By: Adam Eckart
Legal Writing Matters Blog
During the summer of 2024, I caught an Uber to Boston Logan Airport to fly to a conference in Indianapolis. Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity software used by Microsoft to support technology used in banking, broadcasting, and airline industries, crashed that morning—leaving me and thousands of other travelers throughout the world stranded (temporarily, thankfully!). One of my colleagues queried on the faculty listserv—do you think the airlines (and other customers of Crowdstrike) agreed to the standard “clickwrap agreement” of Crowdstrike, which would undoubtedly limit any legal actions against Crowdstrike that customer could take for such an event?
As consumers, we enter into such clickwrap agreements all of the time. For those like me, many people faced with a clickwrap agreement fail to read any of it and instead quickly scroll down to the “accept” button to accept the terms without reading any of the text. Recognizing this issue, improving the quality and usability of clickwrap agreements was the subject of a law student competition just four months prior to the Crowdstrike incident that left me stranded at the Boston airport—a competition that included two Suffolk Law teams among the winners.
The Future of Contracts Design Derby is an annual competition for students interested in contract law and design thinking. Originally started at Duke Law School and most recently taking place in nine locations involving 12 law schools throughout the country, the Future of Contracts Design Derby is an opportunity for law students to take an issue related to contract law and use principles of design thinking—a problem-solving approach that is focused on the customer and is influenced by designer’s workflow—to imagine a better future for the practice of contract law.
In 2024, Suffolk Law’s first year participating in the Design Derby, teams from Suffolk and other law schools examined the aforementioned issue of assenting to clickwrap agreements and two Suffolk Law teams were recognized among the winning teams. Participation in the Design Derby is open to all students, regardless of class year, concentration, or level of experience with contract law. Students who participated in the program indicated that it was a rewarding experience with limited time commitment. It is also an excellent opportunity for students to demonstrate their commitment to transactional work (by virtue of listing their participation on their resume) and network with mentors at the Design Derby—in addition to having the opportunity to earn a little prize money!
Suffolk Law is looking forward to hosting the Design Derby again in the Spring of 2025 and students should be on the lookout for announcements regarding sign-ups during the first few weeks of the spring 2025 semester. What issue do you think we can tackle this year?