Suffolk University Law School will be hosting the Boston section of the Global Legal Hackathon, a worldwide event spanning six continents. It’s scheduled for the weekend of February 23-25. “Basically, we're getting a bunch of smart and passionate folks together to see what ideas they can come up with to help advance the practice of law or help solve access to justice issues,” says David Colarusso, director of the Suffolk Law Legal Innovation & Technology Lab (LIT Lab). “You don't have to be technically minded to attend,” he added.

The Global Legal Hackathon will bring together representatives from the world’s largest law firms, corporations, and tech innovators, among others, to develop tech solutions to improve the legal industry, the practice of law and access to legal services. Suffolk was chosen as a host location, along with over 40 other locations across 20 countries, for the inaugural Global Hackathon, based on its commitment to legal innovation both in the private and public sectors.

Judges for the Boston event:

• Nicole Bradick, CEO of the legal tech product development firm Theory and Principle
• Jeannette Eicks, Co-Director of the Center for Legal Innovation and Research Professor of Law at Vermont Law School
• Keren Goldenberg, former public defender and local criminal defense attorney at The Law Offices of Keren Goldenberg
• Rochelle Hahn, Statewide Legal Aid Website Co-Director at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Why Innovate at Suffolk?

PreLaw Magazine’s winter issue profiled the school in an article, “How Suffolk Law is redefining practice-ready.” The publication called the school an “innovative force.” The ABA Journal recently named Colarusso and Professor Gabriel Teninbaum to its Web 100—a shortlist of the country’s most innovative leaders--calling Teninbaum "perhaps the most tech-savvy law professor in the country." Teninbaum directs the LIT Institute and Suffolk's legal technology and innovation concentration.

Suffolk Law is ranked among the nation’s top 20 schools for legal technology and innovation. Students in the school’s Accelerator Program won the ABA’s top honor for innovations that improve access to legal services for moderate-income people.

The school’s Institute on Legal Innovation & Technology (LIT Institute) was named Pro Bono Innovator of the Year by Legaltech News. Suffolk's penchant for new approaches may have helped it in the US News rankings. It's one of just 14 law schools in the country with five or more ranked programs in the 2018 edition of the rankings guide.

The school recently launched a first-of-its-kind online legal technology and innovation certificate program. Industry leaders are teaching the courses, including in-house lawyers from Liberty Mutual and Microsoft.

If you have any questions about the hackathon, contact David Colarusso ([email protected]).