualists, who argue about whether parties will prefer cost and certainty or accuracy and fairness. Parties—and courts—would prefer a middle path, in which adjudicators strive to predict what the contract really meant, admitting just enough context to approximate reality while avoiding unguided and biased assimilation of evidence. As generative interpretation offers this possibility, the authors argue that it can become the new workhorse of contractual interpretation. Free Speech on Campus, Faculty Colloquium, University of Alabama School of Law (2022). Selected Media Appearances Alabama Higher Education Official Says Scotus Ruling on Affirmative Action Could Have Unexpected Impacts, CBS 42 (2023).
Books Age Discrimination in Employment Law (ABA/Bloomberg BNA 2019) (associate editor).
Volunteer Prosecutors, 59 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1483 (2022). Selected Presentations Becoming a Productive and Fulfilled Scholar, Southeastern Association of Law Schools Annual Meeting (2023). Starving the Prosecutorial Beast, CrimFest, Brooklyn Law School (2023).
Rearview Look at Affirmative Action and Black College Enrollment, The Joplin Globe (2023). Selected Honors Board of Directors, Southern Poverty Law Center (2013-2023). Honorary Order of the Samaritan Award, University of Alabama School of Law Public Interest Institute (2022).
Prosecutor Scarcity and Experience, Criminal Justice Ethics Schmooze (2023).
RUSSELL M. GOLD
Associate Professor of Law
Civil Procedure Criminal Law & Procedure Books The Oxford Handbook of Prosecutors & Prosecution (Oxford University Press 2021) (with Ronald F. Wright & Kay L. Levine) (edited volume). Selected Publications Paying for Prosecution, 56 Ariz. St. L.J. (forthcoming 2024).
KARA DEAL GAMBLE
Assistant Professor of Legal Writing Legal Writing Litgation Drafting
The Public Voice of the Defender, 75 Ala. L. Rev. (2023) (with Kay L. Levine).
The Public Voice of the Defender, Law & Society Association Annual Meeting (2023). The Public Voice of the Defender, ABA/ AALS/Academy for Justice Workshop (2022). Scarcity and Prosecutor Accountability, CrimFest, Yeshiva University Cordozo School of Law (2022). Selected Media Appearances Trump’s Special Treatment in the Courts Highlights Failings in Our Legal System, The Hill (2023) (with Christopher Robertson).
Power Over Procedure, 57 Wake Forest L. Rev. 51 (2022).
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