The Global Legal Hackathon this weekend has brought together multiple streams of entrepreneurial activity (internationally) and taps into a global community of individuals and organizations with a passion for innovation via legal technology. HPC Advisory Board member and ACEDS Executive Director, Mary Mack, fielded a few questions regarding the Hackathon:
MARY MACK: HOW DOES THE MISSION OF HPC ALIGN?
David Kinnear: HPC reflects the face and the voice of the modern legal industry – and where it is heading over the next ten years. Inherent in this position is the view that technology will become wholly intrinsic to law and the delivery of legal services. Telling the stories of legal innovation and the founders driving change – well, that’s what we do. We’re excited to learn what people are building – and we’re excited to support the winners by providing exclusive VIP coverage on High Performance Counsel.
MM: WHY IS THIS RELEVANT TO THE ACEDS COMMUNITY?
DK: Our own relationship with ACEDS reflects our view of ACEDS as being a cornerstone of the emerging, modern legal industry – harnessing the key elements of technology and people. We think ACEDS is uniquely positioned in its nexus to the growth of legal technology and its certification of professional competencies. For the modern legal professional, technology will become a much more vital part of day-to-day participation in the modern sector.
MM: HOW CAN THE ACEDS COMMUNITY GET INVOLVED?
DK: Follow our updates on Twitter (#GLH2018, #GlobalLegalHack), on LinkedIn and also postings on High Performance Counsel under: #BulletPoints (our market commentary). Our experience of ACEDS is that it is very proactive in providing great content and support for fellow CEDs so stay tuned and use this great organization to be informed. Professionally, this is a very important time for individuals to get informed and stay informed about the change and innovation that technology is bringing – both in terms of preparing for workplace changes and also in terms of the career opportunities it can represent.
MM: AS A JUDGE IN NYC, WHAT WILL YOU BE LOOKING FOR?
DK: “Bold thinking – not tinkering.” Yes, we will be writing about that on High Performance Counsel! I’m interested to see ideas and concepts that do indeed have practical application, but they are (much) more than “just another layer” on old thinking and old workflow models. I am particularly interested in the digitization and productization of law – a concept which remains painfully early still but that (I think) will have huge revenue implications for service providers.
John Tredennick, Founder and Chief Evangelist at Catalyst.
MARY MACK: WHAT IS THE HACKATHON’S PURPOSE?
John Tredennick: The goal is to bring together a lot of very smart developers, have them focus on legal problems and see what they can come up with to solve those problems.
MM: HOW DOES THE MISSION OF CATALYST ALIGN?
JT: Catalyst was formed to focus on legal problems, in this case the need to better manage the discovery process. We put together a lot of smart people who came up with our Insight Discovery Platform. We have succeeded because the platform does in fact help clients save on discovery costs and time.
MM: WHY IS THIS RELEVANT TO THE ACEDS COMMUNITY?
JT: ACEDS has always been focused on helping legal professionals better manage litigation so it has a vested interested in a program like this
MM: AS A JUDGE IN DENVER, WHAT WILL YOU BE LOOKING FOR?
JT: Innovative ideas that can actually work. To succeed, an idea has to be simple, the solution has to be easily managed and it has to provide at least a 30% benefit over existing options. I am excited to see what the hackers come up with after a weekend of caffeine and intense focus on legal needs. My thanks to everyone involved. It will be an honor to participate and be a judge.
Fernando Garcia General Counsel, Government Affairs and Corporate Secretary
MM: WHAT IS THE HACKATHON’S PURPOSE?
FC: The Hackathon is really an opportunity to have individuals interested in law 2.0 come together and work in teams toward finding solutions to actual problems utilizing the best of legal and tech tools available today. It really is an opportunity to showcase not only what is possible today, but also finding ways to do things better, differently! People have for a long time been fascinated about building the better mouse trap, here it is, lawyers and professionals from other disciplines getting together to build the better legal mouse trap!
MM: HOW DOES THE MISSION OF HPC ALIGN?
FC: HPC is about bringing leaders in the legal community together to share best practices, discuss where law is today and where it will be going tomorrow. It is a forum for lawyers who “get it” to be able to together shape the how, where and why of law and legal technology. These leaders are also found across the world, in multiple jurisdictions, multiple legal communities and through very different legal traditions, but are brought together with the common goal of doing more with the tools available and in sharing of best practices to elevate ourselves as professionals and our profession generally. This creates a perfect alignment with the Global Hackathon.
MM: WHY IS THIS RELEVANT TO THE ACEDS COMMUNITY?
FC: The ACEDS community has in many ways been at the front line of the changing legal landscape. E-discovery has been one of the areas that I still use as an example of how technology and legal practice can work well together. The community took a common problem, how can we avoid the labour-intensive effort required to scour through thousands or millions of documents fast and efficiently and found a solution through the use of technology. The community has been there and done that, through their experience and outside-the –box thinking approach, it would be great to see what else they can bring to the table and what other solutions they can find.
MM: HOW CAN THE ACEDS COMMUNITY GET INVOLVED?
FC: The beauty here is that there are many opportunities for everyone to get involved. It is an opportunity to work with others in the legal and tech community to share best practices, work collaboratively and build something new, their insights are welcome and important. Besides, it will be a global first and fun, so there are many reasons to get involved and opportunities to make your mark!
MM: AS A JUDGE IN NYC, WHAT WILL YOU BE LOOKING FOR?
FC: In Toronto, what I would be looking for is innovation and outside of the box thinking. Looking for that aha moment where a team can use the tools at their disposal to solve a real life problem. It may range from something as minimal as a team finding solution to simplify a simple task or legal process to finding a solution that will enhance access to justice or fundamentally alter how people “do law” moving forward. That is the beauty of this, anything is possible. But for me, outside of the box thinking, practical solutions to a real life problem, and just strategic use of the tools available today with an eye as to how this can be even more developed tomorrow will be some of the things I will be looking out for.
