2018-19 in Review

Our 2018-2019 Events

Fall, 2018, L-i-Lab Collaboration: On a series of four Fridays this Fall, TechSoc teamed up with the Library Innovation Lab to co-sponsor tech chats called Tech Gumbo — which gave programmers and entrepreneurs interested in building technology products with legal applications a chance to discuss what they are working on and throw around ideas for future projects/ collaborations.  Presenters included Berkman Klein’s John Bowers and TechSoc’s Vartan Shadaravian.

November 9th, 2018, HALB Panel: We organized a lunch panel panel from 12-1 on the final day of a five day HALB Legal Technology Conference which was co-hosted by the Journal of Law and Technology, HALB, TechSoc and the Library Innovation Lab.  Panelists included leaders from the legal tech industry in Boston and beyond.

November 10th, 2018, Justice Hackathon: We teamed up with Developing Justice for a hackathon this November where students developed tools to aid clinics!

January, 2019, Ethics of AI Hackathon and Panel: TechSoc hosted a panel with leading voices on the ethics of integrating artificial intelligence into the law.

February-March, 2019: HLS Tech Talks (HLSTechTalks.com) — Six HLS Tech Talks brought together innovators, designers, changers and decision makers who are attempting to change and improve the law.

February 27, 2019, Rochael Soper Adranly Speaker EventRochael has been representing creative and innovative individuals and organizations as well as pursuing her own creative projects for close to 20 years. She was featured in Modern Counsel magazine for her role as a creative counselor, walking the fine line between the rules based world of law and the non-rules based world of innovation. In her role as Legal Design Lead, Rochael uses IDEO’s design thinking methodology to ensure that IDEO legal processes and assets fit the human-centered culture of the firm.  In 2015 Rochael worked closely with her IDEO colleagues to create IDEO’s Legal Design + Innovation practice in order to bring IDEO’s design thinking offering to clients in the broader legal industry, building on IDEO’s work with organizational design throughout the fields of healthcare, government, professional services and education. 

February 28, 2019, Noah Waisberg Speaker EventKira is a powerful machine learning software that identifies, extracts, and analyzes text in your contracts and other documents.​ Prior to founding Kira Systems, Noah practiced at the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York, where he focused on private equity, M&A, and securities. Noah is an expert on contract analysis, legal technology, and artificial intelligence; has spoken at conferences including SXSW Interactive, ILTACON, and ReInvent Law; and was named 2016 ILTA Innovative Thought Leader of the Year. Noah holds a J.D. from the NYU School of Law, an A.M. from Brown University, and a B.A. with honours from McGill University.

March 13, 2019, Ed Walters Speaker Event: Factcase is an online legal research software company based in Washington, D.C. Under Ed’s leadership, Fastcase has grown into one of the world’s largest legal publishers, currently serving more than 800,000 subscribers from around the world. Before founding Fastcase, Ed worked at Covington & Burling in Washington D.C. and Brussels, where he advised clients such as Microsoft, Merck, SmithKline, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League. His practice focused on corporate advisory work for software companies and sports leagues, and intellectual property litigation. Ed worked in the White House from 1991-1993, first in the Office of Media Affairs and then in the Office of Presidential Speechwriting.

March 14, 2019, Glenn  Rawdon Speaker Event: Glenn is responsible for helping legal services programs with their technology efforts and with the administration of the Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) program. Since the program started in 2000, TIG has made over 550 grants totaling over $46 million, many of them in partnerships with SJI and the courts. Glenn is a member of SRLN’s Executive Committee and a frequent speaker on self-help strategies. Before coming to LSC in 1999, he was a managing attorney at Legal Services of Eastern Oklahoma for five years and before that, he was in private practice. Glenn has served as co-chair of the Law Office Management section of the Oklahoma Bar Association and was a member of the Legal Technical Advisory Counsel of the ABA.

March 27, 2019, Jon Kerry-Tyerman Speaker Event: Jon is the VP of Business Development & Intelligence at Everlaw. Prior to joining Everlaw, he spent over eight years at LexisNexis leading new product development and innovation programs, as well as nearly a decade as an adjunct professor in the Internet and Intellectual Property Justice Clinic at the University of San Francisco School of Law. He loves everything law, design, and technology!

March 28, 2019, Colin Rule speaker event: Colin Rule is Vice President for Online Dispute Resolution at Tyler Technologies.  Tyler acquired Modria.com, an ODR provider Colin co-founded, in 2017.  From 2003 to 2011 Colin was Director of Online Dispute Resolution for eBay and PayPal. He has worked in the dispute resolution field for more than 25 years as a mediator, trainer, and consultant. He is currently Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution at UMass-Amherst and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Gould Center for Conflict Resolution at Stanford Law School.

April 2-3, 2019: Harvard Litigation Finance Symposium (HarvardLitFin.com) — In one of the largest global litigation finance events, the Symposium explores the field from an interdisciplinary perspective by bringing current litigation finance experts together with leaders in adjacent disciplines. Our aim was to generate new knowledge and insights and to contribute to the development of this new and exciting field, while introducing students to this important and multifaceted industry.

April 2, 2019, Remarks by Selvyn Seidel, a “founding father” of litigation finance

April 2, 2019, Securitizing Justice: The Market for Legal Risk panel: Panel featuring Harvard Business School professor Lauren H. Cohen, Arrowhead co-founder, T. Wynne Morriss, and Fulbrook Chairman, Selvyn Seidel.

April 2, 2019, Ethics of Litigation Finance: Champerty and Other Doctrines panel: Panel featuring Curiam Managing Principal, Owen Cyrulnik, Legis Managing Director, Timothy Scrantom, and Validity Finance Portfolio Counsel, Will Marra.

April 2, 2019, Litigation Finance: Truly an Uncorrelated Asset panel: Dynamic panel conversation featuring Harvard Business School professor, Christopher Malloy, Lake Whillans co-founder, Lee Drucker, and Statera Co-founder Andrew Woltman.

April 2, 2019, Careers in Litigation Finance Panel: Engaging panel aimed at Harvard Law students featuring  Harvard Law’s Director of Career Services, Mark Weber, Therium’s Senior Investment Officer, Elizabeth Korchin, Burford’s VP Emily Hostage, Fulbrook’s Founder, Selvyn Seidel and Affiniti Finance’s CEO, Ian Cunningham

April 2, 2019, David Wilkins Keynote: Groundbreaking keynote speech on the legal industry’s evolution by Harvard Law Professor, Director of the Harvard Law Center on the Legal Profession,  and Vice Dean for Global Initiatives on the Legal Profession, David Wilkins.

April 3, 2019, Litigation Finance in Emerging Markets panel

April 3, 2019, Litigation Finance and its Role in our Justice System panel

April 3, 2019, Emerging Technologies in Litigation Finance panel

April 3, 2019, Arbitration Financing, a Deep Dive panel

April 4, 2019, Litigation Funding Forum (New York City), co-sponsored by DealFlow

April 9, 2019: Careers in Technology Transactions lunch panel

April 19, 2019: TechSoc welcomes FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to campus (event co-sponsored by Harvard Law Democrats and JOLT)