Civil Justice, Inc.'s Maryland Justice Passport redefines equitable access to civil legal support through a secure digital platform that serves as a comprehensive hub for legal resources. This innovative system connects low-income Marylanders with legal assistance, court information, and self-help tools in one centralized location.

The platform is not static but constantly evolving through structured collaboration between Civil Justice, legal service providers, and the litigants themselves. User feedback directly informs improvements, ensuring the system remains responsive to actual needs on the ground. This iterative approach creates a virtuous cycle where each interaction strengthens the platform's effectiveness.

The Passport breaks down long-standing barriers in the legal system, especially for self-represented litigants. Many visitors to Maryland's courthouses lack basic information about their rights, available resources, or how to navigate court procedures. The Passport provides clear, accessible guidance that demystifies the legal process and connects people with appropriate assistance based on their specific circumstances.

By consolidating scattered resources into one user-friendly digital interface, the Maryland Justice Passport helps address immediate justice needs while supporting broader transformation of structures that perpetuate inequality. The platform demonstrates how technology can expand access beyond traditional constraints of geography, office hours, and limited staffing. It serves as a model for how courts and legal aid organizations can leverage digital tools to meet people where they are, providing support that is both comprehensive and accessible. The Passport's impact extends beyond individual cases, contributing to systemic change in how legal services reach underserved communities.

After a prestigious career as a Big Law partner and Pro Bono Committee chair, Nora Cregan founded The Access Project (TAP) in 2019 with a bold vision: to provide comprehensive legal support to formerly incarcerated individuals seeking to rebuild their lives. Her unique background positioned her to understand both the power of high-quality legal representation and the massive gaps in access to justice.

In 2022, with only 1.5 full-time employees, Nora launched a statewide program serving formerly incarcerated students at dozens of California community colleges. This free program has helped thousands of students navigate the complex process of sealing or expunging criminal records—a crucial step toward improved economic outcomes and lower recidivism rates.

TAP works with students from diverse California community colleges and county jails, helping them clear their records, restore rights, and overcome barriers to education and employment. The organization has developed innovative technology tools and partnerships that allow it to serve this population at scale, far beyond what traditional legal aid models could achieve.

Clean slate remedies are well-documented as gateways to economic mobility and reduced recidivism, yet they remain difficult to access without legal assistance. Nora's work demonstrates how combining legal expertise with technology and community college partnerships can democratize access to these life-changing services. By empowering formerly incarcerated students to clear their records, TAP creates pathways to stability, education, and meaningful employment—breaking cycles of poverty and recidivism that affect entire communities.

Zoe Dolan's innovative program teaches everyday people—many with no technical or legal background—how to use chat-based AI to research law, navigate appellate procedure, and draft legal briefs. This hands-on class addresses a critical justice gap: the vast number of people who cannot afford lawyers but face complex legal challenges.

The program demonstrates that AI tools, when properly taught, can empower marginalized litigants to represent themselves more effectively. Students learn not just to use AI, but to understand its limitations and verify its outputs—essential skills for responsible legal self-advocacy. The transformation is striking: individuals who previously felt overwhelmed by legal jargon gain confidence navigating statutes, case law, and procedural requirements.

The program embodies a "teach people to fish" philosophy. Graduates share their experiences—successes and failures—which feed into improving the next class iteration. This creates a virtuous cycle where the curriculum becomes increasingly refined and effective based on real-world application.

By giving marginalized litigants access to AI tools and the skills to use them, this program shrinks the justice gap that traditional barriers have long maintained and arguably exacerbated. The work challenges assumptions about who can engage with legal systems and demonstrates that technology, properly deployed, can be democratizing rather than exclusionary.

Ohio Legal Help's Virtual Self-Help Centers (VSHCs) demonstrate how courts can use mobile-first technology to eliminate traditional barriers to justice. In partnership with courts in Montgomery, Cuyahoga, and Lorain Counties, Ohio Legal Help created secure, user-centered platforms that empower self-represented individuals to complete complex court forms using plain language guided interviews.

The platform offers built-in accessibility features, including text-to-speech, and delivers comprehensive, step-by-step support at every stage of the process—from starting a divorce or dissolution to submitting the final judgment entry. All of this is delivered through an advanced, mobile-first platform designed for ease of use and broad accessibility.

Ohio Legal Help employs rigorous data-driven and user-centered design strategies. They continuously collect user feedback through surveys and analytics, which directly informs development. For example, when analytics revealed users struggled with specific questions, the team simplified language and added visual aids, resulting in measurably improved completion rates.

Access to legal assistance remains severely limited—the Legal Services Corporation estimates that low-income Americans did not receive adequate legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems. Virtual Self-Help Centers address this crisis by providing free, 24/7 access to legal forms and guidance without income restrictions or appointments. The technology meets people where they are, on their phones, during evenings and weekends when courts are closed.

The VSHCs represent a fundamental reimagining of court accessibility, proving that technology can serve justice by removing barriers of time, location, literacy, and economic status.

The Maryland Center for Legal Assistance has reimagined how courts ensure access to justice for self-represented litigants. Through a contract with the Maryland Judiciary, MCLA operates the Maryland Self-Help Centers and develops technology solutions that fundamentally improve legal service delivery.

MCLA's innovations foster continuous learning, collaboration, and practical problem-solving. Their homegrown technology solutions are designed not as static tools but as living systems— constantly refined through court staff feedback, user testing, and performance data. When automated form systems revealed user confusion, MCLA didn't just patch the problem; they conducted user research, redesigned workflows, and created training materials for court staff.

The organization automated complex court forms and created a comprehensive self-help portal assisting self-represented parties statewide. This reduces the burden on court staff while making the judicial system more efficient. Court clerks who previously spent hours helping individuals complete forms can now guide them to MCLA's intuitive online systems, freeing staff for other critical work.

MCLA's work directly advances equitable justice by providing accessible legal help to individuals who might otherwise navigate complex court processes alone. Crucially, MCLA imposes no income restrictions—anyone can access their services regardless of financial status. This universal access model recognizes that middle-income individuals also struggle with legal costs and complexity.

By combining technology expertise with deep understanding of court operations and self-represented litigant needs, MCLA has created scalable solutions that serve Maryland's entire population while supporting court efficiency and effectiveness.

Jacksonville Area Legal Aid's FLARE (Family Law Assistance at Reduced Expense) program expands our understanding of what is possible in public interest law by reimagining legal service delivery for moderate-income individuals. Traditionally, legal aid serves only the poorest clients, while middle-income people cannot afford private attorneys, creating a massive "missing middle" with no access to justice.

FLARE addresses this gap by offering limited-scope representation at reduced fees, making quality family law services accessible to working-class families who earn too much for free legal aid but too little to afford traditional hourly rates. The program uses technology to streamline intake, case management, and client communication, allowing attorneys to serve more clients efficiently.

The innovation fosters a sustainable ecosystem benefiting clients, attorneys, and the justice system. Clients gain timely, affordable legal help without long waitlists typical of free services. Attorneys earn fair compensation while serving those in need. Courts benefit from having more represented parties who file proper paperwork and follow procedures.

FLARE's focus on family law—covering divorce, child custody, domestic violence, and support issues—addresses life-altering matters where legal representation dramatically affects outcomes. A parent with legal help has better chances of obtaining fair custody arrangements or adequate child support. Domestic violence victims with attorney assistance can more safely navigate protection order processes.

Sarah Mauet's UX4Justice represents a groundbreaking course where law, design, and technology intersect to close the justice gap. UX4Justice is at the forefront of utilizing user experience (UX) research and design methodologies to create legal technology tools that truly serve users, particularly vulnerable populations navigating court systems.

Through an iterative, research-based approach, Sarah trains students and professionals to continuously evaluate and refine legal technology tools based on user feedback, community needs, and real-world testing. This methodology ensures that tools don't just work technically—they work for the people who need them most, including individuals experiencing trauma, limited literacy, or language barriers.

Sarah's work directly addresses the justice gap by designing tools that make legal systems more understandable, easier to use, and trauma-informed for all court users, particularly those most vulnerable. Traditional legal forms and processes assume legal literacy and emotional distance that many users don't possess. UX4Justice teaches designers to account for stress, confusion, and fear that accompany legal proceedings.

The course has trained a generation of legal innovators who understand that effective legal technology requires more than coding skills—it demands empathy, user research, and commitment to accessibility. Students learn to conduct user interviews, analyze how people actually interact with legal systems, identify pain points, and design solutions that address real needs rather than assumed ones.

By transforming legal education to include human-centered design principles, Sarah Mauet is creating a more just society where technology serves as a bridge to justice rather than another barrier.

Rebecca Fordon is redefining what it means to teach legal research and technology in the age of AI. Her work goes beyond simply introducing new tools—she challenges students, librarians, and legal professionals to think critically about how artificial intelligence transforms legal practice, research, and access to justice.

Rebecca's approach fosters a continuous loop of learning, application, reflection, and refinement across the legal education ecosystem. In the classroom, she equips students with practical experience using AI tools while developing critical evaluation skills. She teaches them to question outputs, verify citations, understand limitations, and recognize bias—essential competencies for lawyers working with AI.

Her influence extends beyond students. Rebecca educates librarians and legal professionals through workshops, publications, and presentations, helping the entire legal community navigate AI's promises and pitfalls. She doesn't advocate blindly for or against AI; instead, she provides frameworks for thoughtful, ethical adoption.

Rebecca's work helps build a more just society by democratizing access to legal knowledge and equipping future lawyers with tools and mindsets needed to navigate an evolving legal landscape responsibly. She recognizes that AI can either exacerbate existing inequalities or help bridge them, depending on how it's developed and deployed.

By teaching critical AI literacy alongside technical skills, Rebecca ensures that the next generation of lawyers can harness technology's power while remaining alert to its dangers. Her work represents the kind of thoughtful, nuanced education essential for a legal profession facing unprecedented technological transformation.

Professor William F. Hamilton deserves recognition for his transformative and sustained contributions to legal technology education. A former litigation partner who transitioned to full-time academia, he has impacted thousands of students, lawyers, and judges through exceptional teaching, visionary leadership, and relentless innovation.

As founder and driving force behind the University of Florida Law E-Discovery Conference, Professor Hamilton established one of the nation's foremost forums for advancing legal technology education. The conference attracts thousands of online attendees worldwide and in-person participants annually, offering free online access and modest in-person fees to maximize accessibility. This commitment to access reflects Hamilton's belief that quality legal technology education should not be limited by geography or finances.

Professor Hamilton pioneered hybrid online conference attendance at the University of Florida over a decade ago, making legal technology education accessible to professionals worldwide who lack resources to attend expensive conferences. He continuously innovates, recently adding free pre-conference Zoom sessions on hot topics and launching a law journal component that produces law review-quality articles.

Beyond the conference, Professor Hamilton has transformed legal education by bringing practical eDiscovery training into law school curricula, creating the nation's first paralegal program devoted to eDiscovery, and teaching at Florida Judicial Colleges where judges learn about technology, social media, and AI through his engaging methods.

Onit is redefining what's possible in enterprise legal operations with Unity, its AI-native solution built from the ground up to embed intelligence as a foundational layer. Where traditional systems add AI as an afterthought, Unity integrates it into every workflow, enabling proactive insights, automated decision-making, and predictive analytics that transform how legal departments operate.

Unity's AI capabilities span the entire legal operations lifecycle. Spend Agent analyzes billing patterns and flags anomalies before they become budget issues. AskAI provides instant answers to policy questions, reducing time spent searching for information. Workflow automation handles routine tasks, freeing legal professionals for strategic work. The platform doesn't just track matters—it predicts risks, suggests actions, and continuously optimizes processes.

Onit's solution is designed for continuous learning at product, team, and organizational levels. Every interaction within Unity generates high-quality data that powers smarter AI agents, surfaces clearer insights, and improves recommendations. This creates a virtuous cycle where the system becomes more valuable with use.

At its core, Onit's work advances fairness, transparency, and access—fundamental tenets of a just legal system. Tools like Spend Agent and AskAI standardize invoice review and policy interpretation, reducing subjective bias in billing disputes and ensuring consistent application of legal standards. By democratizing access to legal expertise through AI-powered tools, Onit enables smaller legal teams to achieve outcomes previously requiring much larger departments.

Unity represents the future of legal operations: intelligent, integrated, and continuously improving.

BigHand is expanding the boundaries of what's possible in the business of law, redefining the limits of legal operations. Their technology enables law firms to transform complex operational infrastructure into strategic advantages, improving efficiency, transparency, and equity.

BigHand's strategy is grounded in deep understanding of the legal sector and unwavering focus on practical innovation. They recognize that being a true technology partner requires more than offering sophisticated tools—it requires understanding how legal professionals actually work and designing solutions that integrate seamlessly into existing workflows.

The company's Resource Management tool plays a key role in promoting fairness and inclusivity. By optimizing work allocation based on skills, capacity, and development needs rather than informal networks or favoritism, BigHand helps ensure equitable distribution of opportunities. This is particularly important for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as transparent work allocation combats the "old boys' network" dynamics that have historically disadvantaged women and minority attorneys.

BigHand's solutions address ongoing frustrations in the eDiscovery space thoughtfully and thoroughly, leveling the playing field for smaller law firms while providing greater privacy protections for evidence custodians. Their approach makes sophisticated eDiscovery capabilities accessible beyond large firms with dedicated technology budgets.

The company's commitment to practical innovation means they continuously refine solutions based on user feedback and evolving needs. This creates a virtuous cycle where law firms become more efficient and equitable, which in turn informs better technology development, ultimately strengthening the entire legal industry's operational foundation.

LegalSifter expands our understanding of what is possible by demonstrating how artificial intelligence, when combined with human expertise and delivered through a flexible service model, can transform contract management from a burdensome legal function into a strategic, scalable advantage.

LegalSifter ReviewPro uses thousands of domain-specific AI "Sifters"—AI models trained to detect and interpret critical contract concepts—to read and analyze contracts with the precision of a seasoned attorney. These Sifters identify missing terms, noncompliant language, and key legal concepts in seconds, allowing users to review contracts faster and more confidently.

But LegalSifter doesn't stop at technology. Through its Contract Operations as a Service (COaaS) model, the company provides clients with direct access to contract professionals and legal experts who help implement playbooks, refine workflows, and ensure reviews align with business goals. This integrated approach fundamentally changes what's possible in the contract lifecycle.

Traditionally, contract review was slow, siloed, and costly, reserved for legal teams already stretched thin. LegalSifter makes it possible for procurement managers, commercial leads, and legal operations professionals to self-serve on contract review, scaling expertise across the business. Clients report reducing review times by up to 90%, improving consistency, and accelerating deal flow while maintaining high standards of legal and operational oversight.

Nick Rishwain expands our understanding of what is possible by centering those the legal industry has historically overlooked. His focus on Black, Brown, and women founders, and on the 80% of people the legal system fails to serve, represents a fundamental reorientation of priorities in legal technology investment and advocacy.

Nick invests in a way that multiplies impact. Through financial support, introductions, mentorship, and access to resources, he equips founders to succeed and to support others. His investment philosophy recognizes that backing diverse founders isn't just ethically right—it's strategically smart, as these founders often build solutions for underserved markets that larger players ignore.

Nick puts his money, time, and energy where his values are. Many talk about equity, access, and justice. Few act as consistently as he does. By investing in Black, Brown, and women founders, he actively works to redistribute power and opportunity in an industry dominated by white male investors and entrepreneurs. His work challenges the status quo that perpetuates inequality in legal technology.

Beyond capital, Nick provides mentorship that helps founders navigate the challenges of building companies in a competitive, often unwelcoming landscape. He makes introductions that open doors, shares lessons from his own experience, and advocates for his portfolio companies in rooms where decisions are made.

Nick's impact extends far beyond individual investments. By demonstrating that diverse founders can build successful companies, he challenges industry assumptions and paves the way for more inclusive investment patterns. His work creates a virtuous cycle where success breeds more opportunity for historically excluded founders.

Colin Lachance, a long-time and active contributor to the legal innovation community, has spent the past year focused on developing the legal profession's understanding and readiness for the AI legal practice revolution. As an Innovator in Residence, he was appointed with a broad and open mandate: prepare lawyers for the AI future.

Colin fulfilled this mandate by designing and developing resources that help lawyers understand AI's capabilities, limitations, and ethical implications. He recognizes that AI cannot and should not replace lawyers, but lawyers must develop the capacity to "partner" with AI to effectively serve clients and protect rights, liberties, and the rule of law.

His work as a tenant attorney and law professor brings crucial perspective to legal AI development. Colin understands that technology must serve justice, not just efficiency. His direct defense of tenants, education of future advocates, contributions to scholarly discourse, influence on policy, and empowerment of communities inform his approach to AI education.

Colin's work encourages a virtuous cycle of improvement by equipping lawyers to critically evaluate AI tools, identify appropriate use cases, and develop workflows that leverage AI's strengths while maintaining human judgment and accountability. He teaches lawyers to be neither technophobic nor uncritically enthusiastic—but thoughtfully experimental.

By preparing lawyers for responsible AI adoption, Colin helps ensure that legal technology serves justice rather than undermining it. His work builds capacity across the profession, enabling lawyers at all experience levels and practice settings to harness AI's power while maintaining fidelity to professional responsibilities and client needs.

Ivy Grey is an exceptional leader in the legal technology space who aims to educate through writing and improve technical advances incrementally. She is an advocate for using the tools you already have and maximizing their potential before rushing to adopt the newest technology—a refreshingly practical approach in an industry often dominated by hype.

Ivy's work speaks for itself and is quite literally part of the virtuous cycle of improvement. Nobody puts in more time, attention to detail, and preparation for writing and speaking engagements. Her content is meticulously researched, clearly explained, and immediately actionable—qualities that make her work invaluable to legal professionals trying to navigate complex technology decisions.

Her writing and speaking help communicate clear and robust ideas about legal technology adoption, implementation, and optimization. She breaks down complex concepts into understandable components, making sophisticated technology accessible to lawyers who may lack technical backgrounds. This educational work is essential for bridging the gap between technology developers and legal practitioners.

Beyond her individual contributions, Ivy guides, supports, and promotes others in the legal technology space. She has been ultra-supportive of other voices, particularly women and emerging leaders, helping to diversify and strengthen the legal technology community. This mentorship and advocacy work multiplies her impact beyond her own substantial output.

The Geek in Review, hosted by Marlene Gebauer and Greg Lambert, regularly highlights innovators, thought leaders, and disruptors who share knowledge and inspire others to consider new tools, strategies, and mindsets. The podcast encourages curious exploration of legal technology's possibilities while maintaining critical perspective on its limitations.

Marlene and Greg create a rich idea-sharing space where they ask candid questions in a relaxed atmosphere. Guests are encouraged to share their experiences—mistakes and all—making innovation feel accessible rather than intimidating. This approach demystifies legal technology and shows that progress comes through experimentation, iteration, and learning from failures.

The Geek in Review regularly amplifies voices, ideas, and technologies that push the legal profession toward greater access, fairness, and understanding. Guests include access to justice advocates, diversity champions, and innovators building solutions for underserved communities. By providing a platform for these voices, Marlene helps ensure that conversations about legal technology include equity and justice, not just efficiency and profit.

Through her boldness and coverage of generative AI, innovators building for good, and the massive disparities between men and women in the legal tech ecosystem, Marlene has pushed to cover topics that didn't align with traditional legal tech audience expectations and were sometimes perceived as less important. Her willingness to prioritize these conversations despite pushback demonstrates commitment to using journalism as a force for positive change.

Marlene's work helps create a more informed, thoughtful legal technology community that considers not just what technology can do, but what it should do and who it should serve.

Stephen Embry's writings define what is possible when it comes to technology in the legal sector. After a successful law firm career, Steve chose to use his retirement years to write in the legal tech space—and the industry is better for it. His TechLaw Crossroads blog, once flying under the radar, has gained well-deserved recognition, with Above the Law increasingly publishing articles under his byline.

Steve is adept at covering product announcements, industry trends, and stories that others might not realize impact the legal profession. Everything he writes comes from a place of thoughtfulness and a genuine desire to make the profession better. Nothing Steve writes is phoned in. Even when covering topics that other journalists address, he always offers a fresh take or interesting insight that elevates the conversation.

Steve's honest and unbiased approach to legal tech journalism is infused with an underlying sense of optimism. He covers issues that matter—even negative ones—never from a position of schadenfreude, but always from a lens of how we can make the legal profession better. He is a constant educator. Even seasoned legal tech journalists learn something from every piece Steve publishes, yet he avoids self-righteousness, balancing his insights with healthy doses of humor and realism.

Steve never misses a chance to highlight justice inequalities and promote opportunities to close the justice gap. His writing carries an undertone of wanting lawyers to be the best lawyers they can be, which improves both the industry and society as a whole. Given a choice, he would likely choose to cover the legal aid and access to justice story over the BigLaw tech story every time.

Simply put, Stephen Embry is the hidden gem of legal tech journalism—stellar writing paired with deep industry knowledge gained from decades of actual practice, deserving long-overdue recognition.

Ellen Schmid, a Law Librarian with the Kane County Law Library and Self Help Legal Center for 11 years, also serves as webmaster for the 16th Judicial Circuit and public information officer. Her multifaceted role positions her uniquely to bridge technology gaps across the legal system.

Ellen has demonstrated exceptional dedication to advancing technology and promoting civic engagement within her library and legal communities. Her accolades include the American Library Association's Excellence in Library Programming Award and Illinois Library Association recognition, reflecting her impact on library and legal communities.

Ellen's work significantly advances a more just society by consistently writing, teaching, and mentoring others in the legal community to bridge the technological divide. Her focus on providing access to technology and information serves court users, legal professionals, and the general public seeking to understand and navigate the legal system.

As both a librarian and technology professional, Ellen understands that access to information is foundational to justice. She works to ensure that technology serves as a bridge rather than a barrier, helping people find and use legal information regardless of their technical sophistication or resources.

ClaimScore is a standout legal tech startup proving that you can build fast, scalable, and highly secure claim validation without sacrificing accessibility. At the core of its innovation is a real-time fraud detection system that analyzes claim submissions instantly, identifying suspicious patterns while allowing legitimate claimants to move through the process smoothly.

The startup's mission is rooted in a simple idea: protect settlement integrity without excluding the people settlements were meant to help. Its product allows class members to file claims easily and securely, using sophisticated AI to detect fraud without burdensome verification requirements that create barriers for legitimate claimants.

ClaimScore's product isn't just built to perform—it's designed to improve continuously. Unlike older systems that require constant manual tuning, ClaimScore's AI dynamically adapts to emerging fraud patterns, learning from each submission to become more accurate and effective. This creates a virtuous cycle where the system gets smarter with every claim processed.

The technology streamlines many bottlenecks that disrupt access to justice—including confusing processes, missed appearances, and communication breakdowns—in an accessible and intuitive platform. Improving coordination and communication in the legal system benefits parties, jurors, witnesses, court staff, and settlement administrators.

By protecting settlement funds from fraudulent claims, ClaimScore ensures that legitimate class members receive their rightful compensation. This matters enormously for settlements meant to provide relief to people who have been harmed. When fraud depletes settlement funds, real victims receive less—or nothing. ClaimScore's work makes justice more reliable and equitable.

New Era ADR has redefined the boundaries of what's achievable in dispute resolution. Traditionally, arbitration and litigation processes are lengthy, costly, and often inaccessible. New Era created a platform that makes alternative dispute resolution fast, affordable, and user-friendly, opening access to individuals and companies that previously couldn't afford to resolve disputes formally.

The platform uses generative AI to democratize access to law by helping everyone not just find relevant legal principles but understand them. This educational component empowers users to make informed decisions about their disputes, regardless of legal background or resources.

New Era's innovation doesn't stop with launch—it's built to evolve. The team actively integrates user feedback from corporate clients, outside counsel, neutrals, and judges to continuously improve the platform. This iterative approach ensures the system remains responsive to real-world needs and challenges.

At its core, New Era's mission is about increasing access to justice. By radically reducing cost, time, and intimidation, New Era opens the door for individuals and companies, especially those with smaller claims, to seek resolution that would otherwise be economically impractical. A $10,000 dispute might cost $50,000 to litigate traditionally, making resolution impossible. New Era makes that dispute economically resolvable.

The platform proves that technology can make dispute resolution more accessible without sacrificing quality or fairness. By removing barriers to formal resolution, New Era helps more disputes reach just outcomes rather than festering unresolved or forcing parties to accept unfair settlements simply to avoid prohibitive costs.

Matt Patel's work at Malbek demonstrates how complex contract management processes can be transformed through technology innovation. As COO and Co-Founder at Malbek, he has helped create "the most modern, intelligent, and user-friendly contract lifecycle management solution" available, according to nominations highlighting the platform's capabilities.

Matt's work embodies a continuous improvement philosophy centered on customer feedback. His "primary objective is to ensure continuous innovation in our solution based on customer feedback and industry trends," ensuring that Malbek's technology evolves in response to actual user needs rather than theoretical features.

The platform transforms contract management from a reactive, manual process into a proactive, strategic function. By automating routine tasks, standardizing workflows, and providing intelligent insights, Malbek enables legal and procurement teams to focus on high-value work rather than administrative burdens.

Matt's experience includes providing "subject matter expertise and project management services on various government sector projects focusing in criminal justice agencies" and working "with a variety of state and local government entities to modernize business practices." This public sector experience informs Malbek's commitment to making contract management accessible and effective for organizations of all types, not just large enterprises.

When Gunderson Dettmer launched ChatGD+ in 2025, generative AI became fully embedded in the firm's operations. Built on the DeepJudge AI search and workflow platform, ChatGD+ introduced a suite of AI-powered tools that transformed how attorneys research, draft, and manage legal work.

The firm's approach to AI is built on active use, continuous learning, and sustained iteration. Gunderson Dettmer does not treat innovation as a single milestone, but as a process that adapts and improves over time. Attorneys use AI tools daily, providing feedback that directly informs refinements. This creates a virtuous cycle where technology becomes more useful as it learns from actual practice.

ChatGD+ integrates AI across the practice lifecycle: research assistants that find relevant precedents in seconds, drafting tools that generate first drafts of common documents, and workflow automation that handles routine tasks. But the firm maintains that AI augments rather than replaces attorney judgment—human expertise remains central to client service.

Gunderson Dettmer supports many early-stage companies and first-time founders, including individuals with limited legal experience or budget. The firm's clients are building the future, whether in technology, life sciences, or other innovative sectors. By using AI to increase efficiency, the firm can serve these clients more cost-effectively while maintaining the high-quality representation sophisticated transactions demand.

The firm's commitment to embedding AI across operations demonstrates that large-scale technology adoption requires cultural change, not just tools. Gunderson Dettmer has created an environment where attorneys embrace AI as a valuable partner in delivering excellent client service.

Pinay Law is redefining what a modern, culturally aware, and tech-empowered law firm can be. As a women-owned firm, Pinay Law is breaking barriers by using technology not just for efficiency, but as a tool for equity and community empowerment.

The firm approaches innovation as an ongoing, inclusive conversation. By collecting constant feedback from clients, automating repetitive tasks, and empowering staff through digital tools, the firm creates a continuous improvement cycle. Clients receive better service, staff work more efficiently, and the firm can serve more families at accessible price points.

At the heart of family law is the pursuit of safety, fairness, and stability, and Pinay Law leverages legal technology to make that vision a reality for communities too often left behind. From simplifying complex immigration paperwork to making divorce proceedings more transparent and less intimidating, the firm uses technology to reduce barriers that disproportionately affect immigrant and minority communities.

Pinay Law's cultural awareness extends to understanding how technology can either bridge or widen equity gaps. The firm deliberately chooses and configures tools to serve clients who may have limited English proficiency, digital literacy barriers, or distrust of formal systems. This thoughtful approach ensures technology serves justice rather than creating new obstacles.

Janice Dantes has also spearheaded adoption of artificial intelligence to benefit the firm and clients. She co-founded a women's AI Community to foster idea exchange and provide support, recognizing that collaborative learning accelerates innovation. Her leadership demonstrates how technology adoption can be both strategic and values-driven.

Daniel Acevedo shows that industrial-grade legal operations can flourish anywhere. At EY Law, he blends process-mining, AI review, and low-code automation to cut cycle times and legal spend for multinational clients. His work demonstrates that sophisticated legal technology isn't limited to large law firms in major cities—it can be deployed effectively wherever lawyers commit to innovation.

Daniel's work runs on a tight feedback loop: he first maps each legal process, sets baseline KPIs, and after every automation or AI sprint, re-measures cycle time, cost, and error rates—living his mantra that "what gets measured gets managed." This disciplined approach ensures that technology investments deliver measurable value rather than serving as expensive experiments.

His mission is to democratize high-quality legal services. At EY Law, he deploys AI-driven process tools that cut review and filing costs for mid-market clients, proving that efficiency gains can benefit clients beyond the largest enterprises. This work directly challenges the notion that sophisticated legal technology is only accessible to the wealthiest clients.

Daniel's decade-long commitment to innovative thinking, being an early adopter of fee transparency, flat fees, and subscriptions, shows sustained dedication to making legal services more predictable and accessible. These pricing innovations, enabled by operational efficiency through technology, allow clients to budget effectively for legal services rather than facing unpredictable hourly billing.

Free Law Project (FLP) is a nonprofit organization using open-source technology to make legal information freely accessible and understandable to everyone. As a 2025 American Legal Technology Awards finalist in the AI category, FLP was recognized for its groundbreaking exploratory project using artificial intelligence to improve access to civil rights litigation.

In collaboration with the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse and funded by Arnold Ventures, FLP explored how AI could be used to classify, summarize, and semantically search complex legal cases—particularly those involving systemic justice issues like prison conditions, voting rights, and government accountability. This phase of work validated that such tools could be built responsibly using open models and public data.

Rather than build behind closed doors, FLP published its models, methods, and results openly—laying the groundwork for future development and inviting the broader legal tech community to adapt, build on, and contribute. The project has already accelerated the development of FLP’s open-source citator (a first of its kind) and will soon integrate AI tools into public-facing platforms like CourtListener. This work is expanding the field’s understanding of how nonprofit-led, transparent AI can serve justice—not just efficiency.

Descrybe.ai challenges the notion that legal AI must be expensive, exclusive, or opaque. By combining OpenAI's large language models with tightly curated legal data, Descrybe delivers some of the most powerful legal research tools in the industry. Its Cytator, the first AI-powered citator to extract issue-level precedent, moves beyond case-level treatments to support deep legal reasoning.

With over 100 billion tokens processed across millions of judicial opinions and tens of millions of citations, Descrybe proves that AI can be applied responsibly to law, without hallucinations, hidden costs, or barriers to access. The platform's sophisticated technology is matched by its commitment to transparency and accuracy—essential qualities for legal AI.

Every interaction on Descrybe fuels a smarter, more inclusive platform. With thousands of users conducting legal research daily—including attorneys, pro se litigants, legal aid providers, law librarians, and students—the platform receives constant real-world feedback. That input shapes everything from product features to language clarity, creating a virtuous cycle of improvement.

Descrybe's AI is built to expand justice, not automate inequality. While most AI legal tools cater to large firms and further concentrate power among the "haves," Descrybe takes a different path: making powerful legal research tools available to everyone. It doesn't auto-draft legal filings or rely blindly on AI. Instead, it includes safeguards like a hallucination checker to validate citations and maintains full transparency about how its models work.

Descrybe proves that when built with purpose and accountability, AI can empower rather than replace, and illuminate the law rather than obscure it.

9to5 Legal Docs was founded on the belief that business success should not hinge on whether founders can afford legal services. The platform incorporates practical and ethical AI legal solutions proving that legal assistance can be accessible, supportive, and scalable, giving entrepreneurs the reassurance to focus on building their businesses with confidence.

The platform uses attorney-trained AI to break down complicated legalese in a practical manner, guiding entrepreneurs through legal steps with clarity and recommending the right tools for their growth stage. This is technology with human purpose: ensuring no founder loses out on the American Dream simply because they lack legal support.

9to5's AI doesn't replace lawyers but gives them an alternative method to reach and serve clients more efficiently. Attorneys shape the AI with their own expertise, ensuring tools are grounded in real-world legal knowledge. The AI becomes a bridge between lawyers and the people they want to serve—not just tech for efficiency's sake, but tech that builds trust.

AI has the power to widen gaps or close them—9to5 is choosing to close them. Good legal advice has historically been accessible only to the well-funded. With 9to5 Legal Docs, founder Marla Miller uses AI to change that equation, giving everyday entrepreneurs a fighting chance to do things right from the start.