The Geek In Review

Jiyun Hyo, Co-founder and CEO of Givance, transitions legal AI from simple text summaries to interactive, visualized evidence. He discusses the 'last ten percent gap,' where seemingly accurate outputs may contain critical errors that jeopardize legal trust. Jiyun highlights the significance of visual aids like Gantt and Sankey charts for clearer case presentations. He warns of confidence errors in AI, advocating for supervisory agents to ensure accuracy. Finally, he shares insights on law firms' need for visual literacy to leverage Givance's innovative tools effectively.

Kyle Poe, an executive at Legora, shares insights on their recent funding and the innovative Portal product designed for client collaboration in legal workflows. He emphasizes the importance of client engagement and quick turnarounds. Zena Applebaum from Harbor discusses their acquisition of Encore Technologies, enhancing training and enablement of AI in legal settings. Both guests highlight shifting from task-level automation to comprehensive workflow efficiencies, ensuring firms can adapt to the rapid advancements in legal tech.

Cas Laskowski, Head of Research at the University of Arizona College of Law and co-founder of the Future of Law Libraries initiative, joins Kris Niedringhaus, Associate Dean at the University of South Carolina School of Law Library. They discuss how librarians can transition from passive observers to active leaders in AI integration within legal practice. Major topics include the impact of ChatGPT, proposals for centralized AI organizations, tiered training models for librarians, and the ethics of teaching law students to use AI responsibly.

This week, the hosts dive into exciting highlights from recent legal tech conferences. Marlene shares her joy at receiving a journalism award, and Greg reveals the buzz from ClioCon, including insights from CEO Jack Newton on Clio's ambitious Big Law strategy. They discuss AI governance challenges faced by in-house lawyers at the ACC Annual Meeting. Informal hallway chats yield valuable wisdom on legal research advancements. The pressure is on to automate workflows as AI tools evolve, sparking vital discussions on ethics and oversight in the legal field.

Nam Nguyen, co-founder and COO of TruthSystems.ai, has a unique blend of linguistics, computer science, and AI research from Stanford Law. He discusses the urgent need for trust infrastructure in law to keep pace with rapid AI advancements. TruthSystems focuses on operationalizing trust through Charter, a governance platform that monitors and guides AI use in real time. Nguyen emphasizes why AI governance should oversee inputs and outputs to minimize risks, aiming to transform static policies into active, automated practices for law firms.

Catherine Krow, Managing Director of Diversity and Impact Analytics at BigHand and founder of Digitory Legal, dives into transforming the legal landscape through data. She shares her journey from trial lawyer to tech innovator, driven by a pivotal billing challenge. Krow introduces her 'plan, measure, refine' framework for better law firm budgeting and discusses the concept of 'data debt.' She emphasizes the role of clean data in revealing inequities and enhancing profitability, while also exploring the future of pricing with AI and the impact of analytics on firm culture.

Anusia Gillespie, Enterprise Lead at vLex and debut novelist, shares her insights on legal technology and the human side of law. She highlights how negative reactions to tech can be transformed into opportunities for engagement. Anusia also discusses her novel, "Soul Toll," exploring the costs of high-performance legal culture. She emphasizes the importance of reframing the billable-hour mindset for innovation and warns against burnout in the fast-paced tech landscape, suggesting practical strategies for balance and restoration.

Daniel Lewis, the Global CEO of LegalOn Technologies, has a rich background in legal tech from Ravel Law to LexisNexis. In the conversation, he emphasizes the challenges in contract review for in-house lawyers and how LegalOn’s hybrid AI approach combines large models with attorney-curated playbooks for more reliable results. Daniel discusses the barriers startups face in accessing legal data and the essential skills for modern legal leaders, highlighting the shift from review tasks to strategic roles enabled by AI.

Gabe Pereyra, President and co-founder of Harvey, shares his journey from DeepMind to revolutionizing legal workflows with AI. They dive into why language models suit lawyers' text-heavy tasks and how an ‘AI associate’ enhances productivity. Gabe discusses partnering with major law firms like Allen & Overy to minimize risks and maximize learning. He emphasizes the importance of integrating tools like Outlook and Word, and how firms can turn their expertise into valuable AI products.

Join Suzanne Konstance, Vice-President at Wolters Kluwer, as she sheds light on how they support legal professionals in highly regulated sectors. She discusses the critical importance of regulatory compliance and how it helps clients avoid litigation. Trust and accuracy in legal tech is a focal point, emphasizing AI's role in maintaining quality research. Konstance also touches on a collaboration with Harvey and the need for reliable workflows that prioritize authoritative sources. Insightful conversations around navigating the evolving legal landscape make this a must-listen!