Legal tech legal innovators brought access-to-justice focus to San Antonio conference
Contact
Maria Duvuvuei
Communications Strategist
(202) 295-1542
SAN ANTONIO, TX—The 26th Innovations in Technology Conference (ITC), hosted by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), brought together experts and practitioners from the legal, business and tech communities to explore cutting-edge technology projects that are revolutionizing access to justice.
Nearly 750 people registered to attend ITC at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk, including attorneys, legal technologists, court staff, pro bono coordinators, law school students and professors, and law librarians. The conference featured 56 unique panels, 16 of which were streamed online and are available to view for free.
“This conference is about collaboration on creative, responsible uses of technology that enable us to better serve low-income people in need of civil legal assistance,” said LSC President Ron Flagg. “All of us are united by a shared goal: building a legal system that is open, fair, and accessible to all. We understand that technology is not the answer by itself, but used thoughtfully and grounded in people’s needs, it is a critical part of the solution.”
The conference kicked off on Wednesday, Jan. 28, with a keynote address by journalist and author David Pogue. Major themes explored at ITC included artificial intelligence (AI), change management, data-driven decision-making, court technology, cybersecurity and pro bono legal services.
For the first time, this year the conference featured five defined “tracks” that guided attendees through programming relevant to their interests: AI beginner, AI advanced, IT operations, client intake and building self-help tools.
After two days of panel presentations, the conference concludes with a half-day of interactive workshops on Friday. The four workshops feature content on cybersecurity incident response, maximizing accuracy and reliability of AI tools, change management for building staff resilience, and evaluating user experience for legal technologies.
LSC is the nation’s largest funder of civil legal aid. This includes funds for technology projects at legal services organizations across the country through its Technology Initiative Grants. The organization’s leadership in the access-to-justice technology sector extends throughout the year through initiatives like it’s AI Peer Learning Lab and recent report, “The Next Frontier: Harnessing Technology to Close the Justice Gap.”
“We want to create spaces where legal services leaders can gain the knowledge that they need to make informed decisions that will strengthen their organizations’ use of innovative technology,” said Jane Ribadeneyra, senior program officer for technology at LSC.
“At the same time,” Ribadeneyra continued, “we prioritize practical support for technology that builds capacity for legal services staff and attorneys who are on the ground assisting low-income clients with serious legal issues like domestic violence, eviction and disaster recovery.”
The full agenda of ITC sessions and speakers is viewable here, and photos from the conference are available for use here. More photos will become available following the conference; contact Maria Duvuvuei at duvuvueim@lsc.gov to inquire.