National Legal Tech For A Change Project Grows Out of MetaJure Pilot

Exciting news that the Legal Tech for a Change Project will be launching on April 30 was reported this week in Above the Law and the ABA Journal.

The project, a partnership between the American Bar Association’s Center for Innovation and the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), is designed to:

  1. Get cutting-edge technology into the hands of our nation’s legal aid providers so that they can increase their capacity to serve more clients; and
  2. Help legal tech companies demonstrate how their products and services can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of legal services.

According to LSC’s 2017 Justice Gap Report, in the past year, 86% of the civil legal problems reported by low-income Americans received inadequate or no legal help. Not only is Legal Tech For A Change designed to address this gap, it also provides a win/win for technology companies.

MetaJure initiated and piloted the program in 2017 to make sure the concept would work for both legal tech companies and legal aid providers. Based on that pilot, Ross Intelligence will be the next legal tech company to participate in the program, with other legal tech providers in the pipeline.

Chase Hertel, deputy director and counsel at the Center for Innovation, explains that the project’s “focus is getting good operational technology into the hands of LSC grantees to help increase their efficiency.”

Andrew Perlman, chair of the Center for Innovation and dean of Suffolk University Law School, says that he hopes the launch brings together technology companies looking to help out and legal aid providers looking to do something different.

If we can marry those two instincts, I think we’ll be able to move the needle, even if it is just a little bit,” he says.