From AI to eDiscovery: Innovation in Legal and Technology Education

As a former tech executive, Laura is committed to training law students for careers in technology companies and the firms that support them. Laura is founding Director of Santa Clara Law’s innovative Tech Edge J.D. program and Entrepreneurs’ Law Clinic, and a member of the full-time faculty. The Tech Edge J.D. is a certificate program being piloted in 2018, designed to prepare law students for practice in technology-related industries. The Entrepreneurs’ Law Clinic, now in its fifth year, uses 2L and 3L students to provide free legal services and workshops to the Silicon Valley’s vibrant entrepreneurial community. Laura also teaches two entrepreneurial law courses to SCU undergraduate engineers and regularly speaks on topics relating to entrepreneurship law and intellectual property.

Prior to joining the faculty at Santa Clara University School of Law, Laura worked in private practice representing technology startups and entrepreneurs. She gained her business acumen through her position as the first Vice President of Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary to the Board of Directors at Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. The Recorder has recognized her as a Top Woman Leader in Tech Law in 2017 and 2014, and her innovative teaching techniques were recognized in 2015 when Santa Clara Law’s High Tech Law Institute received the Legal Innovator award.

William Hamilton is a Legal Skills Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law where he teaches electronic discovery and complex litigation. Mr. Hamilton is the co-author of the LexisNexis Practice Guide Florida e-Discovery and Evidence and co-author of “A Student Electronic Discovery Primer.” Mr. Hamilton is also the General Editor of the LexisNexis Practice Guide: Florida Contract Litigation. Mr. Hamilton has been recognized in Chambers USA, Florida Legal Elite, Best Lawyers in America, and Florida Super Lawyers.

President George W. Bush appointed Judge Rodriguez to the bench as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas in 2003. He is a former Texas Supreme Court Justice and was also a partner in the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P.

Judge Rodriguez is a frequent speaker on continuing legal education seminars and has authored numerous articles regarding employment law, discovery, and arbitration issues. He serves as an adjunct professor of law at the St. Mary’s University School of Law. He was elected to membership in the American Law Institute and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Texas Bar Foundation. He was awarded the Rosewood Gavel Award for outstanding judicial service from the St. Mary’s University School of Law in 2011.

Dr. Daniel M. Katz is VP, Data Science and Innovation, and manages Elevate’s data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. He assists in both internal and customer efforts to infuse data science and AI into existing work streams. This includes supporting not only the customer’s technical requirements but also the associated education and change management.

Prior to joining Elevate, Daniel was the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at LexPredict – a legal technology and analytics company which was acquired by Elevate in November 2018. In addition to his work at Elevate, Dr. Katz is also a Professor of Law at Illinois Tech–Chicago Kent College of Law where his academic work focuses on the scientific study of legal complexity as well as the application of artificial intelligence and analytics in law.

Dr. Katz’s academic work has been published in leading academic journals including Science, Plos One, Journal of Statistical Physics, Artificial Intelligence & Law and Physica A; legal journals including Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy, Emory Law Journal, Virginia Tax Review, Iowa Law Review, Illinois Law Review, Ohio State Law Journal, Journal of Law & Politics, and Journal of Legal Education; and has been featured in publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Wired Magazine, Bloomberg Business Week, 538.com, National Public Radio, BBC Radio, The American Lawyer, ABA Journal, Legal Futures (UK), Law Society Gazette (UK) and The Globe and Mail (Canada).

Daniel earned both his Ph.D. and J.D. at the University of Michigan.

Mary Mack, Executive Director of the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS), has 15 years of hands on E-Discovery experience in both software and services. She is the author of A Process of Illumination: The Practical Guide to Electronic Discovery and the co-editor of the Thomson Reuters West treatise, eDiscovery for Corporate Counsel. Mary is certified in computer forensics, computer telephony, access and identity management, security and eDiscovery. Mary is a graduate of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.