Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
Technically Legal is a legal tech podcast about legal innovation and the impact technology is having on the law. In each episode we interview an innovator in the legal industry about how technology is changing the practice of law, about the companies they are building and how legal tech is changing the way legal departments and law firms work. The podcast is hosted by Chad Main, an attorney and founder of Percipient, a tech-enabled legal services provider. Chad launched Percipient on the belief that when technology is leveraged correctly, it makes legal teams more effective.
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Investing in Legal Tech and the Ingredients of a Successful Start-Up (Zach Posner, The LegalTech Fund)
04/25/2024
Investing in Legal Tech and the Ingredients of a Successful Start-Up (Zach Posner, The LegalTech Fund)
Zach Posner discusses the , an investment fund he helped start that focuses on legal tech businesses and offers insight on what it takes to build a successful start up. The LegalTech Fund has a solid track record and, if you have listened to a few episodes of this podcast, you’ve probably heard from founders of companies in which the Fund has invested–including , , , and also . Zach brings a unique blend of experience and insight to legal technology investing. Among other things, prior to starting the LegalTech Fund, he helped build an education tech company that was ultimately acquired by McGraw Hill. The LegalTech Fund has a couple of main areas of investing interest: Companies building tech that harnesses information from contracting processes and companies that are working to make legal services available to more people. Zach also offers insight and advice for those trying to build a company–including the importance of investor updates because the most successful companies often have the highest frequency of reporting to stakeholders. He suggests that entrepreneurs should be open and honest about challenges, allowing investors to assist in problem-solving. Zach also says it is important for entrepreneurs to demonstrate their products in a quick, iterative manner. He stresses that frequent engagement with customers can provide invaluable insights guiding the product development process. He further suggests that entrepreneurs should be tenacious with their vision, but flexible in their approach to achieving it. .
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If Data is the New Currency, Where Does Law and Regulation Fit In? (Michael Clark - Head of Digital Transformation & Futurist, Mastercard)
04/11/2024
If Data is the New Currency, Where Does Law and Regulation Fit In? (Michael Clark - Head of Digital Transformation & Futurist, Mastercard)
This episode is a conversation with He discusses his upcoming book "Data Revolution, The New Currency of You" and what he believes will be a new paradigm in data ownership–that we will actually own our own data and benefit from its value. He also examines what role the law and regulation should play in it. Michael and many others like him, believe that data is going to become a new currency and that to date, we have overlooked its value. Consumers have given up most of their control and access to this value because we have been too focused on what we were getting in exchange its use –i.e. The software tools we use. Michael is well suited to write a book about the value of data. He has long worked in banking and spent a lot of time in the which, among other things, is a practice that provides third-party financial service providers open access to consumer banking information through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs). For consumers to take back their data and capture its value, Michael says the focus needs to broaden from data privacy and also onto security, ethics, and bias in data usage He says it is going to also take a new way of thinking–specifically more cooperation between regulators and the tech industry to effectively manage and leverage the tech fairly. Michael also believes that the use of AI will play a big role in data management going forward because there is so much data, it will continue to grow and AI is the only way we are going to be able to understand what data tells us and harness its value.
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Colin Levy Discusses His New Book The Legal Tech Ecosystem & the Skills Needed to Succeed in Legal Tech
03/28/2024
Colin Levy Discusses His New Book The Legal Tech Ecosystem & the Skills Needed to Succeed in Legal Tech
In this episode Colin Levy shares insights from his new book, , his journey into legal tech, and his role at contract lifecycle management company, as Head of Legal and Chief Evangelist. Conversation highlights: Colin’s journey into legal tech: Colin shares how he first got into legal tech during his time as a paralegal at a big law firm in New York, his decision to work for a year before attending law school and his choice to work in an in-house legal department after graduation. Colin's role at Malbek: As the Director of Legal and the Chief Evangelist at Malbek, Colin's day-to-day tasks vary from traditional legal work to writing blog posts, participating in webinars, attending events, and assisting with marketing and sales efforts. The Legal Tech Ecosystem: Colin talks about his new book, which serves as an accessible, non-technical introduction to the world of legal tech. The book combines Colin's experiences and learnings with anecdotes and quotes from other legal tech leaders. Skills needed in legal tech: Colin emphasizes the importance of understanding data, meeting people where they are, and having a clear understanding of why you want to learn about legal tech. He also talks about the need for openness to risk, experimentation, and discomfort. Legal tech vs. legal innovation: Colin clarifies that legal tech is not just about AI and robots, it can be more mundane but still helpful tools like billing software. The focus should be on making people's lives easier and increasing productivity and efficiency. .
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Professor Tonya Evans (Penn State Dickinson Law) Demystifies Crypto and Debunks Blockchain Myths
03/14/2024
Professor Tonya Evans (Penn State Dickinson Law) Demystifies Crypto and Debunks Blockchain Myths
visits Technically Legal to talk about her book . Professor Evans has pretty much held every job in legal from judicial clerk, to Big Law lawyer and now legal educator. She is also the host of the which focuses on Web3 and how it will impact the future of work, wealth and creativity. In this episode, Professor Evans talks about her journey from risk averse crypto doubter to blockchain believer. She emphasizes the importance of lawyers staying ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving world of technology and the need for more education and awareness around crypto and blockchain, not only in law schools but also in other professional fields.To those ends, she founded , a platform designed for non-technologists to understand the new digital economy. Professor Evans’ book, Digital Money Demystified, is an excellent starting point for anyone wanting to learn more about cryptocurrencies. The book explains blockchain concepts in plain language and debunks many myths about crypto. Such as: Myth: Crypto is Mainly for Criminals. Fact: Blockchain data analysis firm Chainanalysis estimates that only .24 of all crypto transactions in 2022 were for illicit purposes. Myth: Crypto is untraceable. Fact: Blockchain transactions are pseudonymous, but, if recorded on an open blockchain, such as bitcoin, they are transparent and available to anyone to view.. Myth: Crypto is terrible for the environment. Fact: Not all blockchains are energy guzzlers, especially those based on proof of stake validation and it should not be overlooked that the energy consumed by traditional financial markets is much greater. Professor Evans also explains the need for clear crypto regulation and the risk of the United States falling behind if the regulatory environment is not clarified. Learn more about
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Will This Legal Tech Startup Kill the Billable Hour and Bring Transparency to Legal Billing? (Scott & Digby Leigh - AltFee)
02/29/2024
Will This Legal Tech Startup Kill the Billable Hour and Bring Transparency to Legal Billing? (Scott & Digby Leigh - AltFee)
Despite much ballyhoo and countless articles about them, alternative fee arrangements, or AFAs, have yet to gain widespread traction and the billable hour still reigns supreme for legal billing. Enter the Leigh brothers, Scott and Digby, and their new legal tech startup, . The company’s stated goal is encouraging legal professionals to break free of hourly pricing and move to AFAs by using the app to help scope and price legal projects. The brothers point out that the traditional billable hour pricing model doesn't provide certainty for clients and that AFAs will become more important with increasing use of AI which will likely reduce billable hours. They explain how Altfee offers a solution by providing a foundation for law firms to operate on an alternative fee model. The app helps users scope, price and audit their fees. Scott and Digby also delve into the concept of 'value billing', explaining that it involves charging fees based on the value of the service provided to the client, rather than strictly on the time spent. They underline the importance of taking both task-based considerations and value-based considerations into account while pricing. . Things We Talk About in this Episode Episode Credits Editing and Production: Grant Blackstock Theme Music:
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How a Start-Up’s Legal Bills Led to Spellbook, an AI Co-Pilot for Transactional Lawyers (Scott Stevenson – Co-Founder)
02/15/2024
How a Start-Up’s Legal Bills Led to Spellbook, an AI Co-Pilot for Transactional Lawyers (Scott Stevenson – Co-Founder)
This episode is a conversation with Spellbook co-founder Scott Stevenson about intersection of technology and creativity. Spellbook is a AI contract co-pilot for transactional lawyers that plugs into Microsoft Word. Despite founding a legal technology company, Scott is not a lawyer but is computer engineer by training. As a kid Scott was into video games and in fourth grade he talked his parents into getting him a computer because he wanted to figure out how to create them. By middle school he was building websites and eventually landed an internship at Electronic Arts. Scott is also interested in electronic music and he launched his first start up, Mune, with a music professor, to create a whole new musical instrument that combined the power of digital music with an acoustic instrument. It was during his time at Mune that Scott started to think about building a legal tech company. After he got his first legal bill he figured there might be a more efficient and less expensive way to do legal work. So he and lawyer buddy founded Rally, a document automation and templating engine for law firms which later begat Spellbook, but he funny thing about Spellbook, it was originally conceived as a marketing idea to generate leads for Rally.
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Using Agile Project Management Methodology to ID Bottlenecks and Streamline Legal Workflows (John Grant, The Agile Attorney)
02/01/2024
Using Agile Project Management Methodology to ID Bottlenecks and Streamline Legal Workflows (John Grant, The Agile Attorney)
John Grant talks about how legal teams can adopt Agile and Kanban project management methodologies to optimize workflows, correct bottlenecks and increase client satisfaction. John is a lawyer and the founder of The Agile Attorney consultancy. As John explains, the traditional project management method is waterfall. A technique often used by technology companies, involving a sequential approach where each stage is dependent on the completion of the previous one. But John is a proponent of the newer, Agile methodology, which emerged from the software development community. It is a flexible approach where tasks are broken down into small increments with minimal planning, and processes are iterative. Agile is one of John’s favorites because he believes it is well suited for legal work. John also talks about the value of a Kanban board, a visual tool used to manage work at various stages of a process. It typically includes columns such as “To Do,” “Doing,” and “Done”. So why is he so into project management methodologies? Because despite coming from a long line of lawyers, before he went to law school, he first worked in tech.
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How a Visual Impairment Led to the Founding of a Contract Drafting Software Company (Feargus MacDaeid, Co-Founder of Definely)
01/18/2024
How a Visual Impairment Led to the Founding of a Contract Drafting Software Company (Feargus MacDaeid, Co-Founder of Definely)
At an early age, Feargus MacDaeid, the founder of legal tech company , was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, which is a rare eye disease that breaks down cells in the retina slowly over time causing vision loss. Until he got to college to study computer science, Feargus’ vision was decent, but at university, it began to deteriorate and eventually went blind. After college he landed a couple of tech jobs but ultimately decided to go to law school. After law school, Feargus took jobs at two Magic Circle Firms in London, Allen & Overy and Freshfields where he was working on mergers and acquisitions. Because of his visual impairment, Feargus had to develop hacks in the software he used, like custom keyboard shortcuts, to get his job done. He met his Definely co-founder, , at Freshfields when the two of them were working on the same deal. As Feargus explains it, his soon to be co-founder was the first colleague that actually took an interest in how Feargus accomplished his work and marveled that he was getting it done. The two figured there had to be a better way for Feargus to work on contracts, but the duo figured out pretty quickly there really wasn’t and Definely was born. Definely is a suite of tools that helps lawyers accomplish the tedious tasks relating to the drafting of contracts. As the company describes it, they create legal tech solutions to free lawyers from frustrating, repetitive tasks, so they can get back to the work that matters.
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How to Include Design Thinking and Project Management Principles in Legal Work (Katherine Porter, The Resourceful Lawyer)
01/04/2024
How to Include Design Thinking and Project Management Principles in Legal Work (Katherine Porter, The Resourceful Lawyer)
This episode is a conversation with Katherine Porter about her journey from practicing law to founding her own company, Resourceful Lawyer which is a consultancy helping legal teams implement project management techniques into their legal work. Katherine discusses her unique approach to problem-solving in the legal field, which involves design thinking and project management principles. Katherine explains the importance of lawyers understanding client needs, the process of workflow mapping, and the challenges of implementing new processes in law firms. Katherine also emphasizes that empathy and understanding the client journey is a must when designing effective legal services. In the end, she also gives some real world tips about where to begin working in project management principles into legal practice.
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Best of 2023: Copyright Law & Artificial Intelligence: Is Training AI With Other’s Data Fair Use – Professor Mark Lemley (Stanford Law)
12/28/2023
Best of 2023: Copyright Law & Artificial Intelligence: Is Training AI With Other’s Data Fair Use – Professor Mark Lemley (Stanford Law)
As we close out 2023, we are replaying some of our most listened to episodes. Not surprisingly, AI was the hot topic this year and as its acceptance grows, so to tough questions, like whether AI developers need permission to use copyrighted works and other IP before using it to train artificial intelligence? In a very popular episode, Professor Mark Lemley of Stanford explained whey he does not think so because he believes that copyrighted works used to train AI fall should under the fair use exception to copyright law. Professor Lemley is the Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology, an author of seven books and more than 130 articles on intellectual property, antitrust and related areas of the law. He is also a co-founder of Lex Machina and most recently of Counsel to Lex Lumina, a boutique IP law firm. Professor Lemley argues that AI companies should be permitted to use copyrighted works to train AI models without first getting permission from owners because of the benefits AI will yield and the impossibility of tracking down millions of copyright owners to get permission. He also believes that it is a fair use for AI developers to use works protected by intellectual property laws to train artificial intelligence models because such a use is transformative and the more data available to the AI, the more accurate it will be.
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Best of 2023: On Taking Typing out of Litigation (Automating Legal Drafting with AI) Nathan Walter (CEO Briefpoint)
12/22/2023
Best of 2023: On Taking Typing out of Litigation (Automating Legal Drafting with AI) Nathan Walter (CEO Briefpoint)
In one of 2023's most listened to episodes, Nathan Walter, founder of , joins Technically Legal to explain how his company is using technology and artificial intelligence to automate routine legal drafting tasks. A good portion of lawyers’ time and those helping them is copying or re-using prior work. This is especially true in litigation and especially in discovery. Thankfully more and more apps have been developed that help automate the creation of legal documents. Historically, these programs have been form based and users populated documents by selecting choices from a menu. But with advances in generative AI maybe form based software is unneeded. That’s what Briefpoint is banking on. Briefpoint uses tech to analyze legal documents, like interrogatories and document requests, and then generates preliminary responses to give legal teams a head start on drafting. As Nathan explains, if more legal processes are automated and augmented with AI, it will bring legal fees down and free up lawyers to focus on the complicated stuff rather than cutting and pasting prior work product.
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Best of 2023: Will Generative AI Expedite Legal Tech Adoption? (Zach Abramowitz – Killer Whale Strategies)
12/15/2023
Best of 2023: Will Generative AI Expedite Legal Tech Adoption? (Zach Abramowitz – Killer Whale Strategies)
In the most listened to episode of 2023, Zach Abramowitz makes a on Technically Legal to talk generative AI (like ) and its impact on legal technology adoption. Zach is a keen observer of legal tech and its trends. If you want to keep tabs on up and coming tech geared for legal, Zach is a good person to follow. He started is career at a large New York law firm where he worked on mergers and acquisitions. From there he launched his own tech company called Reply All and his latest venture, , is a consultancy that works with law firms and legal departments to find and utilize technology to disrupt the way traditional legal work is done. Zach has always been a strong proponent of using artificial intelligence in the legal industry, but after the release of ChatGPT and the growth of other generative AI platforms, he believes it might be the catalyst that finally expedites legal tech adoption. Zach explains why he thinks generative AI could make legal services cheaper, less profitable for service providers and on a timeline that is faster than most might think.
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The Future of Mediation, Dispute Resolution and the Law in a Web3 World (Mitch Jackson, Lawyer/Mediator)
12/07/2023
The Future of Mediation, Dispute Resolution and the Law in a Web3 World (Mitch Jackson, Lawyer/Mediator)
In this episode, trial attorney, mediator and Web3 believer Mitch Jackson talks about the future of mediation, dispute resolution and the law in a Web3 world. Mitch is a long time litigator and a name partner at Orange County, California based Jackson and Wilson. He also maintains a busy mediation practice and is passionate about the positive impact new technologies can have on the practice of law. Mitch talks about how he uses AI to facilitate mediations and his use of virtual reality to engage with clients in the metaverse. He gives a glimpse of what dispute resolution could look like in the future. He thinks cases might converted into digital files that parties interact with on a blockchain and that AI could be consulted about potential resolutions.
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Crypto Lawyer Nelson Rosario on the Legal, Regulatory and Political Implications of Blockchain Technology (Replay)
11/23/2023
Crypto Lawyer Nelson Rosario on the Legal, Regulatory and Political Implications of Blockchain Technology (Replay)
Crypto lawyer Nelson Rosario discuses the legal, regulatory and political landscape of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. We also get an update from TurnSignl CEO Jazz Hampton about his company’s progress since he was . Nelson started out as an intellectual property lawyer but caught the crypto bug in law school. His boutique law firm Rosario Tech Law, focuses on servicing crypto and emerging technology companies that are working to change in the way we all interact with each other and deal with privacy and power. Although IP is still a significant part of his practice, Nelson’s firm provides those companies with strategic counseling, general outside services and assistance with privacy issues. Before he went to law school he was an election official in Florida and worked to streamline voter registration rolls and how his county processed absentee ballots. Nelson discusses the potential impact blockchain technology may or may not have on elections, the political and regulatory ramifications of the recent U.S. sanctions against crypto “mixer” Tornado Cash and how blockchain technology might change certain areas of the law.
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Don’t Believe the Hype? A More Practical View of Using AI in Legal (Stephen Embry – TechLaw Crossroads)
11/09/2023
Don’t Believe the Hype? A More Practical View of Using AI in Legal (Stephen Embry – TechLaw Crossroads)
This episode is conversation with attorney and legal tech aficionado Stephen Embry. He is also the man behind the blog which is a great resource for practical and real world insight about legal tech and how technology is impacting the practice of law. Stephen discusses his journey from practicing law to becoming a technology advisor for legal professionals and firms. Embry emphasizes that good lawyers will embrace artificial intelligence technology to increase efficiency and serve their clients better, leaving more time for strategic thinking and advisory roles. But, he also points out that the legal market is highly segmented, with different firms adopting technology at varying paces. While some law firms are proactively embracing AI, he questions whether some of the claims are more hype than reality. Stephen also discusses the potential of AI handling back-office tasks in law firms, reducing overhead and freeing up time for legal professionals. He also suggests that a shift from hourly billing to task-based billing could allow law firms to benefit from AI’s efficiency. However, he noted that the adoption of AI in law firms largely depends on the clients’ demand and the industry’s readiness to depart from traditional billing methods. Despite the challenges, Embry remains optimistic about the transformative role of AI in the legal field.
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Should AI and Humans be Treated the Same Under the Law--Under a "Reasonable Robot" Standard? (Ryan Abbott - UCLA)
10/26/2023
Should AI and Humans be Treated the Same Under the Law--Under a "Reasonable Robot" Standard? (Ryan Abbott - UCLA)
If a human uses artificial intelligence to invent something, should the invention be patentable? If a driverless car injures a pedestrian, should the AI driver be held to a negligence standard as humans would? Or should courts apply the strict liability used for product defects? What if AI steals money from a bank account? Should it be held to the same standard as a human under criminal law? All interesting questions and the subject of a book called the Reasonable Robot by this episode’s guest Ryan Abbott. In the book, Abbott argues that laws should be AI neutral and that the acts of artificial intelligence should not be judged differently than humans’. He calls this a “reasonable robot” standard. The book posits that inventions created by AI should be entitled to protection under intellectual property laws and, if AI causes harm, maybe it too should be judged under the same standard as a human. Abbott argues further that if AI is treated differently under the law, it may hamper innovation. Ryan is not often idle. He has dual degrees in medicine and law. He has practiced both and also worked in bio-pharmaceuticals. He moved into IP law, and nowadays, even though he still practices, he is a professor. He teaches at the UCLA Medical School. He is also a mediator and arbitrator and Co-Chair of the AI Subcommittee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA).
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Will DAOs Become the New LLC?; or What Legal Professionals Should Know About DAOs (Nick Rishwain, Cougar DAO / Experts.com)
10/12/2023
Will DAOs Become the New LLC?; or What Legal Professionals Should Know About DAOs (Nick Rishwain, Cougar DAO / Experts.com)
In this episode Nick Rishwain discusses decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Nick, a participant in several DAOs including Cougar DAO and TaterDAO, shares insights into the world of DAOs and their unique features. A DAO is a type of organization that operates on a blockchain, where members own tokens instead of shares and use these tokens to vote on actions the DAO will take. DAOs aim to achieve a common goal without relying on traditional business entity structures. However, DAOs can be complex and present legal challenges due to their decentralized and distributed nature. Nick explains that while DAOs have gained popularity in the crypto and blockchain space, it’s important to consider the legal implications and potential liabilities associated with participating in a DAO. He emphasizes the need for careful evaluation and choosing the right DAO legal structure, such as forming an LLC, to mitigate risks. Nick also discusses LexDAO, a legal engineering guild that fosters collaboration between lawyers, engineers, and other professionals interested in improving the legal system through code and software. LexDAO provides resources, community engagement, and advocacy for legal innovation. The podcast episode concludes with Nick sharing his experience with CougarDAO, formed to acquire real estate–specifically Cougar Island in Idaho. That deal did not come to fruition so the DAO bought property in Colorado, Memphis and most recently in Arizona. Because DAO legal frameworks are still in their infancy, Cougar Dao operates as a member-managed LLC with a code deference agreement that links the LLC’s activities to a DAO on the Kali platform. Overall, the discussion provides valuable insights into the world of DAOs, their potential benefits, and the legal considerations associated with participating in these decentralized organizations.
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Where to Begin With Data Governance Frameworks and How Software Can Help (Brandon Wiebe, GC & Head of Privacy, Transcend)
09/28/2023
Where to Begin With Data Governance Frameworks and How Software Can Help (Brandon Wiebe, GC & Head of Privacy, Transcend)
Brandon Wiebe, General Counsel and Head of Privacy at Transcend, offers tips about implementing data governance frameworks and how to utilize software in the process. Brandon’s company is a privacy platform that helps legal and compliance teams automate data compliance tasks. Brandon explains that most data privacy laws, like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU and U.S. state laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), generally require similar things of companies: notice at the time of customer data collection implementation of data security obligations that companies have a lawful basis for collecting information and that use of the information is consistent with the companies stated purpose for collecting it individuals have the right to opt out of data sale or sharing. Despite the many data privacy laws already enacted and new ones on the horizon, Brandon is quick to emphasize that data privacy teams should not let perfect be the enemy of good. They must get started somewhere in their data privacy policy journey. He says the best place to start is an organizational data map detailing all the places in a company’s tech stack holding data subject to privacy regulations. Once a company has its data mapped, it can more easily comply with customer requests for information as permitted under data privacy laws and can also ensure it is not keeping more data than needed. Brandon also touches on why AI can complicate data privacy efforts, but also notes that artificial intelligence can also assist with data privacy efforts.
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Why the FTC’s YOLO Antitrust Strategy Against Amazon May Not Actually Be Good for Competition (Adam Kovacevich – CEO Chamber of Progress)
09/14/2023
Why the FTC’s YOLO Antitrust Strategy Against Amazon May Not Actually Be Good for Competition (Adam Kovacevich – CEO Chamber of Progress)
tlpodcast.com/why-the-ftcs-yolo-antitrust-strategy-against-amazon-may-not-actually-be-good-for-competition-adam-kovacevich-ceo-chamber-of-progress/Adam Kovacevich, the founder and CEO of the Chamber of Progress, explains why he thinks the United States Federal Trade Commission’s recent efforts to curb what it believes to be anti-competitive activity by large tech companies may not actually foster competition and could impact innovation. Most recently the FTC has targeted Amazon to reign in what the FTC perceives to be anti-competitive power over online sales and fulfillment. The Chamber of Progress describes itself as a new tech industry coalition devoted to a progressive society, economy, workforce, and consumer climate. The organization promotes public policies that “build a fairer, more inclusive country in which all people benefit from technological leaps.” The New York Times describes it as “one of the most powerful tech lobby groups”. Adam and the Chamber of Progress believe that the FTC’s change in philosophy under its current chairperson, Lina Kahn, could stifle technology innovation and actually harm consumers and sellers on the Amazon Marketplace. Under Chairperson Kahn, the FTC’s focus is less on the impact a company’s market power has on the consumer (i.e. pricing) and more on the structural and market power tech companies have over their respective industries. Prior to founding the Chamber of Progress, Adam worked at Google for many years as a Senior Director for the company’s US Policy strategy. After Google he took a similar role at Lime-the e-bike and scooter company. Right out of college he was a staffer for his local congressman and ultimhttps://tlpodcast.com/?p=6857ately handed press duties for Senator Joe Lieberman.https://tlpodcast.com/?p=6857
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How Foundation AI is Harnessing Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision to Classify and File Documents for Law Firms (Vivek Rao / Co-Founder & CEO)
08/31/2023
How Foundation AI is Harnessing Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision to Classify and File Documents for Law Firms (Vivek Rao / Co-Founder & CEO)
Vivek Rao, talks about his path from workers compensation attorney to co-founder and CEO of , an app that automates the manual process of collecting, categorizing and filing documents and unstructured data. The software is used by law firms and insurance companies and utilizes a combination of artificial intelligence, optical character recognition (OCR) and computer vision to process incoming documents and email by type, time-sensitivity, and matter or claim. Vivek, a native of Los Angeles, figured he would get into entertainment law, but ended up as a lawyer working in real estate and finance. Later on, he started helping a workers compensation firm handle case files. In that role, he saw an opportunity to use AI and natural language processing (NLP) to automate the manual work of processing and filing the thousands of documents his firm received every week. After the acquisition of a medical AI company he represented as corporate counsel, Vivek started wondering if a similar technology could be employed in the legal and insurance industries and after some ideation, Foundation AI was born.
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Why Effective Legal Operations Management is Good for Business and Frees Up Lawyers to Practice Law (Stephanie Corey & Liz Lugones – UpLevel Ops)
08/17/2023
Why Effective Legal Operations Management is Good for Business and Frees Up Lawyers to Practice Law (Stephanie Corey & Liz Lugones – UpLevel Ops)
https://tlpodcast.com/why-effective-legal-operations-management-is-good-for-business-and-frees-up-lawyers-to-practice-law-stephanie-corey-liz-lugones-uplevel-ops/UpLevel Ops Founder Stephanie Corey and COO Liz Lugones visit the podcast to tell us why a good legal operations program is a crucial to managing the business side of law, so lawyers can focus on practicing law. Stephanie and Liz break down what legal ops is and what it entails. They say it boils down to managing the business aspects of law–from the people and processes to the technology used. Stephanie and Liz also fill us on why the right people in the right roles improves efficiency and productivity and how well-defined processes can help ensure that everyone knows what they need to do and when. Liz and Stephanie also emphasize that organizations just can’t just throw tech at a problem to fix it. To make any improvement in legal operations, whether it be adding technology or tweaking a process, the first step is understanding the current state of what is being improved, specific legal department needs and the needs of the clients it serves. They explain why legal ops is not not a one-size-fits-all approach, and that tailoring solutions is crucial. To figure out what their clients need, UpLevel uses thorough assessments to understand the current environment of a legal department and its goals and current processes. The episode closes out with a discussion about why legal operations is an ongoing process rather than a one-time project and the importance of being ready to adapt and evolve as needs change.https://tlpodcast.com/legal-operations/
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How to Build a Low-Code Legal Tech Start Up (Chad Sakonchick – BetterLegal)
08/03/2023
How to Build a Low-Code Legal Tech Start Up (Chad Sakonchick – BetterLegal)
Chad Sakonchick is a serial entrepreneur. After a stint selling computers for Dell, he launched his first technology company: an early SaaS platform that allowed users to easily create websites. From there, he launched an app that took online orders for food truck owners and then he launched Spacesift, which he describes as Airbnb for event spaces. Spacesift did fine, but he didn’t find startup traction until a few years ago when he convinced a lawyer buddy to let him automate the creation of LLC documents. Using automation apps like Zapier, project management software like Asana and online form apps like Webmerge, Chad built the automation and his friend loved it. It worked so well, the two decided to launch BetterLegal and while they have graduated to a more sophisticated backend, as we will hear, they are still building the company on a low/no-code philosophy using platforms like Bubble. After hearing Chad’s backstory, you would think he most certainly would end up pursuing a career in law. While in college at the University of Texas he worked as a paralegal at his dad’s law firm. After that, he landed a job with an early legal tech company that digitized deposition transcripts. But alas, his heart was not in pursuing a career as a lawyer. His passion is entrepreneurship.
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The Tech Stack Law Firms and Legal Professionals Need to Succeed (Adriana Linares – LawTech Partners)
07/19/2023
The Tech Stack Law Firms and Legal Professionals Need to Succeed (Adriana Linares – LawTech Partners)
Legal technology guru Adriana Linares visits Technically Legal to discuss the the tech and software law firms (and all legal teams really) should be using to run a successful legal practice. Adriana is a legal tech OG. Fresh out of college in the late 90s, a large Florida law firm hired her to train its lawyers on how to use technology and to help the firm figure out what tech to buy. Fast forward to the early 2000s, and she started her consultancy LawTech Partners to help legal professionals use technology to maximize their skills, run profitable businesses, and deliver great client service. At a minimum Adriana advises that lawyers and their teams utilize at least three specific pieces of software: 1) A productivity suite like Microsoft 365; 2) a PDF tool; and 3) case management software. Adriana explains the differences between case management software, document management platforms, and practice management software. She also touches on the importance of document assembly software and how to maximize the use of data captured during the various stages of a legal matter. She closes out the discussion explaining why many in legal are missing out when they don’t use CRMs–Client and Customer Relationship Management platforms.
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Why Legal Teams Should be Foxes (Agile) and Not Hedgehogs (Defensive) – Richard Jolly (Northwestern University/Stokes Jolly)
07/06/2023
Why Legal Teams Should be Foxes (Agile) and Not Hedgehogs (Defensive) – Richard Jolly (Northwestern University/Stokes Jolly)
Professor Richard Jolly of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a co-founder of the Stokes Jolly consultancy visits Technically Legal to discuss the importance of motivating legal organizations to change even when they are resistant to do so. Professor Jolly also shares stories from his experiences as a chef and a psychotherapist and explains how he draws upon them in his organizational and executive consulting practice. Professor Jolly also discusses the common psychological make-up of lawyers such as high skepticism and frequent reluctance towards change. These traits remind him of an essay by Philosopher Isaiah Berlin called the Hedgehog and the Fox, which is a reference to an idea from the Greek poet Archilochus: “a fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one big thing”. Applying it to the legal profession, Professor Jolly explains that legal subject matter experts are like hedgehogs with deep expertise in one area, but in a rapidly changing world, the ability to adapt like a fox is increasingly important. Traditional law firms are full of hedgehogs, but organizations such as startups lean more toward foxes because they are better at adapting. The pandemic has accelerated the pace of change, and law firms need to be open to these changes to survive and thrive. Along those lines, Professor Jolly points out that education and training of young lawyers is more important now because of remote work and the new generation of lawyers want to practice differently than their older colleagues. Specifically, his research has shown that most new lawyers do not plan on spending a whole career at a single law firm. He also points out that law firms may have to adapt to the new reality that more work may have to be done by partners because associates are increasingly harder to come by.
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How to Land That In-House Counsel Job at a Tech Company (Emily Witt – Whistler Partners)
06/22/2023
How to Land That In-House Counsel Job at a Tech Company (Emily Witt – Whistler Partners)
In this episode, Emily Witt discusses how to transition from law firm life to in-house legal work in the tech industry. Emily is a legal recruiter with Whistler Partners specializing in health law, life sciences and tech. She is also a podcaster and hosts Beyond the Legal Lens which focuses on career advancement and how to get jobs in health law and tech. Before she joined Whistler Partners, Emily worked as a recruiter for the Wachtell Lipton law firm in New York, but she did not have aspirations to get into legal recruiting right out of college. Her career path took some twists and turns. After receiving an English degree from Colgate, she thought she wanted to be a journalist, but ended up finding a career in publishing. However, her publishing stint ended when she headed out on a European vacation. When she came back, Emily started trying to figure out what she wanted to do professionally. Around this time, she found a new rock climbing partner who was a lawyer at a large New York law firm. Her climbing partner suggested she look into legal recruiting. The twists and turns of Emily’s career ultimately informs the advice she gives to candidates searching for a job with a tech company after working at a law firm or in a different industry. She explains that to find a job with the legal department at a tech company, you need to be flexible. Specifically, she says you need to be willing to jump to a different firm if you are not getting the type of experience that tech startups are looking for. She also says it is important to work for a firm that is already servicing technology companies. Emily also recommends networking through LinkedIn, social media, and listening to relevant podcasts to find an in with a tech company.
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Copyright Law & Artificial Intelligence: Is Training AI With Other’s Data Fair Use – Professor Mark Lemley (Stanford Law)
06/08/2023
Copyright Law & Artificial Intelligence: Is Training AI With Other’s Data Fair Use – Professor Mark Lemley (Stanford Law)
Do AI developers need permission to use copyrighted works and other IP before using it to train artificial intelligence? Professor Mark Lemley of Stanford does not think so. He believes using copyrighted works to train AI should fall under the fair use exception to copyright law. Professor Lemley is the Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology, an author of seven books and more than 130 articles on intellectual property, antitrust and related areas of the law. He is also a co-founder of Lex Machina and most recently Of Counsel to Lex Lumina, a boutique IP law firm. Professor Lemley argues that AI companies should be permitted to use copyrighted works to train AI models without first getting permission from owners because of the benefits AI will yield and the impossibility of tracking down millions of copyright owners to get permission. He also believes that it is a fair use for AI developers to use works protected by intellectual property laws to train artificial intelligence models because such a use is transformative and the more data available to the AI, the more accurate it will be.
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How (Legal) Organizations can Achieve Thoughtful Adoption of New Technology and Innovation (Erik Bermudez VP of Strategic Partnerships – Filevine)
05/25/2023
How (Legal) Organizations can Achieve Thoughtful Adoption of New Technology and Innovation (Erik Bermudez VP of Strategic Partnerships – Filevine)
Erik Bermudez, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for legal practice management software Filevine, visits the podcast to discuss the importance of having an internal champion to drive software adoption within an organization, as well as ongoing training and metrics tracking to ensure the software is being used effectively. Erik also emphasizes that successful implementation of new technology requires top management’s understanding of the problem and pain points that the software is solving. Without buy in from the top, the odds are stacked against successful adoption.
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Innovation as a Team Sport: The Importance of Collaboration in Legal Teams (Dr. Heidi Gardner - Harvard Law / School of Business)
05/11/2023
Innovation as a Team Sport: The Importance of Collaboration in Legal Teams (Dr. Heidi Gardner - Harvard Law / School of Business)
Dr. Heidi Gardner of the Harvard Business and Law Schools joins the podcast to talk about about latest book Smarter Collaboration and the importance of collaboration in legal teams and in all organizations generally. Smarter Collaboration is Dr. Gardner’s second book and a follow up to Smart Collaboration: How Professionals and Their Firms Succeed by Breaking Down Silos. Both books are helpful to those in law because much of Dr. Gardner’s research is based on the many years she studied collaboration in professional service firms, including many law firms. Why is collaboration across different disciplines and business units important? As Dr. Gardner explains, most importantly, it creates better client outcomes which improve revenues and profits. But collaboration doesn’t just help make clients happy and improve the bottom line, it also fosters diversity and reduces enterprise risk. Dr. Gardner has cold hard data that supports her conclusions: Back in the 1970s, 60% of US patents were awarded to individual inventors. Nowadays, that numbers has reversed. The vast majority of patents are issued to teams and the more diverse the backgrounds of those teams, the more successful their innovation.
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Using Data Science for Judicial Analytics (Dan Rabinowitz, Founder, Pre-Dicta)
04/27/2023
Using Data Science for Judicial Analytics (Dan Rabinowitz, Founder, Pre-Dicta)
A conversation with former Big-Law lawyer turned tech entrepreneur, Dan Rabinowitz. After stints with law firms, the Department of Justice and time as general counsel, Dan tells us how all of that led to the founding of Pre/Dicta. Pre/Dicta is an app that uses data science to tackle judicial analytics, but unlike other similar software, Pre/Dicta does not just look at a judge’s opinions and track record, but also looks at other factors that influence court opinions. The app looks into data like the judge’s net worth, political affiliation, education, work experience, and other biographical data points. You may have read about Pre/Dicta recently in the legal tech press because it acquired Gavelytics–another judicial analytics company founded by Rick Merrill–who was a guest on the show way back in 2018. Pre/Dicta originally focused on federal courts, but by joining forces with Gavelytics the company acquired a trove of info about state court judges and opinions.
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Why Attorneys Should be “Crypto-Literate” and the Evolving Crypto Regulatory Environment (Hailey Lennon & Preston Byrne – Brown Rudnick)
04/13/2023
Why Attorneys Should be “Crypto-Literate” and the Evolving Crypto Regulatory Environment (Hailey Lennon & Preston Byrne – Brown Rudnick)
In this episode, lawyers Hailey Lennon and Preston Byrne discuss the current state of crypto regulation in the US and explain why being “crypto literate” will benefit lawyers. Hailey and Preston practice with Brown Rudnick’s Digital Commerce group. Hailey counsels fintech and crypto companies on regulatory requirements and Preston advises technology companies on corporate and commercial law issues. Both Hailey and Preston have deep crypto experience from both private practice and also as in-house counsel for crypto and blockchain companies. This episode touches on the SEC’s enforcement actions against crypto players and the importance of decentralized tools. They also discuss the potential loss of talent and innovation in the US due to lack of guidance and the importance (and difficulty) of educating others about the industry. The duo also explain why it is important for lawyers in many practice areas to be “crypto literate” and possess a working knowledge of blockchain concepts. They point out that crypto is not a legal discipline, but is a market sector needing the same type of legal work other businesses do.
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