It’s no secret that women are often excluded and underrepresented in a number of industries. Law is no different, and neither is the niche of legal technology. But women are making a big impact on legal tech from every angle. We are leaders in e-discovery, company founders, CEOs and CIOs, educators, small business owners, IT providers, technology consultants, bloggers, and more.
One of the American Bar Association’s core values is a commitment to diversity, which the Law Practice Division aims to reinforce in the legal tech sector. Indeed, the ABA is making progress toward this goal. Just look at this year’s ABA TECHSHOW faculty roster, which, for the first time ever, is composed of more women than men.
In an effort to further encourage diversity and, specifically to celebrate and promote women in legal technology, the Legal Technology Resource Center created its annual “Women of Legal Tech.” LTRC’s Women of Legal Tech is a list of women leaders in legal technology. It all began in 2015 with my post on Law Technology Today naming 40 women who I identified as innovators and leaders in the legal technology space.
Last year, LTRC formally adopted this project and added 10 more women to this list, so that it now includes 50 talented and influential women leaders in legal technology. These leaders range from solo practitioners implementing technology in their firms to improve the way they deliver client service, to founders and CEOs of companies providing innovative technology to the legal industry, to educators teaching technology in law schools, to public interest lawyers using technology to bridge the access to justice gap, and more.
You can view the full list on the ABA LTRC’s Women of Legal Tech webpage here.
This year, the LTRC Board will add another 10 women to this ever-growing list. Before we do so, we want to hear from you. Do you know a woman who is paving the way in legal technology? If so, complete a nomination form(s) or submit your nomination to Heidi Alexander at Heidi@masslomap.org. Nominations will be open until March 10, 2017. Self-nominations will be accepted. We can’t wait to learn more about these amazing women making strides in legal technology.
This year’s selections will be announced by ABA President Linda Klein in collaboration with LTRC at ABA TECHSHOW from March 15 to 18. TECHSHOW will also highlight and honor all the women who have made this list. We hope you can join us. If not, look out for our annual LTRC Women of Legal Tech post on the Law Technology Today blog.
About the Author
Heidi S. Alexander, Esq. is the director of Practice Management Services for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, where she advises lawyers on practice management matters, provides guidance in implementing new law office technologies, and helps lawyers develop healthy and sustainable practices. She frequently makes presentations to the legal community and contributes to publications on law practice management and technology. She is the author of Evernote as a Law Practice Tool, an ABA Law Practice Division publication, and serves on the ABA’s TECHSHOW Planning Board.