The Legal Innovation & Technology (LIT) Center is the hub of Suffolk Law’s nationally leading efforts to help our students and the profession reimagine the delivery of legal services in a rapidly changing world. The Center’s key goals include:

• • Preparing our students for a profession that is undergoing significant change due to technology and innovation
  • Driving innovations in addressing the public’s legal needs (i.e., improving access to justice)
  • Improving efficiencies in legal processes for everyone who needs legal assistance
  • Fostering a vibrant community of legal innovators

Our programs have received national and international acclaim, including innovation honors from Bloomberg Law, the World Justice Foundation, the American Bar Association, the Foundation for Improvement of Justice, and the College of Law Practice Management. Suffolk Law is regularly named among the best legal technology programs in the country.

Q: How does the Center prepare students for the future of legal practice?

A:  The LIT Center prepares students for a rapidly evolving legal profession by offering hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies and innovative processes. Students in the LIT Concentration—a Bloomberg Top 10 Innovator and the first of its kind in the country—gain practical skills in areas like document automation, generative AI, legal project management, legal design thinking, e-discovery, and data analytics.

Our LIT Lab provides students with real-world experience working as consultants on legal tech and data science projects for courts, non-profits, and law firms. Students have developed AI-powered tools, created mobile court forms used by thousands, and participated in national legal design challenges.

Recent graduates have secured innovative roles that didn’t exist a decade ago, such as Legal Innovation Advisor and Legal Solutions Architect. Still others graduate and take on more traditional legal roles, but do so equipped with a modern skillset to increase the efficiency of their organization’s work. One student was named a National Jurist “Law Student of the Year” for her work combining legal technologies and access to justice.

Q: What are some of the Center’s most impactful projects?

A: During the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Lab led an international team of over 100 volunteers to create automated, TurboTax-style “smartforms” that enable the filing of court documents from a mobile phone or computer. This project has expanded to multiple states.

The project, dubbed the Document Assembly Line, earned media coverage in the New York Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Telemundo, among many others.

The Lab’s smartforms and efiling systems have helped thousands of self-represented litigants (SRLs) navigate complex legal processes, for example, the need for a restraining order or aid in spurring action from a neglectful property owner. The smart forms adapt to the answers that SRLs provide, offering information in-context that explains the choices users can make and the law relating to a specific legal problem. In one case, our appeals court smart form was used to stop a physical eviction in progress. 

The Lab also developed Spot, an AI-powered issue spotting tool that improves online searches for legal information and services. It’s being used by several statewide legal aid portals and one national online forum.

Additionally, our students and faculty are at the forefront of exploring AI applications in law, including developing AI tools for arbitration and using AI to streamline the creation of smart legal forms. 

Q: What recognitions have Suffolk’s Legal Innovation & Technology programs received?

A: Our legal tech program has been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 by National Jurist on three consecutive occasions. We’ve twice been named to Bloomberg Law’s Top Innovators List, and our work has been featured in many national media outlets. 

Seven of our LIT program faculty members have been honored by FastCase or as ABA Legal Rebels for their pioneering work in legal tech. Shark Tank recently visited campus to highlight the successful legal innovation work of one of the first students taking our smart legal automation course (the first ever legal technology winner on the show).

Q: How does the Center collaborate with the legal industry and other institutions?

A: We actively partner with courts, non-profits, and legal aid organizations. Our students serve as consultants for those entities in the areas of legal technology, data science, and process improvement, among others. We’ve secured $3 million in funding, mostly in the form of grants, since 2017.

The Center recently announced its partnership with the American Arbitration Association (AAA®) to launch a pioneering Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Innovation Clinic. Suffolk Law and the AAA will create an accessible, digital process for low-contest divorces and family law matters in Massachusetts. The project will engage court system users, legal services providers, courts, and ADR experts to meet community needs and will integrate seamlessly with existing Massachusetts court processes.

Over the years, we have hosted a Legal Design Challenge, bringing together law schools nationwide to prototype solutions for legal and social challenges. Our open-source approach allows other jurisdictions to use and build upon our innovations at no cost. 

The Center and the LIT Lab also host LITCon, an annual conference that brings together a wide range of innovators focused on the intersection of access-to-justice and technology, data, and process improvement.

Q: What’s on the horizon for the Center?

A: We’re continuing to expand our generative AI and machine learning initiatives, including developing more sophisticated training simulations and exploring the ethical implications of AI in law. We’re also working on scaling our successful projects to more jurisdictions and focusing on making legal processes even more accessible through mobile technologies.

Our goal is to remain at the forefront of legal innovation, continually adapting our programs to prepare students for the evolving legal landscape while addressing critical access to justice issues.