And it presents some approximation of realism, confronting the student with an actual legal task without risking the rights of real people. The difficult part is assembling a team with the set of talents necessary to the task. These resources are not beyond the reach of most academic institutions. The development process is itself highly educational, which further fits it to academia. And schools are full of people who have the bits of supporting knowledge that are needed and are willing to act as characters in the cast of the production.
Law provides an endless source of rich material.
The litigation process is itself a treasure trove, but at least as compelling would be a simulation of a treaty negotiation, a corporate takeover attempt, a real estate development, a settlement negotiation, a labor arbitration, or a technology transfer deal. Law resides in a structured interaction between humans. The computer can embody that structure and generate a simulation of human interaction compelling enough to create in the willing user a close experience of law itself. I think it is clear that there is an underlying demand for them, first exposed to me while having dinner with my brother and his family. I mentioned, as you might imagine, that we were working on Murder One and that I had a primitive version of it on my computer.