LawNext

Phil Saunders, the CEO of Relativity, has dedicated three decades to the tech sector and is currently steering the future of legal data. He discusses the pivotal changes facing the legal industry, notably the rise of generative AI and the transition to cloud solutions. Saunders reveals that starting in 2028, all new matters will be hosted on Relativity’s cloud platform. He also emphasizes customer engagement and the importance of collaboration in navigating these transformative forces shaping legal technology.

Recently, legal technology company SurePoint Technologies acquired the legal practice management company ZenCase in a strategic move aimed at enhancing SurePoint’s practice management offerings for mid-sized law firms. In this episode of LawNext, Eric Thurston, who recently marked his two-year anniversary as CEO of SurePoint Technologies, joins host Bob Ambrogi to discuss the acquisition and share his perspective on the mid-market landscape in law.  Originally founded in 1982 as Rippe & Kingston, SurePoint has established itself as a leading provider of financial and practice management software for mid-sized law firms, currently serving nearly 1,000 customers. As Thurston explains in the interview, the acquisition of ZenCase strengthens its front-end capabilities with features tailored specifically for lawyers. The acquisition helps SurePoint "leapfrog innovation by about three years," he says, while addressing customer demands for more lawyer-friendly interfaces. The conversation also explores SurePoint's earlier acquisition of Leopard Solutions, a business intelligence platform that provides comprehensive data on attorneys and law firms across the country, enabling everything from strategic recruiting to competitor analysis. Thurston explains how they've already integrated Leopard's analytics into ZenCase, allowing lawyers to quickly access valuable industry data. Looking at the mid-market practice management landscape, Thurston acknowledges that it is currently fragmented, but he believes SurePoint is positioned to become "the Clio of the mid-market." He outlines the company's vision to help firms not just manage their practices but accelerate growth through better technology, data analytics, and business intelligence. With a philosophy that "you're either growing or dying," Thurston shares how he believes SurePoint continues to evolve while helping law firms do the same.   Thank You To Our Sponsors This episode of LawNext is generously made possible by our sponsors. We appreciate their support and hope you will check them out. Paradigm, home to the practice management platforms PracticePanther, Bill4Time, MerusCase and LollyLaw; the e-payments platform Headnote; and the legal accounting software TrustBooks. LEX Reception, Never miss a call, with expert answering service for Lawyers. Legalweek, March 24-27, New York Hilton Midtown. Register today at legalweekshow.com. Briefpoint, eliminating routine discovery response and request drafting tasks so you can focus on drafting what matters (or just make it home for dinner).   If you enjoy listening to LawNext, please leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts.  

On this week’s show: LawNext takes you to the movies. Well, to a specific movie, anyway – a documentary being made to raise public awareness and understanding of the access to justice crisis in this country.  Today’s guests are the film’s director, documentary filmmaker Laura Hand, who previously directed The Tent Mender, about homelessness on Skid Row in Los Angeles, and Maya Markovich, a legal innovation leader – and two-time previous guest on this show (here and here) – who is serving as a producer and advisor to the documentary. You may know Markovich as executive director of the Justice Technology Association and for her recent appointment as vice president of the American Arbitration Association’s thought leadership and research arm.  The documentary, called Justice: Just A Promise?, has been given unprecedented access to film inside the courthouses of the Los Angeles County court system – the largest court system in the world and one where litigants unable to get a lawyer present enormous challenges to the civil justice system.  As this episode airs, the filmmakers have just launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to raise the money they need to complete and distribute the film. During today’s conversation, you’ll hear about that campaign, including Hand’s surprising explanation of why she went that route to raise funds.  You will also learn all about the making of the film and how the filmmakers aim to raise awareness about a nationwide crisis that far too few are even aware of, let alone understand.  Check out their fundraising page here.    Thank You To Our Sponsors This episode of LawNext is generously made possible by our sponsors. We appreciate their support and hope you will check them out. Paradigm, home to the practice management platforms PracticePanther, Bill4Time, MerusCase and LollyLaw; the e-payments platform Headnote; and the legal accounting software TrustBooks. LEX Reception, Never miss a call, with expert answering service for Lawyers. Legalweek, March 24-27, New York Hilton Midtown. Register today at legalweekshow.com.    If you enjoy listening to LawNext, please leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts.  

Jay Madheswaran, CEO and co-founder of Eve, an AI platform transforming plaintiffs’ law firms, discusses his journey from Facebook engineer to legal tech innovator. He introduces the concept of 'AI-native law firms,' where AI revolutionizes service delivery, automating tasks like document drafting while adapting to each firm’s unique style. Madheswaran highlights Eve's impressive growth, funding success, and the challenges of building trust with lawyers around AI. The future of specialized legal services powered by AI innovation is also explored.

Brian Potts, a commercial litigator and inventor of the LegalBoard, joins Kimo Gandall, CEO of Fortuna Arbitration and Harvard Law student, to discuss Arbitrus.ai, an AI arbitration system that aims to revolutionize dispute resolution. They share insights on its promise to drastically reduce costs and processing times. The conversation dives into the potential for AI in legal decision-making, the concept of an 'Arbitration State,' and the implications of technology on access to justice, raising critical questions about human oversight in legal contexts.

Jonathan Petts, a former Wall Street lawyer and CEO of Upsolve, teams up with Ben Jackson, an ex-Uber driver and Upsolve's Chief Product Officer. They discuss their mission to make bankruptcy filing as accessible as tax prep, sharing their personal stories of overcoming debt. The duo unveils how Upsolve helps low-income families discharge $700 million in debt for free, their innovative use of AI, and their ongoing legal battles to challenge restrictions on legal assistance. They emphasize empowering financial futures for those in need.

Electra Japonas, Chief Legal Officer at Law Insider and founder of the oneNDA initiative, teams up with Preston Clark, President of Law Insider, to revolutionize contract negotiations. They discuss how oneNDA has streamlined NDAs for over 6,000 organizations, facilitating about 10 million agreements annually. Japonas shares her insights from her legal career at the European Space Agency, while Clark outlines ambitious plans for oneSaaS and AI-powered contract automation, aiming to reshape and simplify the legal landscape.

Nikole Nelson, CEO of Frontline Justice and former legal aid lawyer in Alaska, discusses her organization’s mission to empower community justice workers, addressing the access crisis in U.S. legal services. She shares that five states have enacted laws for these non-lawyer helpers, with twenty more considering similar initiatives. Nelson highlights the launch of a National Taskforce on Training, the integration of technology to support justice workers, and the collaboration with the Gates Foundation to assist underserved communities.

Earlier this month, the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid in the United States, held its annual Innovations in Technology Conference in Phoenix. This year’s conference was particularly special for two reasons. For one, it was the conference’s 25th anniversary, as well as the 25th anniversary of the Technology Initiative Grants program that was the genesis of the conference.  For another, this year’s conference followed the official retirement in November of Glenn Rawdon, the person who got the conference started in the first place and who oversaw it all these years. As program counsel at the LSC since 1999, it was Rawdon’s job to assist legal services programs with their technology efforts, manage the LSC’s technology grants, and make this conference happen every year.  Rawdon is our guest this week, as he sits down with host Bob Ambrogi to share the origin story and evolution of the two groundbreaking LSC initiatives he helped launch and oversee — the TIG program and the ITC conference (long known as the TIG conference).  From the conference’s humble beginnings as a gathering of 32 people in New Orleans in 2000, Rawdon explains how it grew into what many now consider the premier global event focused on technology and access to justice, this year drawing 700 attendees and 150 presenters from around the world. He also discusses how the TIG program, which started with a $7.5 million budget funding mainly website projects, evolved to support more sophisticated technology initiatives aimed at expanding access to legal services. Drawing from his unique background as a solo practitioner who embraced technology in the 1980s to improve his own efficiency, Rawdon shares insights about the initially tentative but gradually expanding role of technology in legal aid organizations. He discusses key milestones like the development of document assembly tools, online intake systems, and statewide legal information websites — innovations that helped transform how legal aid is delivered.   Thank You To Our Sponsors This episode of LawNext is generously made possible by our sponsors. We appreciate their support and hope you will check them out. Paradigm, home to the practice management platforms PracticePanther, Bill4Time, MerusCase and LollyLaw; the e-payments platform Headnote; and the legal accounting software TrustBooks. Briefpoint, eliminating routine discovery response and request drafting tasks so you can focus on drafting what matters (or just make it home for dinner). LEX Reception, Never miss a call, with expert answering service for Lawyers.   If you enjoy listening to LawNext, please leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts.  

Sateesh Nori is a legal aid attorney and tech innovator dedicated to bridging AI and access to justice. He discusses his journey from housing lawyer to developing AI tools, like Roxanne, to help tenants understand their rights. Nori believes AI could revolutionize legal services and tackle the justice gap, comparing its potential impact to electricity. He also critiques the current legal education system for not preparing students for a tech-driven future and emphasizes the ethical considerations in integrating technology into legal practices.