On the Road with Legal Talk Network

The last time Legal Talk Network interviewed Hilarie Bass, she laid out the pillars of her tenure as president of the American Bar Association (ABA). In this report from On The Road at the 2008 ABA Midyear Meeting, host Laurence Colletti talks to her about how she has addressed some of these issues including women leaving the profession, homeless youth, ABA Legal Fact Check, the future of legal ed...

Get to know the future president of the American Bar Association, a small-firm owner who has some big ideas for the ABA. In this report from On The Road, host Laurence Colletti talks to ABA President-Elect Bob Carlson about what his presidency will look like, his unique perspective as a small firm owner, and what influenced him to take on this role. Together, they also discuss how Rob manages to b...

On February 23-25, 2018, Integra Ledger is set up to host the first ever Global Hackathon, the world’s largest legal hackathon with over 10,000 participants spanning six continents. In this report from On the Road, host Laurence Colletti talks to David Fisher and Aileen Schultz, the co-founders of the hackathon, about where the idea for the event came from and what the event will look like. They a...

Recently, blockchain has been discussed in a way that makes it seem like the solution to all of the problems lawyers didn’t even know they had. In reality, blockchain will help with a lot of issues, but there are also problems it won’t solve and we’re still in the early stages in its development. In this report from On The Road, host Trent Carlyle talks to Christian Smith about what blockchain is...

Technology has emerged that allows you to send money without needing a bank or getting your license without going to the DMV. These are just two advantages provided by decentralized technology which is the transferring of goods or value without the use of a middleman. In this report from On The Road, hosts Trent Carlyle and Laurence Colletti talk to Chris Jagers about decentralized technology and...

Blockchain technology may have originated in the US, but firms all over the world are currently researching its implications. In this report from On The Road, host David Fisher talks to Rebecca Ryan and Barry O’Connor from Matheson Dublin about how Ireland views blockchain and how their firm encourages collaboration and innovation. They also discuss what is going to be the first hackathon in Irela...

If you’re a legal professional who wants to learn how to deliver legal services better, faster, and cheaper, Suffolk University School of Law has rolled out a program that might interest you. In this report from On The Road, host Laurence Colletti talks to Andrew Perlman and David Colarusso about the new certification program at Suffolk which looks at innovation, technology, and new ways to provid...

For most of us, we have an obscene amount of usernames and passwords that we use to access social media, bank accounts, and pretty much everything else on the internet. But what if we had one key or identity to unlock all our accounts? In this report from On The Road, host Amy ter Haar talks to Drummond Reed about self-sovereign identity, how it works, and what it could mean for the future of law....

Legal Hackers may sound deviant, but in reality they are a group of lawyers, academics, and tech nerds that are exploring technology solutions to the most relevant legal issues. In this report from On The Road, host Jonathan Askin talks to Tony Lai and Mark Potkewitz about the legal hackers movement including how it helps with access to justice and the potential of open data. They also discuss the...

It’s a question that has increasingly haunted lawyers: will artificial intelligence take legal jobs away from human lawyers? In this report from On The Road, host Jonathan Askin talks to IBM Watson Legal's Shawnna Hoffman and Brian Kuhn about the potential and future of AI in the legal industry. They explore whether AI will replace human lawyers and provide an answer for access to justice. They al...

A smart contract is an automatically executing document that allows the exchange of goods, services, or currency without the use of a middleman. Many lawyers are concerned that this is one of the technologies that will take the job of lawyers. In this report from On The Road, host Jonathan Askin talks to Casey Kuhlman about what smart contracts really are, how they work, and how dual integration c...

In this report from On The Road, host Daniel Linna talks to Bob Craig about how the application of new technologies, like blockchain and smart contracts, could affect the way law firms function, improving problem solving and technical understanding. While lawyers don’t need to become coders, by expanding their knowledge of new tech, they can save time and energy, improve the quality of their work,...

This October, MIT celebrated the inaugural MIT Legal Forum on AI & Blockchain which aimed to provide a space in which legal professionals could discuss the future of AI and blockchain in the legal industry. In this report from On The Road, host Jonathan Askin talks to Professor Alex Pentland about several of the hot topics at the conference including the role of a lawyer in a tech-enabled legal in...

Recently, Evolve Law held its Access to Justice Through Technology event in our Denver offices which focused on potential technological solutions to the access to justice gap. In this report from On The Road, host Mary Juetten talks to Keri Norris, Dona Playton, Sarah Kieny, and Pat Monks about access to justice and how technology can help lawyers bridge the gap. They also discuss the importance o...

In October 2017, Evolve Law hosted an event in Lawgical’s Denver office in which a panel discussed potential technological solutions to the access to justice gap. In this report from On The Road, Mary Juetten moderates the panel which includes Richard Granat, Dona Playton, Pat Monks, and Keri Norris. They discuss topics like merging technology with legal services, adjusting services to meet consum...

If you have a question about your legal business, who can give you a better answer than fellow lawyers? That’s the idea behind LawyerSlack, an online community where lawyers can network, get advice, or even just hang out in the presence of other lawyers. In this On the Road report from the 2017 Clio Cloud conference, host Jason Tashea discusses LawyerSlack, what it is and how it works, with Keith...

As the first deafblind person to graduate Harvard, Haben Girma understands limitations for people with disabilities in the legal profession. In her TEDx talk in Baltimore, Haben Girma asked a question that a lot of people with disabilities ask themselves: do I accept the limitations and challenges set before me or do I do something about it? As well as being the first deafblind person to graduate...

It’s sometimes hard to see your law firm as a business, especially one driven by the customer, but the success of companies like Avvo has shown that using demand-driven tactics can sometimes be what allows a business to thrive. In this On the Road report from the 2017 Clio Cloud conference, host Chris Anderson talks to Mark Britton, founder of Avvo, about what it means to be a demand-driven organi...

Counter Tax Lawyers is a law firm that’s driven to succeed and is doing so in a way that differs from a lot of other firms. They are future-oriented and have even created their own software in order to improve the quality of their services. Peter Aprile and Natalie Worsfold, both leaders at the company, gave their presentation at the 2017 Clio Cloud conference about their unique work processes and...

Clio fans rejoice! The company has spent over 600 hours interviewing customers in order to implement around 220 feature improvements, dubbing this epic redesign New Clio or project Apollo. In this On the Road report from the 2017 Clio Cloud conference, host Joshua Lenon discusses New Clio with Eric and Ernie Bin. They talk about the steps they have taken to ensure changes customers want to see are...

“Leadership is the art of influencing human behavior to accomplish a mission in the manner desired by the leader.” - Canadian Forces definition of leadership So it's too late to be the first Canadian to walk around in space, but as lawyers we should take a leaf out of his book; excelling as leaders and adapting to unforeseen challenges benefits astronauts and lawyers alike. In this On the Road rep...

In 2016, Mary Juetten published a book about the data lawyers need to look at to improve their processes. “Small Law Firm KPIs: How to Measure Your Way to Greater Profits,” edited by Sam Glover, leaves out unnecessary spreadsheets, pretentious acronyms, and business jargon, while focusing on using the right data to be more efficient and profitable so you can enjoy practicing law. In this report fr...

A number of big-name companies, like Microsoft and Starbucks, are now accepting cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. In Russia, you can even buy a burger at Burger King using Whopper Tokens, but is this a technology lawyers should implement? In this On the Road report from the 2017 Clio Cloud conference, hosts Christine Bilbrey and Jonathon Israel talk to Joshua Lenon about cryptocurrencies incl...

According to Clio’s 2016 Legal Trends Report, “the average lawyer only bills 28% of an eight-hour workday.” So, what has changed since last year and what do lawyers still need to work on? George Psiharis, VP of business operations, and Steven Silberbach, senior vice president of global sales at Clio, get together with Kimberly Sanchez and Patrick Palace in this On the Road report from the 2017 Cli...

When hiring millennial lawyers and working with millennial clients, law firm owners often struggle to understand the motivation and values of this younger generation. Although flexibility, feedback, and growth/development aren’t new or surprising terms to older generations, their meaning can get lost in translation. In this report from On the Road, Lawyerist Podcast host Sam Glover interviews Nico...