Welcome to the American Legal Technology Awards

Roll up, roll up for the American Legal Technology Awards – a new prize-giving venture spearheaded by Tom Martin, the founder and CEO of LawDroid. Law firm founder, Patrick Palace, and US legal academic, Cat Moon, are also helping to drive the project.

The awards will highlight access to justice projects, along with more mainstream legal tech initiatives, and have several categories (see below), with nominated entries closing June 30. The main awards event will be in August and take place – naturally – online.

Main organiser, Martin, told Artificial Lawyer: ‘I was inspired by the Legal Innovators conference, so I decided to put on an event myself, with help from some friends, Patrick Palace and Cat Moon.’

Palace is an innovative lawyer in Tacoma, Washington who runs a workers compensation and personal injury law practice. Moon is a well-known law professor at Vanderbilt University law school in Nashville, Tennessee, who specialises in human-centred legal design.

‘Initially, we planned to do a full-on dinner extravaganza in Seattle, Washington. But, after COVID-19 hit, that all changed. The focus has changed as well. As Professor Richard Susskind asked recently of fellow legal technologists: ‘How are you contributing to the war effort?’

‘Having seen innovators across the country rise to the occasion of this crisis to help others, we thought it fitting to honour those who have tried to make a difference. We are christening it the ‘American Legal Technology Awards,’ which surprisingly did not yet exist,’ Martin explained to this site.

Judges who have agreed to participate include: Carolyn Elefant, Kevin O’Keefe, Shannon Salter, Dennis Kennedy, Miguel Willis, Jean Clauson and Nick Rishwain.

Award Categories:

Access to Justice – an organization or individual who has made a difference by helping the underserved access the legal system through the use of technology.

Startup – a legal technology startup company that has created a product or service that shows significant promise in providing outsize benefits to its users.

Enterprise – an established legal technology company that has successfully grown a product or service that demonstrates a unique and positive impact on its users.

Technology – a technology applied in a new or novel way in the legal industry that achieves a significant benefit.

Law Firm – a law firm that utilizes technology to exceed client expectations in a significant, measurable way. Individual – an individual who has demonstrated success throughout their career in making a positive difference in the world.

More information on how to enter/how to nominate can be found here.