The sixth annual American Legal Technology Awards were presented on Wednesday, October 15th, at Suffolk University Law School (Boston), recognizing winners across ten categories. There were 211 nominees who were evaluated by 27 judges.
The honorees on the night included:
2025 Awards Winners by Category
- Access to Justice: Maryland Justice Passport
“We really set out to make the delivery of legal services more humane.” The Passport coordinates intake across 10 Maryland organizations and is achieving an 81% case placement rate.
- Court: Ohio Legal Help
Ohio Legal Help showed how mobile‑first courts can meet people where they are. As their team put it, “We talk about access to justice, but if we can’t get them to the finish line, it’s incomplete.”
- Education: Sarah Mauet
Sarah Mauet’s UX4Justice course uses a research‑driven framework that trains students and professionals to design trauma‑informed tools that truly serve court users.
- Enterprise: Onit (Unity)
Onit’s acceptance captured the legal‑ops zeitgeist: “AI [at Onit] is conceived by lawyers for lawyers… we’re allergic to inefficiency.” Unity embeds intelligence across the legal workflow—proactive insights, automated decisions, and predictive analytics—transforming how departments operate.
- Individual: Nick Rishwain
Nick invests where impact multiplies: mentorship, introductions, funding, and access for underrepresented founders and for markets incumbents overlook.
- Journalism: Marlene Gebauer (The Geek in Review)
“Podcasting’s about telling stories,” Marlene said, thanking a community that’s grown with the show for seven years. Journalism that illuminates without hype is a public good; we’re grateful.
- Startup: ClaimScore
ClaimScore reminded us that integrity and accessibility can coexist. “We’ve seen up to 99% of claims [in a single matter] be fraudulent… These [bad] actors are stealing millions… from class members who deserve this,” co‑founder Brian explained. Their real‑time fraud detection protects settlements while smoothing the path for legitimate claimants.
- Law Firm: Gunderson Dettmer (ChatGD+)
Gunderson’s ChatGD+ isn’t a pilot; it’s a culture. Built on a modern research/workflow stack, it puts AI into research, drafting, and routine tasking while attorneys feed continuous feedback to make the tools better.
- Artificial Intelligence: Free Law Project
Jennifer Whiston spoke to Free Law Project’s mission: “We believe that the law should be accessible to everyone, not just those with resources or representation… Everything we do is open source… We keep a human in the loop in everything that we do.”
- Lifetime Achievement: Jim Calloway
For three decades, Jim has been the legal profession’s most trusted technology mentor. Jim reminded us that technology training is a form of social justice. His closing challenge reverberated: “If the people in this room would reach out, even if it’s just teaching one enrichment course, you could change a lawyer’s life.”
Runners‑up noted in the official summaries were: Nora Cregan (Access to Justice); Maryland Center for Legal Assistance (Court); Rebecca Fordon (Education); BigHand (Enterprise); Colin Lachance (Individual); Stephen Embry (Journalism); New Era ADR (Startup); Janice Dantes / Pinay Law (Law Firm); and Descrybe.ai (Artificial Intelligence).
Program Notes
The organization’s co-founders came together to underscore how the legal technology community continues to serve both the profession and a larger public good.
- Building Together: Co‑founder Tom Martin framed this year’s theme as “Time to Build.” “One thing that’s more important than technology is us: human beings. When we work together and collaborate… we all want better lives for ourselves and our families.” That’s why we build.
- Progress and Principles: Co‑founder Patrick Palace underscored the profession’s oath to the Constitution and the importance of judicial independence.
- Shining a Light: Co‑founder Cat Moon introduced the Lifetime Achievement Award and emphasized that highlighting and sharing work across the community is the best way to accelerate progress. She spoke about shining a bright light on the work so we can “be inspired by each other, learn from each other, and make each other better.”
Host & Partners: Suffolk University Law School hosted the ceremony; event sponsors included 8am, Clio, and ARAG Legal.
For category descriptions and short profiles of each honoree, see the Summaries of Winners, Runners Up, and Honorable Mentions booklet distributed with the event. The full-length video of the awards ceremony is now available on YouTube.