Here is my post for Above the Law about the Emerging Trends Report presented by Amy Webb of Future Today Strategy Group at SXSW last week.  The so what for legal? Don’t fixate on obstacles but anticipate the changes that will be occurring. And ask the right “what if” questions.

Meredith Whittaker, CEO of Signal, presented a chilling picture of the modern privacy landscape at a SXSW session. Data proliferation and AI tools are combining to seriously threaten everyone’s privacy. But the awareness level among lawyers and legal professionals may not be where it should be. Legal professionals need to be aware of these threats to protect confidential information and to advise their clients appropriately. Here is my post for Above the Law about this presentation and the threats.

Here’s my post for Above the Law on the key takeaways from the MIT Study for legal presented at SXSW: small language models can and will do a lot for law firms and legal departments, legal needs to take a problem first approach to legal tech and its applications and AI agents are still a work in progress. The big takeaway though:the future isn’t just about adopting new technology—it’s about strategically applying it to solve the right problems

Here is my article for Above the Law on the opening SXSW Keynote last Friday by social health expert Kasley Killiam on the mental and physical benefits of and need for greater social connections But that’s not why most law firms are demanding a return to the office by younger lawyers. If firms want to enhance collaboration and improve morale and productivity, they need to give younger lawyers a reason to be in office.

Next week, I’m participating as a presenter in a unique legal conference. 
The conference is being put on by AffiniPay’s legal brands (AffiniPay is the parent company of  LawPay, MyCase,Docketwise and CASEpeer). It’s been billed as a live webinar. Unlike traditional conferences, this one blends in-person and virtual elements: the presenters will gather live in Austin, but attendees will tune in remotely.

Continue Reading A Fresh Take on Legal Conferences: AffiniPay’s Virtual Legal Seminar 2025

As reported elsewhere, vLex, a legal research and database provider, recently announced significant enhancements to its AI tool, Vincent. These upgrades are designed to provide lawyers and legal professionals with enhanced practical solutions, address knowledge gaps, and offer valuable insights.

With the release, vLex is offering significant new workflows. The new features will be particularly helpful for litigators. What I like about the vLex products is that they seem to offer options in ways that can help litigators with real-world problems and improvements. The new enhancements seem to be consistent with this approach.

Continue Reading Practical AI for Litigators: Vincent is Closing Knowledge Gaps

In his 2019 book Online Courts and the Future of Justice, Richard Susskind explored the potential for AI to revolutionize dispute resolution. He posed an interesting question: Do litigants always want judicial decisions, or do they simply want their problems resolved swiftly, efficiently, and fairly? Susskind suggested that automated systems could, in the future, in many cases, provide quicker and more consistent outcomes than traditional courts, even if they are not perfect.

Enter Arbitrus.ai, co-founded by Brian Potts. Arbitrus.ai is providing a new platform that may bring Susskind’s vision to life—at least in the realm of arbitration. (Some of you may remember that Potts founded the company that made the keyboard for lawyers, LegalBoard, several years ago. I still have one).

Continue Reading AI-Powered Arbitration: Is Arbitrus.ai the Future of Dispute Resolution?

The debate over remote work in law firms isn’t really about productivity, training, or collaboration It’s about control and convenience. Exacerbated by a cash basis business model, individual partners often prioritize their own convenience and short-term gains over the firm’s long-term success, making resistance to remote work all but inevitable.

A lot has been written about the remote work debate within law firms. Law firm management, typically made up of either boomers or Gen X partners, usually wants more in-office work by younger lawyers, associates and legal professionals.

The argument is grounded on the theory that younger lawyers can’t be adequately trained without in-office work. If younger lawyers aren’t in the office, they will miss the random water cooler conversations that are supposedly critical. And finally, older lawyers believe younger lawyers just aren’t as productive when out of the office and will not produce the same quality work.

Continue Reading Why Law Firms Won’t Fully Embrace Remote Work: Hint, It’s the Business Model

A new study from the Blickstein Group reveals some disturbing trends for law firms that represent businesses, particularly large ones. The Study is entitled Legal Service Delivery in the Age of AI. The Study was done jointly by FTI Technologies, a consulting group, and Blickstein. It looks at law department legal operations.

Continue Reading GenAI, Legal Ops, and The Future of Law Firms: A Wake-Up Call?

“Bad news is a headline, and gradual improvement is not.”
Bill Gates

All too often, those of us in the legal tech writing community report on things that won’t happen but should, things that aren’t being adopted but should be, or things that are outright failures. This tendency is particularly true when it comes to access to justice issues. We often cite the failure of technology to make any dent in the problem.

Granted, we have a serious access to justice gap that may get worse before it gets better.

But as I have written before, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about the good things that are going on that do impact access to justice for the underprivileged and, for that matter, everyone. I recently wrote about New York City’s use of AI to help people in various small and doable ways. I recently came across another tool called descrybe.ai that is doing the same.

Continue Reading descrybe.ai: Bridging the Access to Justice Gap One Piece at a Time With Democratized Legal Information