ABA Journal: Legal Rebels

Facial recognition software is becoming a greater part of our everyday lives. But the technology is controversial and not without its critics. Questions about its accuracy—especially relating to recognizing minority faces—remain. Special thanks to our sponsors, Alert Communications and Smokeball.

Like many Americans, Jazz Hampton and two of his friends, Andre Creighton and Mychal Frelix, watched in horror as two fellow Minnesotans, Philando Castile and George Floyd, were killed by police officers following what seemed to be routine traffic stops. If only there had been a way to de-escalate those situations while protecting the rights of the person detained, as well as the law enforcement o...

As a young personal injury litigator in Georgia, Gino Brogdon Jr. says he was accustomed to using different technology tools to manage his practice. But when Brogdon began working as a mediator, he realized that there were limited tech options to assist him in the alternative dispute resolution realm. Special thanks to our sponsors, Alert Communications and Smokeball.

The Innovation for Justice lab launched at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law in 2018 with the goal of designing, building and testing new solutions to addressing the justice gap impacting millions of Americans. Special thanks to our sponsors, Alert Communications and Smokeball.

Evisort co-founder Jake Sussman says when the company began developing its contract management and analysis platform, its goal was to use artificial intelligence as a last resort. But it soon became clear that AI was the only way to solve the contract challenges that Evisort wanted to help users tackle. Special thanks to our sponsors, Alert Communications and Smokeball.

AJ Shankar, the founder and CEO of e-discovery platform Everlaw, likes to say his company’s technology is designed to help clients find needles in a haystack. But he notes that the haystacks that law firms and corporate in-house teams have to confront have grown in size and complexity in recent years. This has prompted cloud-based Everlaw to enhance and broaden its e-discovery offerings. Special t...

Law prof Michele Pistone says there aren’t enough immigration lawyers and pro bono attorneys to meet the demand of immigrants seeking legal assistance. This justice gap is a primary reason that she created a program to train paraprofessionals to handle legal work in the immigration realm. Special thanks to our sponsors, Alert Communications and Smokeball.  

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati announced last month that it had teamed up with Workiva Inc. to create an application that automates the S-1 form that companies must file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission when going public. Special thanks to our sponsors, Alert Communications and Smokeball.

Priori is an online platform known for using data and technology to connect in-house legal teams with lawyers and law firms who can assist with a wide variety of projects. But Basha Rubin, CEO and co-founder at Priori, says the company noticed that clients were sometimes turning to its online marketplace for help with problems that “might be best solved by a ‘new law’ company or a nontraditional l...

Sonja Ebron and her wife, Debra Slone, saw firsthand how difficult it can be to represent yourself in civil cases through experiences they had being sued and suing others. Ebron says the couple’s legal battles spanning several different practice areas ultimately prompted them to develop a platform called Courtroom5, an online toolbox that helps self-represented litigants handle their cases from st...

NextChapter’s success last year came in its first full year after being acquired by legal research company FastCase. Special thanks to our sponsors, Alert Communications and Nota.

Two University of Chicago alums and technologists have developed a technology platform known as JusticeText, an AI-powered evidence management tool primarily geared toward public defenders. Special thanks to our sponsors, Alert Communications and Nota.

A former assistant attorney general has created an AI-powered legal writing tool to help other lawyers craft case-winning briefs in an efficient manner. Special thanks to our sponsors, Alert Communications and Nota.

When two women discussed starting their own law firm two years ago, the experienced in-house lawyers agreed that they should take a subscription-pricing approach with clients. Special thanks to our sponsors, Alert Communications and Nota.

“You make a lot more money when you come work for us than you do at a traditional firm,” says Kevin Broyles, a co-founder and managing partner of FisherBroyles.

John Van Amsterdam says his law firm has prioritized frequent virtual contacts with new attorneys and staff, generating particularly good feedback from lateral hires.

Michael Ellenhorn, the founder and CEO of Decipher, says law firms would be wise not to quicken the hiring process too much.

For now, Don Fancher says Deloitte is focused in the United States on growing the legal business services practice that it launched in July.

L. Song Richardson, the dean at the University of California at Irvine School of Law, discusses with the ABA Journal's Lyle Moran how to making remote learning successful during a pandemic.

In recent years, a growing number of law firms reduced their brick-and-mortar office space as a way to cut costs and also better meet the changing workplace needs of their attorneys. Sherry Cushman says the COVID-19 pandemic has further enhanced the desire of firms to shrink their real estate footprint.

Judge Scott Schlegel talks about his initial tactics into delivering justice online and delve into how he and his court responded to COVID-19.

Chicago lawyer Kathy Ehrhart and her firm represented two of the three defendants in a civil case focused on alleged breach of contract concerning a real estate transaction. Though the video proceedings were not without some technical challenges, Ehrhart says the overall experience was better than she expected. "I think as time went on through the trial, we all felt an increasing ability to recapt...

Supporters of broad reforms to how the legal profession is regulated must do a better job drawing the public into ongoing conversations in several states about such issues, says Paula Littlewood, the former longtime executive director of the Washington State Bar Association. "We need to break outside what I call the echo chamber of the profession and really start bringing the consumer and the publ...

When the novel coronavirus began rapidly spreading across the United States earlier this year, Kimball Dean Parker says he felt a strong desire to help consumers and businesses in need. Utah-based SixFifty set out to do what it does best: develop online tools to assist consumers of all types tackle complex legal challenges without breaking the bank. Special thanks to our sponsor Alert Communicatio...

Michael G. Heavican, the chief justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court, talks about the National Pandemic Summit that he hosted in May 2019 for court leaders across the country.