Anthropic released a law student plugin. It’s designed to act as a tutor, but it will brief cases, build outlines, predict exam questions based on sample exams, and many other skills.
I’ll show you how to install it in the comments. You should expect your students are using this. You should probably use it for your footnotes.— Paul Weitzel (@IThinkIAgree) October 13, 2026
On 09/29/2026,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Access to Justice (A2J), change, communities of practice, credentialing, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, skills, society, vision/possibilities, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
Making real work visible: Credentialing Community Justice Workers with Frontline Justice — from eddesignlab.org (also educationdesignlab.org)
Frontline Justice is working toward a simple, ambitious vision: By 2035, anyone, no matter their background or location, can access the legal help they need for everyday civil issues. To move toward that future, the work is organized around two goals that run in parallel: (1) rapidly growing a new workforce of justice workers now, and (2) laying out long-term vocational paths so this role becomes a lasting and respected part of the justice ecosystem.
On 09/23/2026,
in Access to Justice (A2J), Australia, Canada, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, society, sociology, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Enabling the Citizen Lawyer — from jordanfurlong.substack.com by Jordan Furlong
We’ve neglected the second half of lawyers’ professional identity: the civic duty to serve society, defend the rule of law, and support public institutions. It’s time we restored it to equal billing.
So, what are those particular citizenship duties that lawyers owe to society? To my mind, it comes down to defending and advancing the rule of law. In practical terms, that means lawyers bear the primary responsibility to:
- Uphold constitutional values,
- Support vital public institutions,
- Enable universal access to justice,
- Demand accountability from power holders,
- Lead truth and reconciliation, and
- Help ensure peace, order, and good government.
Lawyers possess a unique combination of legal knowledge, professional status, institutional access, and proximity to power. That gives us a distinctive, and I’d argue heightened, responsibility to safeguard the rule of law.
It’s that our duty to society, as lawyer citizens, is equally as important as our duty to clients as legal practitioners — that our civic role and our commercial role are each central to our professional identity and should have equivalent priority in our professional lives.
On 09/19/2026,
in 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, emerging technologies, law schools, Legal operations, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, Open AI, platforms, tools, United States, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
Another day, another frontier AI company moving into legal. First it was @AnthropicAI with Claude for Legal, and now it is @OpenAI, which today announced Astra for Law, a version of its latest GPT-6 Astra model configured for legal work. https://t.co/TqJbfU9tfO
— Bob Ambrogi (@bobambrogi) September 17, 2026
Astra for Law: Frontier intelligence built for your practice.
A new offering powered by GPT-6 Astra with tools, settings, and context to support the expertise and judgment of lawyers and legal technology firms. pic.twitter.com/qxVRXkvp4o
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) September 17, 2026
On 09/10/2026,
in adjunct faculty, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty/staff, higher education, ideas, instructional design, IT in HE, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, multimedia, online learning, online media, pedagogy, teaching & learning, tools, UK, universities, using teams, vendors, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
How a studio-based format transforms online teaching — from timeshighereducation.com by multiple authors from Cranfield University in England
Online teaching works best when teaching, facilitation and technical delivery are treated as complementary professional roles. Read guidance on studio-based delivery
Our experience of studio-based delivery suggests the need for a different approach. In this model, teaching is delivered as a live, facilitated learning experience in which academics focus on teaching and interaction, while facilitators and production staff manage interaction, session flow and technology.
Responsibilities are intentionally divided to enable more effective online pedagogy: academics concentrate on explaining concepts, facilitating discussion and responding to students while production staff manage the technical environment, transition between activities, recordings, multimedia integration, chat moderation, breakout rooms and troubleshooting, enabling a more engaging and authentic learning experience.
The most transferable lesson is that online teaching works best when teaching, facilitation and technical delivery are treated as complementary professional roles and when it is underpinned by pedagogical design.
On 08/19/2026,
in business, corporate / business world, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, trends, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Every law firm/outside counsel and in-house should read this from Ford Motor’s Chief Policy Officer & General Counsel
“AI will bring a new balance of work between outside counsel and in-house legal departments. Ford’s legal team will be looking to reward external counsel who…
— Nir Golan (@lawheroezV2) August 10, 2026
On 08/10/2026,
in future, ideas, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, pathways, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
From the LegalTech Fund’s Q2 2026 Update:
Industry Foresight: Following the successful completion of Pathways Phase 1, we launched Pathways Phase 2: The Future of Law in partnership with Harvey and Law.com. Phase 2 brings together a curated cohort of legal industry leaders, innovators, academics, and operators to develop future scenarios and identify the critical legal, regulatory, business, capital, and technology inflection points that may shape the industry through 2040. The resulting framework will serve as a shared strategic tool to help the legal ecosystem navigate uncertainty and prepare for multiple possible futures.
On 07/22/2026,
in 21st century, Access to Justice (A2J), business, change, changing business models, corporate / business world, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Nikii Shaver on legal AI strategy, agentic governance, and trusted judgement — from The Geek in Review Podcast
What does legal AI value look like once speed stops serving as the headline metric? In this episode of The Geek in Review, Greg Lambert and Marlene Gebauer speak with Nikki Shaver, co-founder and CEO of Legal Technology Jub and a member of the inaugural Financial Times Law 50. Shaver argues that law firms need to move beyond time saved toward efficacy: stronger output, stronger client outcomes, and more effective legal advice.
The conversation examines why the billable hour is far from finished yet no longer serves as the sole measure of legal value. Shaver compares hourly timekeeping to a taxi meter: useful for internal visibility, yet insufficient as the price signal for work transformed by AI. Workflow mapping, client discussions, and pricing discipline become central where an AI-enabled process compresses weeks of effort into hours.
Corporate legal departments are adopting AI at a faster pace, bringing new pressure to outside counsel. Some in-house teams see AI as a route to keep more work inside, while others see room for firms to take on work that previously sat outside budget limits. Shaver frames the strategic question around delivering more for clients, especially in practice areas where a firm holds differentiated expertise.
AI has not produced the promised empty calendar. Instead, lawyers report fuller schedules, longer documents, and a growing verification tax. Shaver flags the rise of 40-page forms, bloated redlines, and outputs that look polished yet lack sound reasoning. The episode makes a practical case for concise drafting, human review, and critical reasoning before any AI-generated material reaches a client or counterparty.
Agentic AI raises the stakes. Legal Technology Hub’s AI Agents in Law Map tracks hundreds of solutions, yet governance has not kept pace with new autonomy, connectors, and downstream system access. Shaver urges firms to establish traceability, unique identifiers, risk-based human oversight, enforceable policies, and a clear view of where data travels.
For firms aiming past baseline adoption, Shaver draws a line between routine personal use and strategic transformation. Daily use builds fluency, but competitive advantage grows from proprietary workflows, data foundations, client-facing collaboration spaces, and focused investment in the practices where a firm already excels. Her crystal-ball view is blunt: trusted judgment will become a scarce premium asset, AI-native firms will rise, and traditional firms will launch AI-native subsidiaries of their own.
Nonprofit, legal automation company design new AI tool to protect public benefits — from abajournal.com by Amanda Robert
An artificial intelligence tool from national nonprofit Frontline Justice and legal automation company Josef that aims to improve access to justice is rolling out across three states.
Frontline Q, an AI assistant that can help families navigate the complex Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is now available in Arizona, Texas and Alaska. Using a combination of federal, state and local regulations and with oversight from legal aid lawyers, it offers answers to questions about the program’s eligibility and appeal rules.
CLM is a Zombie, ALSPs are In Trouble and Outside Counsel Budgets Cut in Half: Episode 54, Wordsmith.ai CEO Ross McNairn — from legallydisrupted.com by Zach Abramowitz
The understated founder of one of the hottest legal AI startups on the market makes bold predictions
Though not necessarily related to legaltech, these items caught my eye as well:
- LAPD lets contract with surveillance giant Flock expire, citing ‘serious concerns’ over civil liberties and privacy — from techcrunch.com by Zack Whittaker
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is reportedly ending its deal with Flock Safety, a surveillance company that helps law enforcement track vehicles using thousands of its license plate cameras placed across the United States.
A senior LAPD official told news outlets, first reported by ABC7 and the Los Angeles Times, that the police department would allow its three-year contract with Flock to expire when it ends on Saturday. The department cited “serious concerns” around civil liberties and privacy. Flock’s cameras are operated by the Atlanta, Georgia-based company and not the LAPD.
- ‘Spraying and praying’ is ruining the Bay Area tech job market — from sfgate.com/ by Ariana Bindman
A vicious cycle of inefficiency is hurting recruiters and applicants
To survive this nightmarish job market, candidates are now “spraying and praying,” as one career coach described it — or paying resume services to blast out thousands of CVs per day to game the system and land a gig. However, according to experts in the tech industry who spoke with SFGATE, this is only creating a vicious cycle of inefficiency that hurts both workers and companies.
On 07/14/2026,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Access to Justice (A2J), Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, mobile technologies, platforms, society, surviving, technologies for your home, technology (general), tools, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
LEGAL FUTURISMS: Consumer Legal Tech and the Soul of US Democracy
The “Dollar Legal” Thought Experiment
What if the salvation of our democratic enthusiasm doesn’t come from a political revolution, but a technological one? Enter the thought experiment of Dollar Legal.
Imagine a ubiquitous, consumer-facing legal tech platform—accessible from any smartphone—that commoditizes basic legal defense and assertion of rights. It is AI-driven legal agency for the masses, costing no more than a cup of coffee, or perhaps literally a single dollar.
Dollar Legal wouldn’t exist to litigate complex corporate mergers; it would exist to handle the agonizing friction of everyday survival. It instantly analyzes a notice to quit, drafts a legally sound response asserting warranty of habitability defenses, and files it electronically. It forces the bureaucratic machine to pause. It translates the raw, terrifying human experience of a legal threat into the cold rules and procedures that the justice system understands.
And the price, $1.00, at sufficient scale, would support the operation and maintenance of the service.
By deploying Dollar Legal, we fundamentally shift the balance of power. The democratization of legal leverage changes the calculus for bad actors who rely on the silent default judgments of the unrepresented.
On 06/29/2026,
in Access to Justice (A2J), law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, tools, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Contrapposto — from sateeshnori.substack.com by Sateesh Nori
We are losing the war for Access to Justice. And we keep aiming our attacks on our own side.
.
“To Public Interest Lawyers of Any Kind:
Only when you have vanquished every eviction notice that shouldn’t have been filed… Only when you have defeated every predatory landlord, every wage thief, every debt collector armed with a default judgment… Only when you have lifted the burden from every tenant who faced Housing Court alone… Only when every family has shelter and every worker has been paid what they’re owed… Only when every immigrant has had someone in their corner and every person in crisis has had a lawyer who showed up… Only when every child aging out of foster care has had counsel, and every survivor of domestic violence has had an advocate who knew the system cold…
Only then — only when you have directed your energy toward the real adversaries: the justice gap, the underfunded courts, the 92% who never get a lawyer at all — only then can you attack another public interest lawyer for the tools they chose to fight with.”