Law and Technology Institute (LTI)

The Law and Technology Institute (LTI) offers an enhanced curriculum to students interested in exploring the many important legal questions and policy debates surrounding evolving technologies. The curriculum equips students with a well-rounded foundation while also allowing them to pursue a particular area of interest, including communications and data privacy law and intellectual property law. LTI students gain valuable practical experience through externships in government, industry, public interest organizations, and law firms.

Communications and data privacy law form the regulatory backbone of our digital infrastructure. Recent controversies involving the FCC, traditional media, and emerging digital platforms demonstrate that telecommunications regulation remains increasingly critical to understand. As Internet services, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms collect and process unprecedented amounts of personal information, data privacy law has become inseparable from communications regulation. Students studying this field gain exposure to administrative law, antitrust and competition regulation, constitutional law (particularly First Amendment and federalism), and network policy while examining real-world regulatory challenges. The comparative approach examines how common policy problems, such as network effects and data protection obligations, arise across different contexts from traditional telephone systems to contemporary social media platforms and cloud services. This analytical framework develops skills that translate across multiple practice areas, and many students discover regulatory practice as a viable career path through this course of study. Alumni have gone on to positions in telecommunications, privacy compliance, health law, environmental regulation, and legislative advocacy.

Intellectual property law governs the creative and innovative outputs that drive the technology sector. From patent protection for emerging AI technologies and telecommunications infrastructure to copyright issues affecting digital content distribution and trademark questions surrounding brand identity in online spaces, IP law intersects with nearly every aspect of the digital economy. Students exploring intellectual property gain practical skills in analyzing innovation policy, licensing agreements, technology transfer, and enforcement strategies. The field offers diverse career paths in litigation, patent prosecution, entertainment and media law, technology transactions, and policy development. Understanding how intellectual property rights interact with platform regulation, data flows, and communications networks provides students with a comprehensive view of how legal frameworks both enable and constrain technological development.

Together, these fields provide essential preparation for practicing law in Washington, D.C., where telecommunications policy, data protection regulation, and intellectual property legislation continue to generate major debates and career opportunities. From spectrum allocation and broadband deployment to AI regulation, privacy enforcement, and patent policy, these interconnected areas shape how innovation unfolds, how competition develops, and how fundamental rights are protected in the digital age. Whether your interests lie in regulatory practice, litigation, legislative work, international policy, or technology transactions, this comprehensive course of study provides the foundation for impactful legal careers at the intersection of law and technology.

In the recording below, Professor Elizabeth Winston, co-director of LTI, delves deeper into the wide variety of opportunities—both skill-building and career-oriented—that this study has made accessible to Catholic Law students through the Institute’s unique curriculum.

Journal and Networking Events

Students have the opportunity to hone their research, writing, advocacy, and leadership skills through participation in various co-curricular activities, such as the Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology, formerly known as the CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Technology Policy. LTI students additionally plan and participate in programming on various law and technology topics, and have regular opportunities to network with our accomplished and dedicated alumni and friends.

Dean Megan La Belle and Professor Elizabeth Winston serve as the co-directors of LTI. Click here for a message from LTI's co-directors.

Upcoming Event:

Corporate Social Responsibility of Big Tech Conference • November 14
Click here to learn more.