Northwestern Law and Data Society (NLDS)

Daniel W. Linna Jr.

Northwestern Law & Engineering, Law and Technology Initiatives (LTI)

Educator, Innovator, Researcher & Technologist

Northwestern Law & Engineering, Law and Technology Initiatives (LTI)

Biography

Experience

Professor Daniel W. Linna Jr. is a prominent figure in the intersection of law, technology, and innovation, holding a joint appointment at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and the McCormick School of Engineering as the Director of Law and Technology Initiatives and a Senior Lecturer. His teaching and research focus on computational law, artificial intelligence, data analytics, leadership, operations, and innovation frameworks. Additionally, he is an affiliated faculty member at CodeX — The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics.

Dan's academic career began at Michigan State University College of Law, where he served as a Visiting Professor of Law and the founder and Director of LegalRnD — The Center for Legal Services Innovation. During his tenure at Michigan State, he taught various courses, including Quantitative Analysis for Lawyers, Litigation (Data, Theory, Practice, & Process), Entrepreneurial Lawyering, and Lawyer Ethics and Regulation in a Technology-Driven World. He has also held visiting professor positions at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany, teaching Computational Law and Rules-Driven Automation, and at IE Law School in Madrid, Spain, where he taught Assessing Artificial Intelligence and Computational Technologies. At the University of Michigan Law School, he served as an adjunct professor, teaching Negotiation and Legal Technology & Innovation.

Before his academic career, Dan practiced law at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, an Am Law 200 firm headquartered in Detroit. As a litigator, he was involved in various practice groups, including Automotive and Manufacturing, e-Discovery and Information Management, Commercial Transactions, and Social, Mobile, and Emerging Media. He was elected equity partner in 2013. Dan's legal career began with a one-year judicial clerkship for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge James L. Ryan.

Dan’s professional journey also includes a significant background in information technology. Before attending law school, he worked as an IT manager, developer, and consultant, where he specialized in computerizing and automating business processes, developing dynamic data-driven websites, and building enterprise information systems.

He co-founded the Chicago Legal Innovation & Technology meetup group in 2014 and has received several accolades, including being named to the 2015 Fastcase 50 and an ABA Journal Legal Rebel in 2018. Dan was also inducted as a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Legal Analytics Committee of the ABA Business Law Section. He is a co-founder and co-director of the Institute for the Future of Law Practice.

Teaching and Research Interest

Professor Linna focuses on innovation and technology with an emphasis on computational law, artificial intelligence, data analytics, leadership, operations, and innovation frameworks. His work bridges the gap between law and engineering, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and advancing the application of technology in legal practice.

Selected Courses

•  LAWSTUDY 717: Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning
•  BUSCOM 722: Innovation Lab
•  LAWSTUDY 718: Law of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
•  BUSCOM 912-0: Assessing AI and Computational Technologies
•  MSAI 448: Law and the Governance of Artificial Intelligence (Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence program)

•  Summer Research Internship

Education

BA, University of Michigan

MA, Michigan State University

JD magna cum laude, University of Michigan

Keywords:

Innovation and Technology, Computational Law, Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, Legal Education