Earlier
this
month,
I
presented
Part
I
of
my
written
interview
with
a
co-founder
and
the
executive
director
of
Free
Law
Project
(“FLP”),
Michael
Lissner.
That
column
presented
his
answer
to
the
first
of
my
three
questions
and
focused
on
how
FLP
has
helped
the
general
public
get
access
to
legal
information
through
their
various
offerings.
What
follows
are
Michael’s
answers
to
my
remaining
two
questions.
As
usual,
I
have
added
some
brief
commentary
to
his
answers
below,
but
have
otherwise
presented
his
answers
as
he
provided
them.
Gaston
Kroub:
What
can
law
firms
and
corporate
legal
departments
be
doing
to
help
support
FLP’s
efforts?
Michael
Lissner:
Law
firms
and
corporate
legal
departments
can
support
the
Free
Law
Project
in
several
important
ways.
First,
they
can
contribute
by
sharing
legal
data,
such
as
court
documents
and
filings,
to
help
us
expand
our
databases,
especially
in
areas
where
access
is
still
limited.
They
can
also
collaborate
with
us
by
adopting
and
promoting
the
use
of
open-source
legal
tools
like
CourtListener
or
RECAP,
helping
drive
awareness
and
usage
across
the
legal
industry.
Additionally,
financial
support
or
pro
bono
legal
assistance
can
be
invaluable,
especially
for
our
advocacy
work
around
legal
transparency
and
reform,
such
as
our
efforts
to
reduce
PACER
fees.
Finally,
law
firms
can
play
a
key
role
in
policy
reform
by
joining
us
in
advocating
for
greater
public
access
to
legal
records,
using
their
influence
to
push
for
changes
that
align
with
our
mission
of
democratizing
the
law.
GK:
It
is
hard
to
imagine
many
firms
that
are
not
interested
in
supporting
greater
access
and
transparency
in
law.
That
said,
if
you
are
at
a
firm
that
is
not
using
or
promoting
the
use
of
tools
like
CourtListener
or
RECAP,
then
it
might
be
time
to
make
a
change.
If
getting
more
senior
personnel
to
do
so
would
be
a
challenge,
then
why
not
try
to
have
associates
and
summer
associates
do
so?
Likewise,
for
those
firms
looking
for
a
worthy
place
to
direct
charitable
contributions
or
pro
bono
hours,
the
FLP
should
be
top
of
mind
as
a
destination
for
those
worthy
goals.
Everyone
benefits
when
the
rule
of
law
is
buttressed
by
an
informed
citizenry
–
and
the
FLP
is
on
the
front
lines
trying
to
make
that
happen.
GK:
What
opportunities
and
challenges
do
you
and
your
team
at
the
FLP
look
forward
to
tackling
in
the
coming
years?
ML:
One
of
the
biggest
challenges
we’re
excited
to
tackle
is
expanding
access
to
more
court
records
and
legal
data,
particularly
at
the
state
and
local
levels,
where
transparency
can
still
be
limited.
Scaling
our
databases
and
ensuring
real-time
access
to
court
documents
will
require
technical
innovation
and
collaboration.
Here,
AI
has
huge
potential
to
advance
our
work
at
the
Free
Law
Project.
It
can
help
us
process
and
organize
vast
amounts
of
legal
data
more
efficiently,
automating
tasks
like
summarizing
opinions
or
identifying
patterns
in
case
law.
AI-powered
search
tools
could
make
legal
research
faster
and
more
intuitive,
allowing
users
to
ask
complex
legal
questions
in
plain
language.
It
could
also
help
uncover
systemic
issues,
like
biases
in
rulings,
which
supports
our
advocacy
for
reform.
Overall,
AI
can
help
us
keep
up
with
the
growing
amount
of
legal
data
while
making
the
law
more
accessible
and
transparent.
Another
challenge
is
improving
the
usability
of
our
tools
—
making
them
more
accessible
not
just
to
legal
professionals
but
to
the
general
public,
so
anyone
can
easily
interact
with
the
legal
system.
We’re
also
focused
on
pushing
for
policy
reforms,
especially
around
PACER
fees
and
public
access
to
legal
documents,
which
will
require
ongoing
advocacy
and,
likely,
litigation.
Balancing
these
goals
while
maintaining
our
commitment
to
open-source
development
and
privacy
will
be
key,
and
we
look
forward
to
navigating
these
complex
challenges
as
we
continue
growing.
GK:
Quite
a
full
agenda
on
the
table
for
Michael
and
his
colleagues
at
the
FLP.
We
can
hope,
as
they
do,
that
AI
can
be
a
boon
to
the
challenging
task
of
assimilating
an
ever-growing
set
of
data
generated
by
the
legal
industry.
It
would
also
be
great
to
see
the
general
public
become
more
comfortable
with
legal
material,
especially
in
our
age
of
media
distrust
and
partisan
politics.
An
informed
citizenry
that
is
comfortable
accessing
and
analyzing
a
Supreme
Court
decision,
for
example,
is
a
lot
better
than
one
that
can
have
viewpoints
manipulated
by
interested
parties
—
irrespective
of
whether
those
parties
fall
on
the
right
or
the
left
of
the
political
spectrum.
Considering
the
FLP’s
success
to
date,
we
can
be
assured
that
their
efforts
will
continue
to
benefit
us
all
over
time.
My
thanks
to
Michael
for
the
insights
and
cooperation,
and
I
wish
him
and
his
FLP
colleagues
continued
success
with
their
important
work.
Those
inclined
to
provide
financial
support
for
their
efforts
will
be
making
an
impactful
choice
and
I
hope
that
we
will
continue
to
see
FLP
innovate
in
the
service
of
their
mission.
I
am
always
open
to
conducting
interviews
of
this
type
with
other
IP
thought
leaders,
so
feel
free
to
reach
out
if
you
have
a
compelling
perspective
to
offer.
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.