Daily Matters: The changing face of the legal industry

Wrapping up Access to Justice Week is Attorney at Law Leslie Ginzel, Chief of Holistic Services at the Harris County Public Defender’s Office in Houston, Texas. Formerly the Program Director of Beacon Law—an organization that champions justice for homeless, low-income individuals and works to remedy the conditions that burden and marginalize them—Leslie has spent her career fighting to increase access to justice for vulnerable populations.

In this episode, Leslie gives an open and honest interview about the sobering state of America’s justice system. She talks to Jack Newton about:

• How the cards are stacked against people who need access to justice but struggle to obtain it.
• The dire need for more and better legal services.
• Why systemic change is necessary—and what legal professionals can start doing to make an impact.

To learn more about Leslie’s work with Beacon Law and how the organization uses Clio Manage to fulfill its mission, read about it here.

Attorney Leslie S. Ginzel is Chief of Holistic Services at the Harris County Public Defender’s Office in Houston, Texas. She works to expand access to legal and social services to clients of the Public Defender's Office while also working to remedy the systems that burden and marginalize them. She aims to accomplish this through direct services, legislative, and local advocacy. The primary legal areas to be addressed are access to safe and affordable housing, access to health benefits and human services, access to license restoration, and criminal record sealing relief.

Previously, Leslie was the Program Director at Beacon Law (formerly the Cathedral Justice Project), which champions equal justice for homeless, low-income individuals. In collaboration with community partners, Beacon Law works to identify and address the causes and effects of poverty and inequality.

With the coronavirus crisis and the death of George Floyd, then-New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) President Hank Greenberg was at the front lines of what he calls a “tipping point” for the American justice system. In this powerful 50th episode of Daily Matters, Hank talks frankly about the need for legal to finally address systemic inequities—not only in policing, but also in access to justice.

During a riveting and important conversation, Hank and Clio CEO Jack Newton discuss:

• The killings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, and the dire need for change
• What the legal system must do to provide adequate access to justice
• How COVID-19 changed the legal system, in many ways for the better
• How the NYSBA, Clio, and Paladin teamed up to provide pro bono services during the coronavirus crisis
• What a more just system would look like

Henry M. “Hank” Greenberg of Albany, a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, LLP, became President of the New York State Bar Association—the largest voluntary state bar association in the US—on June 1, 2019. He spent the previous year as president-elect and chair of the House of Delegates. He completed his term as president on May 31, 2020.

A former Counsel to the New York State Attorney General, General Counsel to a major New York State agency, and a federal prosecutor, Hank has handled numerous high-profile matters. He concentrates his practice on civil litigation, criminal and civil investigations, and regulatory and administrative law.

Hank is a frequent lecturer and has been published numerous times on a wide range of legal subjects, including constitutional law, administrative law, criminal procedure, trial and appellate practice, health law, legal history, and judicial philosophy.

Long before there was a pandemic, the process of jury selection was due for an upgrade. Once the coronavirus hit, creating a more agile and inclusive court system became a necessity almost overnight. As President of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), Mary McQueen is on the front lines of change in America’s state court systems—and she has witnessed a shift in how judges and courts are operating.

In this episode, Mary discusses:

• How courts can be more agile, now and in the future
• Why it’s essential for the legal industry to find new ways of problem-solving 
• Some of the major barriers to inclusion and access to justice surrounding jury selection
• How courts can make more of a difference

For more information and resources from the NCSC, visit www.ncsc.org. And to watch the example of Zoom jury selection Mary references in the interview, visit: https://youtu.be/H1XrO1nM7B8.

Mary C. McQueen has served as president of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) since August 2004. Previously, she served as Washington State Court Administrator from 1987-2004 and Director of Judicial Services for the Washington State Office of the Administrator for the Courts, 1979-1987, President of the Conference of State Court Administrators in 1995-96, and Chair of the Lawyer’s Committee of the American Bar Association/Judicial Division. She is a member of the Washington and U.S. Supreme Court Bars.   

Mary has received the American Judicature Society’s Herbert Harley Award and the NCSC Innovation in Jury Management Award. She also received the John Marshall Award in 2014, presented by the American Bar Association Judicial Division in recognition of her lifetime contributions to the improvement of the administration of justice, judicial independence, justice reform, and public awareness. Recently, Mary received the ABA Judicial Division’s Lawyers Conference 2016 Robert B. Yegge Award for Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Judicial Administration. 

For our second episode of Access to Justice week, we’re joined by Molly McDonough, an 18-year veteran of the ABA Journal, to discuss how technology can help solve the Access to Justice gap, how COVID-19 has presented some unique Access to Justice problems (and solutions), and how legal professionals and organizations can take a collaborative approach to addressing Access to Justice.  

Molly McDonough is the Owner of McDonough Media LLC and the former Managing Editor and Publisher of the ABA Journal, where she worked for 18 years. A mission-driven editor and storyteller, Molly has a passion for shepherding projects from the early creative stage, then delivering information in meaningful ways to targeted audiences. She seeks to connect readers with stories that will educate, inform decision making, and inspire action. 

As Co-founder and COO of Paladin, Kristen Sonday helps pro bono legal service providers do more work—and better work—through the intelligent use of technology. Recognized as a 2017 ABA Woman in Tech to Watch because of her access to justice work, Kristen and Paladin envision a world where everyone has access to legal and other vital services.

As the first guest on Access to Justice Week on the podcast, Kristen discusses:

• Her career journey from Princeton grad to the DOJ, international criminal affairs in Mexico and Central America, and founding Paladin
• The pro bono opportunities that COVID-19 has created
• The pro bono initiative with which Paladin and Clio are assisting the New York State Bar
• What lawyers can do to contribute to pro bono efforts

Kristen Sonday is Co-founder and COO of Paladin, which uses technology to empower pro bono lawyers and organizations. After graduating from Princeton, Kristen joined the U.S. Department of Justice, where she worked on international criminal affairs in Mexico and Central America. After the DOJ, she joined the founding team of Grouper (Y Combinator W’12), learning how to build startups and use technology to scale networks. Kristen is a Fellow for Stanford’s Latino Entrepreneur Leaders Program and a Google for Entrepreneurs Code2040 Entrepreneur-in-Residence. 

Kristen is also a 2017 ABA Woman in Tech to Watch as a result of her access to justice work through Paladin.

Having co-founded his eDiscovery software company Logikcull in 2004, CEO Andy Wilson has already navigated one economic recession while driving innovation in the legal industry. Now, his company is going 100% remote and helping its clients, some 60% of whom are lawyers, to handle eDiscovery on their own without relying on third parties.

In this episode, Andy and Clio CEO Jack Newton discuss:

• Advice for law firms and businesses that are now running remotely
• How the legal industry has fast-forwarded 10 years, in a technology sense
• Things law firms should be doing that they currently aren’t
• Why technical competence is the number one thing clients want from their lawyers
• How to make Zoom calls into a healthier activity—and avoid rattlesnakes!

Andy Wilson is Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder at Logikcull.com, which he launched in 2004 with CTO and cofounder Sheng Yang. He is the visionary behind Logikcull’s product and marketing strategy, which focuses on simplifying and democratizing the processes associated with revealing what’s in data to three simple steps: upload, search, download. He earned his B.A. in Business Information Technology from Virginia Tech.

As the CEO and Co-founder of Fastcase and an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, Ed Walters is on the cutting edge of legal innovation. His work and his classes deal with the future of legal, and during this time of transformation in the industry his opinions are as valuable as anyone’s.

In this episode, Ed talks with Jack Newton about:

• When it will make sense to go back to the office
• What Fastcase’s data reveals about the immediate impact COVID-19 has had on the legal industry
• How data can help law firms deliver services to clients in better ways
• How technology can help law firms in the short- and long-term—and why humans do have some advantages over Artificial Intelligence during the pandemic

Ed Walters is the CEO and Co-founder of Fastcase, an online legal research software company based in Washington, D.C. Ed’s leadership, Fastcase has grown to one of the world’s largest legal publishers, serving more than 900,000 subscribers from around the world. Ed is also an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches The Law of Robots, exploring the frontiers of law governing intelligent agents, autonomous machines, drones, and robots.

Before founding Fastcase, Ed worked at Covington & Burling, in Washington D.C. and Brussels, where he advised Microsoft, Merck, SmithKline, the Business Software Alliance, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League. Additionally, he worked in the White House from 1991-1993, first in the Office of Media Affairs and then in the Office of Presidential Speechwriting. He has written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, The University of Chicago Law Review, The Green Bag, and Legal Times, and has spoken extensively on legal publishing around the country. He is the editor of Data-Driven Law: Data Analytics and the New Legal Services.

After co-founding her own law firm, Kristin Tyler realized there were lots of times when outsourcing legal work made sense—and inspired by the Airbnbs and Ubers of the world, she wondered how the gig economy could make an impact in legal. So, she founded LAWCLERK: a company that enables law firms to outsource work to qualified freelance attorneys.

In this episode, Kristin describes her journey with LAWCLERK, and she discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed things from a legal outsourcing perspective—including tips for lawyers who are looking to freelance.

To access Kristin’s “Ultimate Guide to Legal Outsourcing,” click here and download the guide.

Kristin Tyler is the Co-founder of LAWCLERK, where busy attorneys go to hire freelance lawyers on demand for project work. LAWCLERK’s nationwide network has 1,400+ qualified freelance lawyers with all levels of experience and expertise.

Kristin is also a Partner at Garman Turner Gordon LLP, where her practice focuses on estate planning, probate, and guardianship law.

To learn more about LAWCLERK, visit https://www.lawclerk.legal/

This week on Daily Matters, we’re focusing on legal technology leaders who have created innovative solutions to challenges facing the legal community. First up is Noah Waisberg, Co-founder and CEO of Kira Systems, which uses Machine Learning (ML) to rapidly analyze contracts and documents.

In this episode, Noah chats with Jack Newton about:

• His company’s success story
• How ML and Artificial Intelligence (AI) help law firms improve their contract review processes
• The biggest misperceptions of AI in the legal industry
• What the future of contract review looks like

Noah Waisberg is Co-founder and CEO of the leading AI software company Kira Systems, which helps thousands of professionals accurately extract information from contracts in 20–90% less time. Previously, Noah was a corporate lawyer at Weil, Gotshal in New York City. He has been honored by Financial Times as their 2018 "Intelligent Business Market Shaper" and by ILTA as their 2016 Vendor Thought Leader; he has been included in pieces by The New York Times, The Economist, CNBC, and The Globe and Mail; and he is the author of the world's first children's book on machine learning.

Our last guest for Legal Industry Transformation Week is someone who has literally shaped the legal industry: Mark Britton, Founder and former CEO of Avvo. A unique mix of startup founder, public company executive, lawyer, and SEC regulator, Mark possesses valuable insights into the legal profession’s challenges in the present—and its opportunities for the future.

In this episode, Mark and Jack Newton discuss:

• How and why Mark started Avvo, an online marketplace for legal services
• Some of the limiting mindsets and patterns that are holding legal back
• What law firms should learn from businesspeople and companies like Uber and Amazon
• Key ways that the legal profession can innovate—and why it must

Mark is the founder and former CEO and Chairman of Avvo, an online marketplace for legal services, that was purchased by Internet Brands in 2018. For twelve years, Mark built Avvo into one of the stars of the Seattle tech ecosystem with 400+ employees and raising $132 million from venture investors. For his work at Avvo, Above the Law called him “the person who most disrupted law this decade.” 

Mark started his career as an SEC lawyer but, over his career, migrated to senior executive and board positions in companies such as Expedia and Orbitz. Mark is currently the Strategic Director of the Madrona Venture Group and the Principal at Great B-Corp. Additionally, Mark serves on the Board of Directors at Clio and the Board of Regents at Gonzaga University.