Open Door with Somya Kaushik

Ed Walters has lived several lives: White House speechwriter (he wrote the Presidential Medal of Freedom citations for Ella Fitzgerald and Johnny Carson), BigLaw lawyer, startup founder, law professor, and now Vice President of Legal Innovation & Strategy at Clio.

In 1999, Ed left BigLaw to take on the legal research duopoly. Twenty-five years, a billion documents, and the largest deal in legal tech history later, that bet paid off.

In the first episode of Open Door, Somya Kaushik and Ed trace the pivots that made it all possible, and why the business of law and the practice of law can no longer be innovated apart. We get into:

• Why law still runs on a Blockbuster model in a Netflix world
• Why the billable hour is living on borrowed time
• How AI could finally reach the people the law leaves behind
• Whether a robot lawyer will ever argue in a courtroom

Fair warning: 50 minutes with Ed was nowhere near enough time, so don't be surprised if this door swings open a second time.

Open Door with Somya Kaushik is a podcast from Checkbox about the people and ideas reshaping the legal profession.

Open Door is a podcast for general counsel, chief legal officers, and legal ops leaders navigating change. Hosted by Somya Kaushik, Chief Legal Officer at Checkbox, each episode is an honest conversation about career pivots, fear, identity, and where the legal profession goes next. No scripts. No polished talking points.