Hey there Legal Rebels! 👋
This is the sixth episode of the 2024 season of the LawDroid Manifesto podcast, where I will be interviewing key legal innovators to learn how they do what they do.
If you want to understand the role of technology in the modern courts and the challenges that institutional culture and mindset play, you need to listen to this episode. Scott is at the forefront of modernizing the courts and has a unique experience and point of view.
A Calling to Help People by Making Justice Accessible
In this thought-provoking episode of the LawDroid Manifesto podcast, host Tom Martin sits down with Judge Scott Schlegel, a trailblazing advocate for leveraging technology to enhance access to justice.
Judge Schlegel shares a wealth of insights drawn from his firsthand experience modernizing court systems. He dives into the challenges and opportunities that emerge when introducing even simple technologies, like replacing physical calendar books with online scheduling. The discussion also fearlessly tackles the thorny issues surrounding AI in the courts, from the risks of deepfake evidence to the promising potential of AI-driven efficiencies.
Throughout the conversation, Judge Schlegel's passion for harnessing innovation to open courthouse doors shines through. He offers practical strategies for navigating the cultural shifts required to adopt new tools and eloquently speaks to how his work aligns with a deeper calling to help people.
Whether you're a legal professional, technologist, or simply passionate about the future of our justice system, this episode is brimming with wisdom and inspiration. Tune in to discover how visionaries like Judge Schlegel are reshaping courts from the inside out—one calendaring system at a time.
The Skinny
In this episode of the LawDroid Manifesto podcast, host Tom Martin interviews Judge Scott Schlegel, a leading tech pioneer in the courts who has opened minds about using technology to make justice more accessible. Judge Schlegel shares his insights on modernizing the justice system, the challenges involved, and how both simple technologies and AI can improve court efficiency and access.
Key Takeaways:
Judge Schlegel believes in using simple, readily available technologies to make courts more efficient and accessible, such as replacing physical calendar books with online calendars.
Cultural and mindset changes are often the biggest challenges when introducing new technologies in the courts, even more so than the technology itself.
Education should be prioritized over regulation when it comes to lawyers using AI tools. Existing professional rules already cover issues around competence and candor.
Deepfake audio and video pose serious challenges for courts in cases like protective orders and custody battles, where faked evidence could be presented but most people lack resources to hire experts to detect it.
AI also has positive use cases in courts, such as creating informational videos for jurors and litigants and optimizing schedules.
Judge Schlegel sees his work to make the justice system more efficient and accessible through technology as a calling. While challenges exist, he encourages thoughtfully leveraging available tools, learning from failures, and scaling solutions to courts across jurisdictions. With wisdom and care, technology from simple calendaring to AI can open the doors of justice for more people.
Need Your Feedback!
Please share your thoughts. Did you enjoy it? Not so much? What other guests or topics would you like to hear about? Tell me in the comments!
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The Judicial Technologist: Judge Scott Schlegel