Andy Sellars

Andrew Sellars

Director, Technology Law Clinic

Clinical Associate Professor of Law

BS, Northeastern University
JD, The George Washington University School of Law


Biography

Andrew Sellars is a Clinical Associate Professor of Law and the founding director of the Technology Law Clinic, a legal service for undergraduate and graduate students at MIT and BU. In the clinic, BU Law students counsel clients on laws and regulations that affect their research, advocacy, and innovation, including intellectual property, media law, data privacy, and cybersecurity law. Sellars has overseen the legal representation of hundreds of student clients through his work in the clinic, representing computer security researchers, public interest advocates on technology and society issues, creators of innovative new technologies, and student journalists. His scholarship focuses on application of intellectual property and computer access laws to technology research and journalism, including permissionless investigation of technology systems.

Sellars is a Civic Tech Fellow at BU’s Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences, a faculty affiliate at BU’s Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering, and a member of the Boston Bar Association. Before joining BU, Sellars was the Corydon B. Dunham First Amendment Fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. There, he worked in Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic and the Digital Media Law Project. Sellars received his JD with high honors from the George Washington University Law School, where he was awarded the Jan Jancin Award from the American Intellectual Property Law Association, given to the top intellectual property law student in the country.

Publications

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  • Andrew Sellars, Twenty Years of Web Scraping and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act 24 Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law (2018)
    Scholarly Commons

Stories from The Record

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Courses

Law and Algorithms: LAW JD 673

3 credits

This cross-cutting and interdisciplinary course, taught alongside a graduate-level course with BU's new faculty of Computing and Data Sciences, investigates the role that algorithms and automated decision-making systems play in law and society. The course connects legal and technical concepts of transparency, fairness, bias, privacy, and trust, though a series of case studies that present recent applications of technology to legal and regulatory situations and explore the challenges in regulating algorithms. Legal concepts explored will include evidence and expert witnesses, anti-discrimination law concepts of disparate impact and disparate treatment, sectoral information privacy regimes, and public access and transparency laws. Technical concepts explored will include artificial intelligence and machine learning, secure multi-party computation, differential privacy, and zero-knowledge proofs. Grades will be based on a series of assignments that correspond with each case study, to be completed collaboratively in mixed teams of law and computing/data science students. No prior technology experience is required. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.

SPRG 2023: LAW JD 673 A1 , Jan 19th to Apr 20th 2023
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Thu 2:10 pm 4:10 pm 3 Andrew SellarsCanetti LAW 203

Technology Law Clinic: Fieldwork (C): LAW JD 725

4 credits

THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Technology Law Clinic. In the Clinic, students will represent MIT and BU students who are working on innovative research and ventures, counseling clients on issues including data privacy, intellectual property, computer crimes, cybersecurity, media law, and regulatory compliance. Students draft and negotiate agreements, design compliance programs, advise on the legality of innovative products and services, respond to cease-and-desist threats, and help clients anticipate and prepare for legal disputes, including pre-litigation support. Limited opportunities in litigation may be available. PRE/CO-REQUISITE: a course in one of the following three areas: (1) intellectual property (either an IP survey course or other core IP course such as patent, copyright, or trademark); (2) privacy law (including Privacy (JD 822)); or (3) cybersecurity. NOTE: The Technology Law Clinic counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.

FALL 2022: LAW JD 725 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 8th 2022
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
ARR TBD TBD 4 Andrew SellarsConley
SPRG 2023: LAW JD 725 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 26th 2023
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
ARR TBD TBD 4 Andrew SellarsConley

Technology & Cyberlaw Clinic: Seminar 1: LAW JD 866

2 credits

THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Technology Law Clinic. This is the fall classroom component to the Technology Law Clinic. The seminar introduces students to the lawyering skills relevant to a modern technology law practice, including effective counseling of innovation clients The seminar also introduces a variety of legal issues that arise in research and innovation environments, including advanced topics in intellectual property, computer crimes, and data privacy. NOTE: The Technology Law Clinic counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.

FALL 2022: LAW JD 866 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2022
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Tue 2:10 pm 4:10 pm 2 Andrew SellarsConley LAW 513

Technology Law Clinic: Seminar 2: LAW JD 869

2 credits

THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Technology Law Clinic. This is the spring classroom component to the Technology Law Clinic. The seminar expands upon the lawyering skills and substantive legal discussions from the first semester, and will focus on questions of national policy as they relate to technology, including national control over technical information, academic privacy and freedom, and emerging cybersecurity regulation. NOTE: The Technology Law Clinic counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.

SPRG 2023: LAW JD 869 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 25th 2023
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Tue 2:10 pm 4:10 pm 2 Andrew SellarsConley LAW 513