A lot of startups don’t make it to their fifth anniversary, Clio Founder and CEO Jack Newton noted at last night’s fifth American Legal Technology Awards gala. But the awards ceremony designed to offer appreciation and encouragement to the legal technology space ushered in year five with the largest crowd yet.
The awards, founded by Tom Martin from LawDroid, Cat Moon of Vanderbilt Law School, and Patrick Palace of Palace Law, and determined by a panel of legal tech luminaries awarded 10 awards this year. The event kicked off as all awards ceremonies should with a musical number with Damien Riehl of vLex rewriting the lyrics to some old crooner standards to be appropriately AI focused.
Aliza Shatzman of the Legal Accountability Project (and an Above the Law columnist!) captured two trophies in both the Court and Individual categories, recognizing her role in the creation of the Centralized Clerkships Database to empower law students and clerks with critical information about judicial workplaces and her personal advocacy and willingness to share her own experiences to inspire a new generation of legal professionals to stand up for themselves and push for systemic change in the profession.
Meanwhile, a former Above the Law writer, Stephanie Wilkins, won the inaugural legal tech journalism award for her work as the (now former) Editor-in-Chief of Legaltech News.
BigHand CEO Sam Toulson commented on winning the Enterprise award: “Winning this award is a testament to BigHand’s dedication to developing innovative solutions that empower law firms to meet the challenges of today’s legal landscape. We are incredibly proud to be recognized for our efforts.”
Here’s a list of all the winners and finalists. Congratulations to all and especially to the event organizers who’ve taken this idea and turned it into an annual tradition for this slice of the legal world.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
