Reimagining Justice

In this episode no. 13, I interview Tim Baran, Law Help NY manager at Pro Bono net.  Tim works with communities across the legal services, non-profit, and technology sectors to build solutions to help close the justice gap and expand access to legal help for low-income and vulnerable people.


I found my conversation with Tim very refreshing. It seems to me that Tim is an open minded realist He made many great points especially about how we need a high level of collaboration to solve the access to justice crisis.

You will want to listen to this episode if you are interested in knowing how 1 organisation is helping many other organisations to use tech to deliver legal information and connect people to lawyers, about sustainability of projects and measuring outcomes, and why we need to break down silos between different players in this space.


This interview will particularly appeal to you if you are a public service provider of legal resources, a community lawyer looking to incorporate digital projects, or if you’d just like to hear from someone working on the ground about the role for emerging technology and the opportunities before us right now.

Tim’s enthusiasm and desire to learn comes through in this interview.  I hope you’ll be inspired by his journey and his work.


Links:

• https://www.probono.net/

• https://www.lawhelpny.org/

   

• https://www.justicepodcast.com/author/stevenson/

   

• https://designingyour.life/the-book/

   

• https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/539747/winners-take-all-by-anand-giridharadas/9780451493248/

   

• https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Math-Destruction-Increases-Inequality/dp/0553418815

• https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/build-better-products/

In this episode no. 12, I interview lawyer and founder of Barefoot Law in Uganda, Gerald Abila.

Founded in 2013, Barefoot Law is a non-profit organization using digital technology in innovative ways to empower people to develop legal solutions for their justice needs.

We covered so much in this interview including the specific challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, the type of tech that Barefoot Law uses most, how they reached the most vulnerable members of the community when tech couldn’t, and Gerald's views for the future including what he says is the ultimate law.

Gerald shares how he started Barefoot Law when he was in law school and his journey establishing an organisation with no resources.  We also cover more personal reflections on the importance of values and what motivates him.

You will want to listen to this episode if you are interested in understanding the connection between AI and social good, law and maths, how to lead an organisation with very few resources and the importance of tailoring your solution to local conditions.

This interview will particularly appeal to you if you are a legal tech founder, community lawyer or seeking to understand the best way to leverage existing or emerging technology for positive social impact. 

• Barefoot Law
• AI and social good
• Washington Access to Justice technology principles
• Sustainable Development Goal 16

In this episode no. 11, I interview lawyer and academic Caitlin "Cat" Moon; the Director of Innovation Design for the Program in Law and Innovation (PoLI) at Vanderbilt Law School and Director of the PoLI Institute which provides training in legal innovation to practicing lawyers and legal professionals.

I could relate to the fact that Cat’s experience spans academia, innovation, private practice and public service law. The expansiveness of her work means she can see synergies where others don’t and add value across many areas.

You will want to listen to this episode if you are interested in knowing about human centred design, essential factors for positive change, the importance of mindsets, and some of the unexpected benefits of legal innovation.

This interview will appeal to a broad range of listeners and especially be of interest to you if you are a legal educator or law student, legal designer, chief innovation officer or tasked with bringing different programs or mindsets to your organisation.

Links:

In this episode no. 10, I interview lawyer and entrepreneur Suzanna Kalendzhian.

Suzanna is Co-founder and CEO of Legal Advice Middle East, the AI-powered legal services marketplace which operates in 13 countries across the region and helps people to access justice by allowing them to find, communicate and transact with lawyers online.

In this episode Suzanna shares her personal journey as a female legal entrepreneur working in the middle east, why she believes in the vision of Legal Advice Middle East and how she maintains that belief during challenging times.

From this discussion you’ll gain an understanding of key factors for change management and how to gain momentum in your business or practice, options for what to do when you are faced with practising in an area you don’t specialise in, the best combination of skills for a legal tech start up and how to maintain a positive mindset.

You will want to listen to this episode if you are interested in entrepreneurship in a legal context and the role of regulation regarding legal tech initiatives, and making legal assistance more accessible.

Links:

In this episode no. 9  I interview Professor of Law Lois R Lupica who is currently visiting Melbourne Law School as a fulbright senior scholar. 

As lawyers we sometimes struggle to understand the complexity of legal information. This is magnified for those without a legal education especially if they are experiencing stress in their lives. While Lois’ research is all about making legal self-help materials easier to understand, this episode will be of interest if you’ve ever had to transform any kind of complex information into plain language and especially if it was important that people should take action based on that information.

We discussed how to know if a product or service you’ve developed is effective.  After all, just because someone uses it doesn’t mean it is useful. Lois shares her view about the real issue underlying the access to justice crisis.

This episode will appeal to those of us who are required to communicate challenging concepts and anyone who would like to understand how to measure the effectiveness of the communication to know if it is improving outcomes.

I found my conversation with Lois exciting and refreshing and when you listen I’m sure you’ll understand why.

Links:

Self-help, Reimagined, 92 IND. L.J. NO. 1 (2016) (with Greiner & Jimenez)

The Apps for Justice Project: Employing Design Thinking to Narrow the Access to Justice Gap, 44 FORDHAM URB. L.J. 1363 (2017) (with Friedman & Franklin)

Fulbright Scholarships

Lois' encaustic works

University of Queensland Student Clinic

Access to Justice Lab Harvard Law School

Andrea Perry-Petersen – LinkedIn - Twitter @winkiepp – andreaperrypetersen.com.au

Twitter - @ReimaginingJ

Facebook – Reimagining Justice group

In this episode no 8 I speak with Indian based lawyer Kanan Dhru.

Kanan is a legal innovator with over 10 years of experience in the areas of law, policy-making and justice innovations.  She is a strong believer in the benefits of simplifying legal information and in 2014, won the “Innovating Justice Award” at the International Court of Justice in the Hague for her groundbreaking work as founder of Lawtoons, LawForMe and the Research Foundation for Governance in India.

In a country that is one of the major players in the tech world, more people have access to technology than justice and this influences how Kanan informs people about the law.  She questions “When the world around us is increasingly moving online, why should the law be an exception? In a world where people use graphics and visuals as a language, why should the law stay bound to dusty law books?”

You will be surprised by Kanan's thoughts on who is most likely to disrupt the profession. She shares how the definition of community has changed with the rise of global communication, her inspiration for starting LawToons and LawForMe, how she collaborates with people from other disciplines and what it’s like to be a female legalpreneur in India.

You will enjoy this episode if you are interested in finding effective ways to communicate complex information of any kind.

Links:

LawToons and the book.

LawForMe

Research Foundation for Governance

Humlab and Agami prize

Legal Design Lab

Hague Institue for Innovation in Law ("HiiL")

In this episode no. 7, I speak with Chrissie Lightfoot, a London based lawyer, creator of Robot Lawyer Lisa and CEO of Entrepreneur Lawyer, a global consulting company. Chrissie is an international speaker and author and last year was named one of the American Bar Association’s Law Technology Resource Center’s Women of Legal Tech.

The theme for this episode is “robot lawyers and automating legal expertise” with a tagline “it’s all about the customer” as this is a big driver for Chrissie.

In the conversation we cut through the hype about robot lawyers to describe what they really are and what they really do. We also talked about regulation of lawyers and law tech products and people’s trust and uptake of technology.

Chrissie shares the experiences that led her to this point and by the end of the episode you will have heard how AI can be incorporated into legaltech and law tech products, understand Chrissie’s purpose and just what it takes to be an entrepreneur working at the cutting edge of legal innovation for the everyday consumer of legal services.

Links:

Robot Lawyer Lisa

Entrepreneur Lawyer

FLIP Conference NSW Law Society

Andrea Perry-Petersen – LinkedIn - Twitter @winkiepp – andreaperrypetersen.com.au

Twitter - @ReimaginingJ

Facebook – Reimagining Justice group

In this episode I speak with Katie Richards, lawyer, founder and CEO of online law firm Virtual Legal. 

Katie and her team are achieving their ambitious vision to deliver a sophisticated public self service legal system. Katie shares how she went from corporate lawyer to running an online law firm; practical and regulatory challenges she’s faced, how she came back from an incident that nearly destroyed her company - and her tip for action towards the end of the interview is gold.

You will hear about her commitment to corporate social responsibility and what a fire extinguisher has to do with her business model.  We also talked about pie…

If you run a business you’ll empathise with much of what Katie shares. You will especially appreciate this interview if you are trying to incorporate more tech into your practice or interact with clients in more user friendly ways.

Links:

Virtual Legal

Law on Earth

Disc Personality Profiling

LexisNexis Roadshow

KPI Program

Andrea Perry-Petersen – LinkedIn - Twitter @winkiepp – andreaperrypetersen.com.au

Twitter - @ReimaginingJ

Facebook – Reimagining Justice group

Today we hear from lawyer Melissa Moss, an access to justice strategist based in Florida.

With her extensive experience in legal aid organisations, Melissa has strong views on the best uses of technology, explains what “community lawyering” is in simple terms, and on a more personal note shares how she keeps up with all the latest information and how to incorporate what she learns into the projects she’s working on.

The theme for this episode is taking time to understand the problem and learning by doing and collaborating, and it will appeal to you if you are a strategic thinker, systems designer or interested in technology and human centred design as it applies to legal aid, grassroots or community lawyering.

Melissa’s thoughtful and considered approach is exceptional in this era of a bias towards action and the rush to release the next big thing.

If you are new to the podcast find out more about me and why I started this podcast in the trailer. Thanks for tuning in!

Links

Florida Justice Technology Centre

The Florida Bar Foundation “Escambia Project”

Florida Pro Bono Matters

Task Force on Access through Innovation of Legal Services (California)

Self-represented Litigation Network

Upsolve

Rebecca Sandefur

Australian Digital Inclusion Index

Andrea Perry-Petersen LinkedIn - Twitter @winkiepp and andreaperrypetersen.com.au 

Twitter - @ReimaginingJ

Facebook – Reimagining Justice group

Andrea talks with Luke Geary, founding partner of the world’s first social enterprise law firm, Salvos Legal.   

Luke is a creative and strategic thinker but also someone who makes things happen. We covered so many topics including how he came up with the idea of a social enterprise model for a law firm, the challenges of running a business, his work to end modern slavery, investing in local communities, what he considers to be legal innovation and how technology can minimise legal disputes, and towards the end we discuss how a fortune cookie shaped his career!

Did you know there are over 15 000 people in modern slavery in Australia today?  We recorded this interview in December 2018 a couple of days after Human Rights Day which coincidentally was when the Modern Slavery Act was passed into law and which we talk about in this episode.

The theme for this episode is innovation to address significant social wrong through business.

This episode will be of significant interest to you if you are struggling with sustainable funding for your organisation, want to know more about the impact of the Modern Slavery Act on your business, or wonder how you can do social good while making money at the same time!

Salvos Legal

Salvos Humanitarian

BCorp

Qld Law Society Access to Justice Committee

The Justice Project

Mills Oakley

End Slavery Solutions

Andrea Perry-Petersen – LinkedIn, Twitter @winkiepp

Twitter - @ReimaginingJ

Facebook – Reimagining Justice group