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.
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.
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.