With this episode, we mark the third anniversary of Pioneers and Pathfinders. Nothing could mark this milestone better than to welcome back a thought leader in the legal profession and legal education, Cat Moon, lecturer and Director of Innovation Design at Vanderbilt University Law School. Since Cat last joined us on the podcast, she has co-founded VAILL, the Vanderbilt AI + Law Lab, which she also co-directs. In this program, she collaborates with professionals across various disciplines to im...
Mar 20, 2024•34 min
Our guest today is Zack DeMeola, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), a not-for-profit organization with the goal of advancing law and justice by promoting access, equity, and fairness in law school admission and supporting learning journeys from prelaw through practice. A former corporate litigation attorney, Zack left practice after several years to join the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS). There, he led the Fou...
Mar 13, 2024•31 min
This week, we're joined by Maya Markovich, Justice Tech Executive in Residence at Village Capital and co-founder and executive director at the Justice Technology Association. Maya started her career journey in change management consulting for tech, then became a practicing lawyer. Having a deep interest in the possibilities of technology in the legal profession, she went on to work in legal tech product management and product marketing. She later joined Nextlaw Labs and Nextlaw Ventures, founded...
Mar 06, 2024•29 min
Today’s guest is reimagining the way legal professionals work as we explore new frontiers in technology. We’re speaking with Ilona Logvinova of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. Ilona is managing counsel for McKinsey Digital and Head of Innovation for McKinsey Legal. After working as a corporate lawyer for several years, and working in-house at Mastercard, she joined McKinsey as a technology lawyer, a position which ultimately evolved into her current dual role. As man...
Feb 28, 2024•31 min
Our guest today is Sarah Glassmeyer, Director of Data Curation at LegalTechnology Hub. Sarah has worked in various roles as a problem-solver in the legal community. For several years, she was a law librarian at universities around the US. Since then, she has worked as Director of Content Development at the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), as a research fellow at Harvard’s Library Innovation Lab and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, as project manager and legal co...
Feb 21, 2024•35 min
This week, we welcome Victor Li, Assistant Managing Editor at the ABA Journal. After working as the Assistant District Attorney at the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office, Victor decided to explore a new path—one in journalism. For several years, he was a reporter on various legal industry subjects at The American Lawyer and Law Technology News (now known as Legaltech News). He went on to join the ABA Journal as a legal affairs writer, and later took on his current position as Assistant Mana...
Feb 14, 2024•32 min
Today’s guest is Ashley Carlisle, chief marketing officer and founding team member at HyperDraft, a legal automation platform that helps legal departments and corporations digitize legacy documentation processes with AI-powered document and workflow automation solutions. Ashley was a corporate attorney at Goodwin when she met HyperDraft founder Tony Thai—a prior guest on the podcast—and decided to join him and help build the startup. As CMO, she shares her passion for making the legal profession...
Feb 07, 2024•29 min
Our guest this week is a leading voice on the future of legal education and law practice. Andrew Perlman is Dean at Suffolk University Law School, and has been a professor there since 2001. Before entering academia, Dean Perlman was a litigator with a lifelong fascination with innovation and technology. He has served several important functions in the American Bar Association, and was recently appointed to serve on the Advisory Council of the ABA Task Force on the Law and Artificial Intelligence...
Jan 31, 2024•31 min
Today we are joined by Flo Nicolas, a self-described “nonboring lawyer.” Flo is co-founder and chief operating officer at DEI Directive, a technology company helping organizations shape the future of work through inclusive and innovative practices. Flo began her career as legal counsel at various law firms and companies. She then worked in the telecommunications industry for several years. Later, Flo had the opportunity to join How to Contract, a training and development resource for lawyers. Th...
Jan 24, 2024•34 min
This week, we speak with Anusia Gillespie, Chief Strategy Officer at SkillBurst Interactive, a company providing on-demand learning to Am Law 200 firms, global legal organizations, and public-sector agencies, among other clients. Anusia has both an MBA and JD from Boston College, and has worked in various functions throughout the legal ecosystem—law firm practice, academia at Harvard Law School Executive Education, law firm business as the first Head of Innovation at Eversheds Sutherland, and in...
Jan 17, 2024•31 min
Today we are joined by Mary O'Carroll, a true pioneer and pathfinder in the legal industry. Mary is Chief Community Officer at Ironclad, a leading contract lifecycle management program for innovative companies. She started her career in business development and consulting before joining Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in a finance role. Her work soon transitioned into a legal operations role—a function that was practically nonexistent in law firms at the time. Mary was later hired by Goog...
Jan 10, 2024•34 min
For our last episode of the year, we welcome Dr. Ron Dolin, chief innovation officer at ODR.com. Dr. Dolin has had a fascinating and dynamic professional journey. A math and physics major, he began his career at the high-energy physics lab CERN in Geneva. He went on to earn a PhD in computer science and became one of the first 100 employees at Google, where he worked for several years. Having a deep interest in morality and ethics, Dr. Dolin then decided to go to law school and pursue the legal ...
Dec 20, 2023•32 min
This year, our virtual roundtable series has explored the implications of generative AI and natural language processing models in the legal industry. Our first roundtable covered the risks and benefits of generative AI, while the second addressed the AI technology landscape and implementation strategies. Now, in our third installment, our esteemed panel—Lorie Almon, Chair and Partner of Seyfarth Shaw LLP; Anusia Gillespie, Chief Strategy Officer at SkillBurst Interactive; Jennifer Leonard, Found...
Dec 13, 2023•59 min
Our guest today is Damien Riehl, vice president and Solutions Champion at vLex, a platform using artificial intelligence solutions to streamline workflows and provide lawyers with greater access to knowledge and resources. Damien was a tech attorney for more than 10 years when he made the leap to Thomson Reuters as Senior Product Strategist, where he developed innovative legal technology involving artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. Inspired by Ed Walters’...
Nov 29, 2023•34 min
Today’s guest is Julie Saltman, co-founder and CEO at Standd, a company using AI to eliminate tedious grunt work from the due diligence process. Prior to launching Standd, Julie spent more than 15 years as an attorney at the US Department of Justice, the US Copyright Office, and in private practice. Additionally, she has written articles on technological innovation and the law, and was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center where she taught legal writing. At Standd, she works w...
Nov 15, 2023•28 min
As technology has progressed, we have also seen emerging concerns for freedom of speech and privacy. Our guest today has spent the past 30 years defending individual liberties in the digital space. Cindy Cohn is the executive director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the leading nonprofit organization ensuring that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people. She started her career as a civil litigator in private practice, where she handled various cases relat...
Nov 08, 2023•37 min
Today we speak with Tara Cheever, co-founder and Chief Products Officer at LIT SOFTWARE, a company that equips lawyers with the tools to modernize their practices and enhance their presentation skills in court. Tara has been a trial presentation consultant for more than 15 years. She is an expert in presentation and legal technology, and has worked on multiple high-profile matters both in the US and in Europe. At LIT SOFTWARE, she assists in the design, development, and marketing of the LIT SUIT...
Nov 01, 2023•29 min
Our guest today is Stephanie Wilkins, editor-in-chief at Legaltech News at ALM. Stephanie had been a civil litigator at big law firms in New York for a decade when she decided to pursue a different career path. Having enjoyed the writing aspect of her legal work, she decided to become a freelance writer. Stephanie soon found opportunities writing about legal tech with Above The Law, technology companies, and legal marketers. In 2022, she became editor-in-chief at Legaltech News, where she has wr...
Oct 25, 2023•33 min
Today’s guest is taking on the challenges of immigration law through innovative technology. Amélie Vavrovsky is the founder and CEO of Formally, a legal tech startup that uses accessible design to simplify and streamline immigration applications. The idea for the company was partly inspired by Amélie’s own immigration experience as an international student at Brown University. She started Formally as a hackathon project, geared toward helping refugees and asylum seekers immigrate into the US. Wh...
Oct 18, 2023•32 min
Many legal professionals have discussed complex topics in technology and innovation in simple terms, but few have done so quite as well as today’s guest, Daniel Yi, Senior Counsel for Special Projects and Innovation at the US Department of Justice. As a disclaimer, we’d like to mention that Daniel is joining us in his personal capacity and not as a representative of the DOJ. Before serving in his current role, Daniel started at the DOJ as a trial attorney and then as the director of the Fair Hou...
Oct 11, 2023•30 min
Today’s guest is an innovation strategist and self-described “generative AI enthusiast.” Among her many roles in the legal world, Terri Mottershead is the Executive Director of the Centre for Legal Innovation at the College of Law (CLI). After several years in private practice, she transitioned into professional development and lawyer training. Terri has led or taught on practical legal education initiatives in law schools in Asia, Australia, and the US. For more than a decade, she has been a co...
Oct 04, 2023•35 min
Today’s guest is Daniel Lewis, CEO of LegalOn Technologies, a company that uses AI to help legal teams find and fix contract risks. While a student at Stanford Law School, Daniel discovered his interest in legal tech, and soon envisioned himself going into business. Upon graduating, he founded Ravel Law, with the goal of building a better case law research experience by making use of new technology and taking a more data-driven approach. The company was ultimately acquired by LexisNexis, and Dani...
Sep 27, 2023•34 min
Today’s episode is an encore presentation of our second installment of the Pioneers and Pathfinders Virtual Roundtable Series. Last week, we hosted a live discussion with panelists spanning legal technology investing, AI-powered software development, and legal insights and strategy consulting. Our guests—Jae Um, Founder and Executive Director at Six Parsecs; Tony Thai, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer at HyperDraft, Inc.; Zach Posner, Co-Founder and Managing Director at The LegalTech F...
Sep 20, 2023•53 min
Today we speak with Karl Chapman, chief executive at Kim Technologies. After studying law at the University of Birmingham in England, Karl decided to go in a different direction from the lawyer path, working in finance and later starting a recruitment and training consultancy. Karl went on to found AdviserPlus Business Solutions, a leading advisory outsourcing company in the UK. AdviserPlus then created Riverview Law, which focused on providing managed services to corporate legal departments. Ka...
Sep 13, 2023•37 min
Our guest today is Amy Yeung, VP and Deputy General Counsel at Sallie Mae, and a well-known legal tech thought leader. As a paralegal at Williams & Connolly LLP, Amy learned the ins and outs of the profession and found inspiration in the lawyers she assisted. After working in the securities group at WilmerHale, she changed course and joined the gaming company ZeniMax Media as assistant general counsel. Amy would continue to serve various legal tech functions for the next several years before...
Sep 06, 2023•33 min
With all the conversations on recent advancements in technology, particularly generative AI, we thought we’d revisit our interview with David Wang, chief innovation officer at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. His career exemplifies the importance of tech innovation and change management in the legal profession. We hope you enjoy. We will return with a new episode next week. The past few years have seen a rise in heads of innovation at Big Law firms. One of the leading voices in this space i...
Aug 30, 2023•29 min
As we head into the dog days of summer, we thought we would replay one of our favorite episodes. Given that August is National Civility Month, it seemed appropriate to revisit our episode with Jayne Reardon, former executive director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism. Jayne has since retired from this role, but she continues to speak on professionalism topics such as civility, diversity, and leadership. We hope you enjoy the conversation. We will return with new episode...
Aug 23, 2023•31 min
Now more than ever, conversations around legal technology and innovation can be incredibly overwhelming—especially for those who are worried about the implications of generative AI. Our guest today helps facilitate these important discussions, with the goal of making new technology less intimidating for lawyers. Cat Casey is chief growth officer at Reveal-Brainspace, a cloud-based provider of ediscovery software, which helps legal professionals solve complex discovery problems. Prior to joining ...
Aug 16, 2023•33 min
Today we speak with Shana Simmons, chief legal officer at Everlaw, an advanced eDiscovery platform helping legal organizations solve the challenges of discovery and investigations more efficiently. Shana began her professional journey as a middle school and high school teacher before pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a lawyer. After working in a corporate practice at an international law firm, Shana took an in-house role with Google as a contracts manager, where she focused on enhancing th...
Aug 09, 2023•38 min
As we often discuss on the podcast, many lawyers resist adopting new technology or innovative practices due to a fear of the unknown. Today’s guest, however, embraces change management and is always looking to enhance the quality of legal services. Wendy Butler Curtis is the chief innovation officer and chair of the eDiscovery & Information Governance group at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Wendy started her career as a mass torts litigator, but later focused on eDiscovery and opera...
Aug 02, 2023•30 min
