Legal Rebels Trailblazers

John Tredennick of Catalyst took the lead in the ‘80s to bring tech to his law firm (podcast)

John Tredennick started a focus on legal technology in 1988—back when law firms saw it as something limited to fancy computers and adding machines. He asked Holland & Hart, the Denver-based firm where he was a partner, to add the words chief information officer to his title. Inspiration came from an American Bar Association conference.

Sep 13, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

From C-suite to legal service founder, Michael Mills has always been a leader (podcast)

It's common now for large law firms to have a chief knowledge officer to determine how technology can help lawyers do their jobs more effectively. When Michael Mills first took on that type of role for Davis Polk & Wardwell in 1990, hardly any others were around to imitate. The internet barely even existed.

Aug 16, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

Richard Susskind sees ‘rosy future’ for law—if it embraces technology (podcast)

For more than three decades, Richard Susskind has been one of the profession's most prolific voices in support of implementing technology with legal services delivery. He's the author of more than 10 books on the topic, and his next one will focus on technology in the courtroom.

Jul 12, 2017 11:30 AM CDT

Paul Lippe’s ‘new normal’ was always about innovation (podcast)

For years, Paul Lippe has been a leader in helping corporate law departments adopt the approaches used in the best and most innovative parts of their own companies—and in doing so, significantly changing the relationships with and the work done by their outside lawyers.

Jun 14, 2017 8:30 AM CDT

Lisa Solomon found the time was right for her career in online legal research (podcast)

Plenty of lawyers hate to do legal research: It can be tedious and time-consuming, and one mistake can tank an entire case. For lawyers of a certain generation, the very sight of those two-toned, musty-smelling books that all look the same is enough to fill them with dread. For younger…

May 10, 2017 8:16 AM CDT

Justia’s Stacy Stern finds real profit in making things free (podcast)

Stacy Stern is in charge of revenues, among her other roles, at a successful for-profit company. But she tends to talk more about giving away products and services. It becomes obvious that she thinks giving is more important than receiving—not that Justia, the legal portal that she and her husband,…

Apr 12, 2017 8:30 AM CDT

CodeX co-founder caught the entrepreneurial bug at Stanford (podcast)

Born and raised in Austria, Roland Vogl fell in love with California almost from the moment he arrived in 1999 as a student at Stanford Law School. In particular, he was drawn to the entrepreneurial ethos of Stanford's home base of Silicon Valley.

"The idea of being in Silicon Valley and being immersed in the gung-ho spirit where people solve problems—not so much by policy and lawmaking but by building new systems—really appealed to me," says Vogl, a 2017 Legal Rebels Trailblazer.

Mar 8, 2017 8:30 AM CST

Lawyerist founder Sam Glover reports anecdata from the legal community (podcast)

The website Lawyerist focuses on getting attorneys information they want. Determining what that is isn't hard, says founder Sam Glover, because readers frequently tell him through the site's discussion forum or on social media.

Feb 8, 2017 8:30 AM CST

Judge Dixon stays on to keep bringing tech to courts (podcast)

Herbert Dixon had already been eligible to retire for six years before he finally did in 2015, after 30 years on the District of Columbia Superior Court—the district’s version of a state trial court. But the judge stayed on longer because he was having too much fun changing the way…

Jan 11, 2017 8:30 AM CST

Legal tech’s future is in lawyers’ mindset, Randi Mayes says (podcast)

When you ask Randi Mayes about the future of technology in law firms, she says its growth will stem from attorneys' behavior rather than specific product offerings.

Dec 14, 2016 8:30 AM CST

Tech skills are no harder to learn than driving, says e-discovery expert Craig Ball (podcast)

Craig Ball likes to say he got into law to stay out of prison.

Nov 9, 2016 8:30 AM CST

For Fastcase founders, the message is: Change, and do it faster! (podcast)

Legal technology has changed since 1999, when Ed Walters and Phil Rosenthal founded the legal research service Fastcase–but not as much as they'd like.

Oct 12, 2016 8:30 AM CDT

Dewey B Strategic’s Jean O’Grady leads lawyers through the tech maze (podcast)

Most people see librarians as the quiet personification of technical obsolescence. Jean O’Grady is out to change that. Far from sitting in a dusty room full of outdated books and CD-ROMs and telling visitors to keep quiet, the senior director of research and knowledge at DLA Piper in Washington, D.C.,…

Sep 14, 2016 8:30 AM CDT

Jerry Goldman’s Oyez project gives a voice to SCOTUS arguments (podcast)

The license plates on Jerry Goldman’s Subaru Legacy read “OYEZ” in honor of his U.S. Supreme Court-focused multimedia archive, Oyez. And the ringtone on the retired political science professor’s iPhone is the voice of a marshal saying the word three times, which starts the traditional call announcing the justices’ arrival.…

Aug 10, 2016 8:30 AM CDT

Deborah Rhode is at war with complacency (podcast)

Stanford Law School professor Deborah Rhode is the enemy of complacency. This Legal Rebels Trailblazer is one of the most cited scholars in legal ethics, though she wears many more hats. She has carved out specialties in discrimination (ranging from race and gender to the unfair advantages that flow to physical beauty, often probing their intersection with legal ethics) and in criticism of legal education itself.

Jul 20, 2016 8:45 AM CDT