Heading into the summer, I had the opportunity to open a dialogue over email with one of the founders of a set of tools that have been an important part of my practice for years. Because I believe so strongly in the quality and importance of the work that he does, I suggested that we do a written interview for this column — which I am happy to bring to this readership now. Let’s get introduced to Michael Lissner and visit with him about the evolution of his well-known work around increasing access to the legal system for all Americans.
Michael is a co-founder and the executive director of Free Law Project (FLP), a nonprofit that brings innovation and equity to the legal ecosystem. FLP uses open tools and data to impact tens of millions of people each month. Since its inception in 2010, FLP has grown and now provides a range of innovative services, including CourtListener, the RECAP Suite, and Bots.law. These platforms, alongside their numerous open-source tools for data collection and analysis, empower millions of users — from journalists and academics to everyday Americans. (Their work is important and I encourage those interested to reach out to FLP with inquiries about how to support their efforts.)
His work with FLP has led to well-deserved public recognition. Michael is a FastCase 50 Honoree and has been awarded the Public Access to Information Award from the American Association of Law Librarians.
Has Legal Industry Upheaval Changed Your Career Goals?
We'd love to hear your thoughts. Enter for a chance to win a $250 gift card.
I very much welcome the opportunity to share Michael’s insights once again with this audience. As usual, I have added some brief commentary to Michael’s answer to my first question below, but have otherwise presented his answer as he provided it.
Gaston Kroub: The Free Law Project has had some notable successes over the years. What has contributed to those results?
Michael Lissner: The Free Law Project’s success stems from its mission to make legal information more accessible and transparent to everyone. A big part of this is through CourtListener, our free platform that provides access to millions of legal opinions, oral arguments, and court documents. We’ve also worked extensively to open up PACER data, which is usually locked behind a paywall, by archiving and advocating for reforms there. Our partnerships with universities, law schools, and nonprofits have also played a key role, helping us expand our resources and gain support. Plus, we’re strong proponents of open-source technology — our tools like the RECAP browser extension make it easy for people to download and share PACER documents. All of this, combined with the backing of the legal and academic communities and our policy advocacy efforts, has allowed us to push for real changes in how legal information is accessed, making the law more open and transparent.
GK: Anyone who has practiced IP litigation knows how important a deft hand with PACER is. It takes a while to learn how to use, and for those of us with a practice that is national in scope, there is often an acute reliance on a web browser’s stored password feature to get access to the different cases in the first place. For that reason, even though I generally use DocketNavigator for patent-related searches, I have also started to turn to CourtListener for the nonpatent cases that I am tracking. The interface is quick and the alert-setting feature is especially helpful for keeping track of active dockets over time. And I, of course, am always pleased when a document I am looking for has already been loaded up into RECAP, because saving money is always fun — even if it’s just $.20 to read a letter on some discovery dispute in a case of interest. That said, I do still value PACER and believe it is essential to a litigator’s practice and the goal of making our litigation system open to all.
Legal Is Changing. And NeoSummit Is Where The Future Is Being Built.
Legal and operational leaders are gathering May 6–7 in Fort Lauderdale to confront the questions the industry hasn't answered—with a keynote from Amanda Knox setting the tone.
At the same time, it is important to remember that PACER is a tool that can be unwieldy and expensive, especially for nonlawyers to use. I know this first-hand from my consulting work for hedge funds and Wall Street-research shops. The tech-savvy analysts that I interact with can sometimes have issues utilizing PACER to the fullest, which makes FLP’s tools a welcome addition to the mix. And if sophisticated trading types have issues with PACER and accessing docket information, we can only imagine the barriers for regular folks. FLP’s important work to increase access to the legal system is thus most welcome and vital. They have already accomplished a lot, in my view, but the future is bright in terms of additional innovation by Michael and his colleagues going forward as well.
We will soon continue with Michael’s answers to questions 2 and 3. In the meantime, please take the opportunity to sign up for CourtListener and RECAP.
Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at [email protected] or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.
Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique, and Markman Advisors LLC, a leading consultancy on patent issues for the investment community. Gaston’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.