As discussed Wednesday in part one of this three-part sequence, these posts are a set of reflections on the tenth anniversary of the ReInvent Law Silicon Valley occasion, held in Mountain View Calif., on March 8, 2013, and what it meant to the authors and to the broader motion for innovation in legislation. In in the present day’s ultimate installment, we function contributions from Ed Walters, Joe Kelly and Nicole Nehama Auerbach.
– Dan Lear and Bob Ambrogi, sequence editors.
Ed Walters, CEO at Fastcase, Adjunct Professor on the Georgetown College Regulation Middle and at Cornell Regulation College/Cornell Tech
Ed Walters is the CEO of Fastcase, a authorized intelligence firm based mostly in Washington, D.C. He’s an adjunct professor on the Georgetown College Regulation Middle, the place he teaches The Law of Autonomous Vehicles, and at Cornell Regulation College, the place he teaches The Law of Robots, a category in regards to the frontiers of legislation and expertise. He’s the creator and editor of Data-Driven Law (Taylor & Francis 2018).
It’s not an exaggeration to say that ReInvent Regulation Silicon Valley was an occasion that modified every thing.
Watching the 2013 presentations about disruption of authorized companies may not be very surprising, as a result of the format, the presentation, and the matters have change into so broadly adopted that they appear like they’ve all the time been round.
The concept legislation was ripe for disruption has not all the time been round.
In actual fact, a lot of the matters on the convention had been controversial, irreverent, and something however inevitable. The presenters in lots of rooms would have been thought-about heretics in 2013. However once they had been all collected in the identical room at RLSV, it grew to become a Second.
Equally, the lineup of audio system could not appear exceptional in 2023, as a result of lots of them went on to change into fairly well-known in authorized tech circles. However there wasn’t even a longtime “authorized tech” class in 2013, and it’s nothing in need of a miracle that Dan Katz and Renee Knake Jefferson had been capable of gather in a single room (and later at ReInvent Regulation New York) so many individuals who had been principally unknown to one another, however collectively about to vary the way in which legislation considered itself.
At this time we take as a right that authorized companies should be reformed, or they are going to be disrupted. We take as a right that 15-minute (or 6-minute) talks on stage, recorded on video, and Tweeted in actual time for the room and for the world, is simply the way in which conferences run.
However the main format in 2013 was hour-long CLE with a single speaker studying, word-for-word, the worst PowerPoint slides ever created, to a room full of individuals attempting to not get distracted from The New York Occasions crossword.
ReInvent Regulation was surprising. These had been new voices and a brand new format. I’ll always remember watching, for the primary time ever, the viewers’s (and the world’s) Tweets on a display within the auditorium, broadcast reside (and sometimes to hilarious outcomes).
The format of authorized talks would eternally be disrupted. The bar had been raised, the dialog modified in a single day. And maybe most significantly, a band of legal-reform heretics discovered its tribe. They weren’t alone, however that they had simply been within the fallacious rooms. And shortly, they might take these messages all over the place.
It’s simple to take these improvements as a right, however they had been something however inevitable. The entire authorized group must be in awe, and grateful to Dan, Renee, and the Kauffman Basis, for an occasion of true reinvention.
Joe Kelly is all the time up for an excellent argument or presentation and was part of the inaugural ReInvent Regulation class. All the time eager about expertise, Joe rapidly went again to being a software program engineer after legislation college and began growing options for Novus Regulation, Seyfarth Shaw, and Chapman and Cutler. Having labored each on inside legislation agency apps in addition to constructing instruments for legal professionals and purchasers, Joe has gotten to play with numerous cool tech, together with trade NLP instruments and quite a lot of entrance finish and again finish applied sciences. Joe continues to tinker away and might at present be present in Northwest Iowa.
I used to be one of many fortunate ones that obtained a headstart with working with Renee Knake and Dan Katz when the ReInvent Regulation program was began at MSU Regulation. As a pupil, I used to be supplied with numerous alternatives to become involved with the ReInvent program. With a number of different individuals, I obtained to go to London and obtained the chance to current on the first ReInvent program in London and obtained to witness the delivery of the T-shaped lawyer. It was only a nice alternative to satisfy individuals and to get again in contact with my roots of being a performer.
After London got here ReInvent 2013. A bunch of scholars obtained the chance to current once more, I used to be one of many fortunate ones. All of us that had been concerned had been additionally closely concerned with serving to out the place we might. We didn’t get to select any places however we helped lug gear, wrangle presenters, and simply made certain the occasion went off with out a hitch. It actually was numerous enjoyable and led to a fantastic many connections. It additionally led to me assembly Ray Bayley and Lois Haubold from Novus and my first job after legislation college. It was a fantastic alternative to satisfy quite a lot of individuals, all eager about or involved with expertise, course of, and the legislation.
Typically it’s unhappy to comprehend we’re nonetheless having a few of the identical conversations as we did 10 years in the past however it’s good to see the progress that has been made to date
Nicole Nehama Auerbach, Vice President, Elevate
Nicole Auerbach has made her mark as an innovator within the authorized trade — twice. Nicole started her profession and practiced for 15 years at an AmLaw 100 agency in Chicago the place she was a associate within the litigation division. In 2008, she co-founded Valorem Regulation Group, which grew to become nationally referred to as a pioneer within the different payment association motion. In 2018, she cofounded ElevateNext to supply revolutionary options involving the follow of legislation, alongside international service supplier, Elevate. This distinctive mixture blends high-quality authorized experience with individuals, course of and expertise to considerably decrease authorized spend and considerably enhance effectivity with out compromising outcomes. Nicole sits on the chief management workforce of Elevate and serves as its deputy normal counsel. ElevateNext is licensed by the Girls’s Enterprise Enterprise Nationwide Council as a woman-owned agency and has been named as one of many Finest Regulation Companies in industrial litigation in 2021, 2022 and 2023 by Finest Legal professionals.
Nicole represents purchasers in federal and state courts and in arbitrations throughout the nation and leads innovation initiatives for patrons in quite a lot of areas, together with subpoena responses, due diligence and streamlining litigation. In 2017, Nicole obtained one of many high 11 verdicts in Illinois. In 2022, Nicole was named one of many “Prime 50 Girls Legal professionals in Illinois” by Tremendous Legal professionals. In 2019 she was named a “Notable Gen X Chief in Regulation” by Crain’s Chicago Enterprise and one of many “Most Influential Girls Attorneys in Chicago” by Crain’s Publishing in 2017.
Nicole is a co-founder of the Coalition of Girls in Regulation, which has chapters in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. and reaches hundreds of girl legal professionals by means of its programming. Nicole is a licensed arbitrator by means of the American Arbitration Affiliation. She can be a fellow of the School of Regulation Observe Administration and an advisory board member of Novus Regulation. She frequently speaks and writes on points relating to innovation within the authorized trade.
After I was requested to put in writing about my recollections of Reinvent Regulation Silicon Valley for the 10-year anniversary, I did a double tackle the years. Has it actually been 10 years since I stood on that stage to speak about bashing the billable clock whereas doing an “ignite speech” — which, satirically, like the time-frame of the billable hour, is a 6-minute endeavor the place your slides advance routinely whether or not you’re with them or not? In so some ways it looks as if the occasion was simply yesterday, however that’s extra of a mirrored image on life, I believe. If I needed to give you one phrase to explain what I recall feeling on the occasion, it must be “exhilaration.” Not solely as a result of I used to be requested to be part of the occasion, but additionally as a result of I had the nice fortune of getting to listen to the entire different audio system who, in 2013, had been espousing issues that had been in some ways nonetheless novel.
Now, after I look again on the roster of these concerned, I marvel about how my path continued to intersect with so many after the occasion. As background, in 2013, we had been midway by means of what could be the 10-year lifespan of Valorem Regulation Group, a agency I co-founded with Patrick Lamb to no less than maim the billable hour and follow legislation in a different way. In 2018, Pat and I joined forces with Elevate, the worldwide authorized service supplier, to create its “training legal professionals” arm.
Dan Katz, co-organizer of the occasion, and Michael Bommarito, speaker, weren’t solely with Elevate for some time, however I used to be interim normal counsel at Elevate through the transaction that introduced them into the fold. Andy Ninh, a legislation pupil speaker, is now a colleague of mine at Elevate. Renee Knake, co-organizer, offered an ethics opinion for us after we launched into our new and novel journey, and it’s one we glance again on typically. Hon. Ann Aiken, speaker, grew to become an excellent pal after the occasion and was variety sufficient to ask me to talk (not in 6-minute increments, fortunately) at varied occasions for the courts or different organizations in Oregon through the years. Ray Bayley, speaker, and his co-founder, Lois Haubold, invited me to be part of the NovusLaw Advisory Board, and Invoice Henderson, speaker, was variety sufficient to incorporate me in sure IFLP occasions through the years as nicely.
These are only a few examples, however the backside line is, even a decade later, I look upon the Reinvent Regulation occasion with nice fondness, and I salute the organizers and different audio system for his or her inspiration.