For two years of my law school career at Marquette University Law School, I had the honor of having Howard Eisenberg serve as our Dean. Dean Eisenberg, who left this earth far too soon, was a renowned appellate attorney whose message to students and attorneys was “do well and do good.” He celebrated public service more than grades, and doing for others over money.
I think Dean Eisenberg would have been pretty excited about the DFNDER Project, and the force that is Bryan Wilson, its founder. The DFNDER Project — which stands for Distributed Forensic Expert Network Delegating Review — seeks to solve the #1 problem in wrongful conviction cases: the extreme inefficiency in compiling the client’s file from multiple sources, getting that file organized, and providing it to the proper experts to review for analysis and potential action. In essence, they want to improve the ability to work with forensic experts to move cases forward faster.
I had the opportunity to sit down with Bryan and his partners at Relativity, who have figured out a way to leverage the Relativity platform to create an electronic file that can then be accessed by forensic experts and attorneys from anywhere in the country, allowing for faster and better collaboration. Their goal is to determine how they can help automate the work to let the experts do what they are best suited for by breaking down workflows and connecting the team with experts in their network who are best suited to do the work on a particular case.
Although he just graduated from UMKC Law School in 2016, Bryan is hard at work on innovating in the legal profession. In addition to his work on the DFNDER Project, he currently has a fellowship with ABA Center for Innovation and does work as a policy analyst at a machine learning startup called Risk Genius. He is the very definition of a legal innovator, and a tremendously personable guy with a bright future ahead of him.
Because I have not worked on wrongful conviction matters, I asked Bryan why this type of tool will be useful — what is it about these cases that requires forensic analysis? As he explained it, many convictions are obtained based on inherent bias — I saw someone I don’t know at the scene of the crime and that, plus the color of their skin, can be enough for a conviction. The goal of the various Innocence Projects organizations is to uncover those through forensic analysis.
The origins of the DFNDER Project started while Bryan was still in law school. Bryan worked with the Midwest Innocence Project and happened to have access to Relativity in his eDiscovery course. Bryan, who is also a software developer, talked with his professor about the idea of using Relativity to solve the problem and his professor reached out to Relativity to discuss the project. Things took off from there.
Relativity came on board in February 2017 and is hosting the database pro bono as well as providing senior engineering resources for scalability. Janice Holman, the Academic Program Manager for Relativity who works directly with Bryan and the DFender Project, adds that Relativity provides support from the research and technical sides. The DFNDER Project is an amazing use of the Relativity platform, one that with its open network allows for development for these kinds of specialized applications.
The DFNDER Project needs your help. If you or your firm are already working on wrongful conviction cases as part of your pro bono efforts, or if you want to be, hop over to this website to sign up, and Bryan his team will be in touch to coordinate with you. Here’s what they are looking for:
- People (whether attorneys, staff, or admin help) who can devote time to pro bono — particularly with criminal experience or advice on what they think would be useful on moving forward
- Attorneys from (or licensed in) all 50 states
- Assistance at every step of the process including:
- filling out forms and other administrative help in gathering evidence;
- gathering files from local courthouses;
- shipping documents gathered; and/or
- scanning of documents and coding for loading into Relativity.
The Project is in its proof of concept phase right now with seven cases to help them evaluate the different outcomes that they have built in so far. They are partnering with the Midwest Innocence Project, the Iowa State Public Defender’s Wrongful Conviction Division, and the Arson Research Project as well to allow for maximum use of the solution for organizations working on wrongful conviction matters. Look for a website coming by the end of the year.
I encourage you to get involved. Forward this article to your colleagues doing pro bono work or get on the mailing list. Right now they need connections — the ability to find folks who can help them move the mission forward. Even if you can’t do the work, let others know about the DFNDER Project and keep the word moving. This is your chance, as Dean Eisenberg put it to “do well and do good.”
Kelly Twigger gave up the golden handcuffs of her Biglaw partnership to start ESI Attorneys, an eDiscovery and information law Firm, in 2009. She is passionate about teaching lawyers and legal professionals how to think about and use ESI to win, and does so regularly for her clients. The Wisconsin State Bar named Kelly a Legal Innovator in 2014 for her development of eDiscovery Assistant— an online research and eDiscovery playbook for lawyers and legal professionals. When she’s not thinking, writing or talking about ESI, Kelly is wandering in the mountains of Colorado, or watching Kentucky basketball. You can reach her by email at [email protected] or on Twitter: @kellytwigger.
