Technically Legal - A Legal Technology and Innovation Podcast
128 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago - ★★★★★ - 14 ratingsTechnically Legal is a legal tech podcast about legal innovation and the impact technology is having on the law.
In each episode we interview an innovator in the legal industry about how technology is changing the practice of law, about the companies they are building and how legal tech is changing the way legal departments and law firms work.
The podcast is hosted by Chad Main, an attorney and founder of Percipient, a tech-enabled legal services provider. Chad launched Percipient on the belief that when technology is leveraged correctly, it makes legal teams more effective.
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Episodes
Episode 27: Chuck Fox on Virtual Reality for Legal Teams
November 07, 2019 18:48 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBIn Episode 27 we talk to Chuck Fox, Director of the Visualization Practice Group at Engineering Systems Inc. (ESI). Chuck explains how his team creates 3D models and virtual reality applications to help lawyers better understand their cases and demonstrate to judges and juries how situations occurred. Chuck explains that VR modeling starts with laser scan data that is turned into a point cloud and then loaded into software to create the VR environment. Chuck and ESI have been hired by la...
Episode 26: Nathan Wenzel on the Journey of a Legal Tech Start-up
October 15, 2019 11:28 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBWe headed to Silicon Valley to chat with SimpleLegal founder Nathan Wenzel in Episode 26. Nathan has a great legal tech startup story–from idea to acquisition. SimpleLegal provides legal operations software to help corporate legal teams run their departments, manage their legal operations and monitor finances. (This type of software is sometimes referred to as ELM software or “enterprise legal management” software.) The early days of SimpleLegal were spent at Y Combinator, Silicon Valley...
Episode 25: Neil Irwin On Successful (Legal) Careers in the Modern Economy
September 23, 2019 20:06 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBIn Episode 25, we talk to New York Times Senior Economics Correspondent Neil Irwin about his book, How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World: The Definitive Guide to Adapting and Succeeding in High-Performance Careers. To write the book, Neil interviewed successful employees with companies in various industries–from Microsoft to a company running popular New York City eateries. He wanted to understand what made these people successful in the modern economy. An economy driven by automation, “g...
Episode 24: Justin Barker & Steven Nachtwey on Litigation Finance
September 03, 2019 00:33 - 49 minutes - 45.8 MBIn Episode 24 we talk litigation finance with Justin Barker, an investment manager and the head of the Chicago office for litigation funding firm Validity Finance, and Bartlit Beck litigator Steven Nachtwey. Justin and Steve discuss the process of securing litigation funding, deal structure and explain that a good litigation finance relationship is built on trust. We close out the interview discussing the non-monetary benefits of litigation funding (another “set of eyes” to analyze the s...
Episode 23: Jim Doppke on the Ethics of Legal Tech (and the Duty to Supervise Robots)
August 05, 2019 16:36 - 43 minutes - 39.6 MBLegal ethics attorney Jim Doppke discusses the impact that legal tech and legal innovation have on the Rules of Professional Conduct and other rules that govern how lawyers practice law. Jim explains how Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1 (Lawyer’s Duty of Competence) and 5.3 (Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistance) are implicated by advances in legal technology and legal innovation. A comment to Rule 1.1 (and adopted by most states) says that as part of a lawyer’s duty of c...
Episode 22: Kate Gaudry on Lawyers (Really) Using Big Data to Help Clients
June 05, 2019 02:57 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBFor Episode 22 we headed to Washington D.C. to talk to patent attorney Kate Gaudry about using big data to help legal clients. Much of Kate’s data analysis focuses on allowance rates for individual patent examiners (the percentage of patents they approve) and also for the “art units” they work in. We also talk to Kate about how mathematical models like game theory can be used to make decisions about pursuing or abandoning patent applications. Finally, Kate explains that before attorney...
Episode 21- Dave Rogers on Hype Technology
April 27, 2019 16:36 - 41 minutes - 37.7 MBIn Episode 21 we talk to Dave Rogers, Chief Technology Officer for the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom. (Similar to the U.S. Department of Justice). Dave explains how falling in love with “hype technology” (the hot new tech of the moment) may actually hinder an organization’s efforts to innovate. Dave also points out that legacy technology can be problematic for organizations large and small. He refers to this as the “toxicity of legacy”. Toxicity caused by older software and s...
Episode 20 Jerry Ting on Legal Tech Looking Outside Legal Tech
March 29, 2019 19:46 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBIn Episode 20 we talk to Evisort founder Jerry Ting about his company and also about improving legal technology by looking outside of legal tech. Jerry founded Evisort while studying at Harvard Law and it was there that he started looking outside of the legal world to build his business. He applied to and was accepted by the Harvard Innovation Lab to help launch the company. By the time he graduated Harvard, Jerry and his team already had customers and had raised money for the company. I...
Episode 19: Christian Auty and Zach Smolinski on Blockchain Redux
February 27, 2019 01:13 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBLawyers Zach Smolinski and Christian Auty return for Episode 19. Like last time, they discuss blockchain technology and its impact on the practice of law. Zach is with Smolinski Rosario Law and Christian with the Much firm. We talk about what’s changed in the blockchain world since they were on the show in 2017. Both agree that regulators have stepped up enforcement and the public is less enthralled about the technology. However, both are still big supporters and excited to see people gett...
Episode 18: Greg Siskind on Automation for Law Departments and Law Firms
February 04, 2019 11:18 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MBThe focus of this episode is automation of legal processes by law firms and in-house legal teams. We talk to immigration lawyer Greg Siskind. He and his firm automate both client facing and internal legal processes. As we learn, automation limits errors, automates expertise, saves time and is good for marketing. In our legal tech founder segment, talk to Tom Dreyfus, CEO and co-founder of Josef, an automation platform helping lawyers create legal chatbots. Technically Legal is hosted by ...
Episode 17: Stephen Kane on Online Dispute Resolution
January 10, 2019 11:12 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBIn Episode 17 we talk about online dispute resolution with Stephen Kane, the founder of Fairclaims, a platform that helps people resolve legal claims online. ODR has been around since the 1990s, but really took off when companies like Ebay and Amazon started to use it to resolve customer complaints and disputes. As Stephen explains, many types of disputes are amenable to ODR and courts across the globe are starting to use it. In our Legal Tech Founder Segment, we talk to Tucker Cotting...
Episode 16: Vishal Agnihotri on Knowledge Management for Law Firms & Legal Departments
November 20, 2018 14:53 - 32 minutes - 29.5 MBOur guest this time is Vishal Agnihotri, Chief Knowledge Officer (or “CKO”) for Hinshaw & Culbertson. As CKO, Vishal is responsible for the firm’s knowledge management programs. Vishal has a great definition for KM: the ability to identify critical knowledge within an organization and then leveraging it to serve up at the right time for the right purpose. Vishal explains that law firms are great candidates for knowledge management and law firm CKOs must work closely with the firm’s Chie...
Episode 15: Keith Maziarek on Pricing Legal Services
October 18, 2018 12:12 - 36 minutes - 33.4 MBIn this episode, we sit down with Keith Maziarek, Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management for the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman. Keith explains that law firms are adding pricing positions because of economic pressures and client demands. Clients are demanding changes in the way they are billed (AFAs or “alternative fee arrangements”) and also demanding that law firms become more efficient. Keith also explains how project management and pricing legal services go hand in hand be...
Episode 14: Barry Solomon on Legal Marketing and Technology
September 21, 2018 16:28 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBIn Episode 14 we talk to Barry Solomon, lawyer, former BigLaw CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) and current President of Foundation Software Group. Foundation develops experience management software for law firms. Barry distinguishes marketing from business development and explains how the two should work together. Barry says the key to good business development is to really listen to clients about their needs. Barry also discusses the benefits of using of technology to gather data and track...
Episode 13: Justine Gottshall on Data Privacy Laws
August 23, 2018 14:20 - 38 minutes - 35.4 MBFor Lucky Episode 13, we talk to Justine Gottshall about data privacy laws. Specifically, about the GDPR and California’s Consumer Privacy Act. Justine is a partner at InfoLaw Group, where she counsels clients on data privacy, technology, information governance, consumer protection, and digital marketing issues. Justine began her career as a Washington D.C. litigator and was involved in the FTC’s first data privacy investigation. In this podcast, Justine explains to whom the GDPR and CCPA ...
Episode 12: Jae Um on the New Normal for Law Firms & Calling BS on "Because Lawyers..."
July 27, 2018 09:34 - 39 minutes - 36.1 MBIn Episode 12, we talk to Jae Um, founder of Six Parsecs, an insights company for the legal industry. The conversation with Jae is wide ranging. We discuss Han Solo, the true distance of a parsec and how she came up with the name for her company. Jae explains that a “new normal” confronts many law firms and discusses how they must now compete for business post-2008 recession. Jae also talks about how “data viz” (or data visualization) helps explain information and why it is not helpful...
Episode 11: Lucy Bassli on the Legal Ecosystem & Unicorn Lawyers
July 03, 2018 15:33 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBIn Episode 11 we talk to Lucy Bassli founder of InnoLegal Services and Chief Legal Strategist at Law Geex. Lucy started her career in Big Law and ultimately landed a job in Microsoft’s legal department where she served as Assistant General Counsel. Lucy left Microsoft in 2017 and started InnoLegal Services–part law firm and part consultancy–where she helps law firms and law departments develop new ways to deliver and receive legal services. In her role as Chief Legal Strategist for La...
Episode 10: Zach Abramowitz on Legal Tech Trends and Law Firms as Incubators
June 01, 2018 10:40 - 25 minutes - 23.4 MBIn this episode we connect with Zach Abramowitz, lawyer, legal tech writer and entrepreneur. Zach left the practice of law to launch ReplyAll.me, a tool that lets users conduct live conversations and embed them on a website as the conversation unfolds. We talk to Zach about trends in legal tech, how lessons learned by e-discovery software companies helped pave the way for other legal tech apps and why law firms are positioned to develop legal tech software. In Episode 10, we also talk to...
Gabriel Teninbaum on Legal Tech Education
May 09, 2018 11:17 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBFor Episode 9 we visited Gabriel Teninbaum, Director of the Institute on Legal Innovation and Technology and a legal writing professor at Suffolk University School of Law. Suffolk’s Legal Innovation Institute has three programs: A legal tech concentration for law students, the LIT Lab, and an online legal tech certificate program. Gabe also developed an called Spaced Repetition that helps law students with their studies and to prepare for the bar exam. In this episode, we also talk to ...
Episode 9: Gabriel Teninbaum on Legal Tech Education
May 09, 2018 11:17 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBFor Episode 9 we visited Gabriel Teninbaum, Director of the Institute on Legal Innovation and Technology and a legal writing professor at Suffolk University School of Law. Suffolk’s Legal Innovation Institute has three programs: A legal tech concentration for law students, the LIT Lab, and an online legal tech certificate program. Gabe also developed an called Spaced Repetition that helps law students with their studies and to prepare for the bar exam. In this episode, we also talk to ...
Episode 8: Angie Hickey on the Benefits of Business People Holding Law Firm Leadership Roles
April 18, 2018 14:43 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBIn Episode 8, we talk to Angie Hickey, CEO of the Chicago based law firm Levenfeld Pearlstein. Angie discusses the benefits of business people holding leadership positions in law firms. Angie explains that one of the main benefits of hiring business people to help run law firms is that it permits lawyers to spend more time doing what they are trained to do–practice law. Angie also points out that when law firms implement business strategies and systems, the client experience is improved....
Episode 7: Atrium’s Augie Rakow & Max Cantor on Technology First Law Firms
March 29, 2018 13:14 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBIn Episode 7 we talked to Augie Rakow and Max Cantor of the legal tech startup, Atrium. Augie is one of Atrium’s founders and Max heads up Atrium’s artificial intelligence efforts. Atrium is actually two companies: Atrium LLP, a law firm focused on providing legal services to start-ups, and Atrium LTS (Legal Technology Services), the company providing operational and technological support to Atrium LLP. Augie founded Atrium with Justin Kan, a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and forme...
Episiode 6: Casey Flaherty on Tech Competency, Legal Ops and Client Driven Change
February 22, 2018 00:20 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBFor Episode 6, we sat down with D. Casey Flaherty at the Legal Tech conference in New York City. Casey talked about a few things: how many lawyers struggle to master everyday technology, his experience as corporate counsel and the efforts he took in that role to improve the way company lawyers did their jobs. But, a good chunk of the conversation focused on Casey's belief that inefficiencies in legal service delivery will not change until clients demand change. In this episode, we a...
Episode 5: Ken Grady on Lean Thinking and Law
February 08, 2018 15:00 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBIn Episode 5 we talk to Ken Grady about lean thinking and the practice of law. Ken explains that the main goal of lean thinking is to eliminate waste from business processes and that legal work is rife with waste. He also points out that eliminating waste from the practice of law might just free up time for lawyers to do other work, including the pursuit of access to justice initiatives. Ken is currently a law professor at Michigan State's Legal RnD program and held prior positions in co...
Episode 4: Dennis Garcia on Legal Department Automation, Cybersecurity and Lawyers Use of the Cloud
January 25, 2018 03:11 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBIn this episode we talk to Microsoft Assistant General Counsel Dennis Garcia about legal department automation, the benefits of cloud computing and steps law firms can take to shore up cybersecurity. Dennis also discusses lawyers’ use of social media. We also introduce a new segment for the podcast. Starting with this episode, we will include a short interview with a legal tech founder. We start with Ryan Alshak, a lawyer and the founder of Ping, automated time keeping for attorneys. T...
Episode 3: Kent Zimmermann on Alternative Legal Service Providers
January 11, 2018 00:37 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBIn this episode, we speak with Kent Zimmermann about the rise of alternative legal service providers--companies that help clients and attorneys accomplish legal related work such as document review for electronic discovery, or due diligence contract review for corporate mergers and acquisitions. Kent also talks about law firm mergers. A topic he knows quite a bit about because he is a consultant helping law firms with strategic planning, management consulting, mergers, and marketing. Tec...
Episode 2: Zach Smolinski & Christian Auty on Blockchain
December 07, 2017 00:43 - 26 minutes - 24.7 MBIn Episode 2 we discuss blockchain technology and its impact on the practice of law with two Chicago lawyers Zach Smolinski and Christian Auty. Zach is with Ziliak Law and Christian with the Much Shelist firm. Both counsel clients on blockchain related matters. In this episode Zach and Christian discuss what blockchain technology is, how they became interested in it, and the impact it will have on the practice of law. Zach is involved in Fin Tank a group working to grow Chicago's blockc...
Jim Doppke on MRPC 1.1
November 19, 2017 21:27 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBIn our inaugural episode, legal ethics attorney Jim Doppke of Chicago's Robinson Law Group discusses changes to the Rules of Professional Conduct (ethics rules for lawyers) addressing the impact of technology on modern legal practice. In 2012 the American Bar Association amended Comment 8 to Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.1 (a lawyer's duty of competence) in response to changes in technology. The Comment now suggests attorneys must understand "the benefits and risks associated with r...