The Future Law Podcast

A lot has changed since the global pandemic hit, especially within the law industry. Working remotely has become the norm, and with that comes tech changes to the law. But what’s going to stay around once the pandemic eases up? The answer: everything! In this week’s episode Mike and Dan talk about what matters, and what doesn’t, when it comes to lawyers knowing and using tech, including automation...

The growing role of technology in the legal industry is changing a lot of things for lawyers, but some fundamentals aren’t changing at all. One of those fundamentals is the key role that stories and storytelling play in legal practice, in judging, in designing and running systems, and in making and applying public policy. In this episode, Mike Madison interviews the Hollywood producer of American...

What do you think of when you hear an orchestra? Is it the music? Perhaps you imagine the conductor standing in front of a large orchestra waving their hands around? What does all this have to do with law you ask? Good question, we asked it too. In this episode, Mike Madison chats with a conductor who has been leading symphonies and orchestras around the world for more than 30 years – Scott Speck,...

When will shifts to remote working bring changes to legal education as well? St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas recently received American Bar Association (ABA) approval to host a cohort of its JD students in a fully online environment. Even before the arrival of the COVID pandemic in early 2020, other US law schools had moved bits and pieces of their programs online. St. Ma...

“Legal” is today’s buzzword for the roles that lawyers play inside companies. What does leading and managing “legal” look like, on the ground, in a sea of rapidly changing technology, talent, teamwork, and client needs? This episode features Stephanie Sciullo, Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of MSA Safety, a Pittsburgh-based company with a long history and a critical contemporary mission. L...

TechLaw. Fest is a signature production by the Singapore Academy of Law, and the Future Law Podcast is pleased to continue the conversations hosted there with this podcast series on the future of law and technology. This episode features a conversation with Joyce A. Tan, a leading Singapore-based technology law, on innovation and technology and the challenges of staying one step ahead of the legal...

TechLaw. Fest is a signature production by the Singapore Academy of Law, and the Future Law Podcast is pleased to continue the conversations hosted there with this podcast series on the future of law and technology. This second episode in the series features a conversation about judging and the role of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) in courts. Will robots replace judges? Hear from two...

TechLaw. Fest is a signature production by the Singapore Academy of Law, and the Future Law Podcast is pleased to continue the conversations hosted there with this podcast series on the future of law and technology. This third episode in the series dives into law and technology at the heart of the technology industry, with a conversation about contemporary law practice in Silicon Valley. How are t...

TechLaw. Fest is a signature production by the Singapore Academy of Law, and the Future Law Podcast is pleased to continue the conversations hosted there with this podcast series on the future of law and technology. Rama Tiwari, Chief Executive of the Singapore Academy of Law, joins host  Michael Madison  of the University of Pittsburgh for a wide-ranging conversation about change management, in l...

Bridget Mary McCormack, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan, has been aggressively pursuing court reform in that state’s courts. But “court reform” doesn’t begin to describe the scope, ambition, and impact of what Michigan has been able to accomplish. Nor does the phrase “access to justice.” Listen to Chief Justice McCormack’s provocative tour of the future of law, in conversation with...

The future of law brings urgency to long-standing questions about diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. This episode looks that those questions at ground level, in a complex business law firm. It features an interview with Ellen McGinnis, a senior partner at the Haynes & Boone, a global firm with its roots in Texas. Ellen works in financial markets as co-chair of the firm’s Fund Fin...

Orrick, one of the world’s best-known law firms, partners with The Future Law Podcast for a 4-episode look around the organization, taking stock of its people, its innovation practices, its organizational design, and its industry partnerships. This first episode in The Orrick series features a talk about talent. How does Orrick think about and practice talent recruitment, retention, mentorship, an...

Orrick, one of the world’s best-known law firms, partners with The Future Law Podcast for a 4-episode look around the organization, taking stock of its people, its innovation practices, its organizational design, and its industry partnerships. This second episode in The Orrick series features a talk about innovation. What does innovation mean in a contemporary Big Law firm? How does the firm pract...

Orrick, one of the world’s best-known law firms, partners with The Future Law Podcast for a 4-episode look around the organization, taking stock of its people, its innovation practices, its organizational design, and its industry partnerships. This third episode in The Orrick series features a talk about global operations and specifically about Orrick’s Global Operations and Innovation Center (GOI...

Orrick, one of the world’s best-known law firms, partners with The Future Law Podcast for a 4-episode look around the organization, taking stock of its people, its innovation practices, its organizational design, and its industry partnerships. This fourth episode in The Orrick series features a talk about Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs) and related law and legal industry providers. Are...

The Liquid Legal Institute is a Germany-based think tank and platform for action that aims to develop common standards for law practice and legal services using cutting-edge technology. In this episode of the Future Law Podcast, host Mike Madison talks with LLI co-founders Dierk Schindler and Bernhard Waltl about their vision for the LLI, and what the LLI is doing today. Links Liquid Legal Institu...

The future of law is, in a word, people. But are the people ready? Are new lawyers being prepared effectively to transition from the worlds of their formal education and training to the dynamic and different worlds of the 21st century legal workplace? Host Mike Madison talks with lawyer and legal entrepreneur Krista Contino Saumby, founder of a new consultancy that targets that transition space: T...

Ivan Fong brings more than three decades of experience with law and technology to his role as Chief Legal Officer of the 3M Company, in private law practice, in-house roles, and government service. Host Mike Madison catches up with Ivan for a look back and look forward at what it takes to succeed in the legal profession when you’re facing an uncertain environment. Links Biography: Ivan K. Fong [Th...

Anusia Gillespie is a legal innovator, practicing and advancing NewLaw ideas. In this episode of the Future Law Podcast, she talks with host Michael Madison about what NewLaw means and how she moved from a “typical” US law degree to a NewLaw leadership role. Anusia Gillespie at LinkedIn Anusia Gillespie on Twitter Anusia Gillespie on NewLaw at Legal Evolution [This episode was published originally...

Alex Hamilton, founder and CEO of Radiant Law, left a Big Law partnership behind 10 years ago to start an organization that offers a different way to deliver commercial contracting services to clients. He hasn’t looked back. In this episode of The Future Law Podcast, he sits down with host Michael Madison for a frank assessment of the Radiant Law story so far and what lies ahead. Alex Hamilton at...

Michael Sears spent three decades as an investor and CEO in Silicon Valley after a first career as an officer in the Marine Corps, followed by law and business degrees. Now he is back at the United States Naval Academy, leading a leadership innovation lab as part of the Academy’s continuing requirement that all midshipmen advance through a curriculum in leadership, ethics, and law. His distinctive...

Jordan Furlong brings an unusual sharp and critical eye to conversations about the future of law, as a consultant, author, and former lawyer. He pulled no punches in this wide-ranging conversation with host Michael Madison, covering lawyer licensing, legal literacy, the rule of law, and the fundamental values that characterize the best of the legal profession, from ancient times to the present. Li...

The “regulatory sandbox” in Utah is a leading example of innovation to promote innovation – and justice. On this episode of The Future Law Podcast, host Mike Madison talks with two of the key leaders of the Utah legal community, state Supreme Court Justice Deno Himonas and former Utah bar president John Lund, about how the sandbox came about and what it promises to do. Links: The Office of Legal S...

“What’s the future of knowledge?” comes to ground for law and lawyers in this wide-ranging podcast interview featuring Ian Rodwell, Head of Client Knowledge and Learning at Linklaters, the global London-based law firm. Host Mike Madison and Ian touch on information science, Brian Eno, and football (the original kind) as they explore what’s on tap for the future of practice. Links Ian Rodwell, at L...

How can law and lawyers move the public policy process? Dr. Andrea Matwyshyn is a law professor at Penn State University who is on a mission to bring lawyers, policymakers, and engineers together to solve complex social problems at the edges of law and technology. (She has a faculty appointment at Penn State’s College of Engineering to go with her law faculty role.) Future Law Podcast host Mike Ma...