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Global Legal Hackathon 2019

Global Legal Hackathon

The Global Legal Hackathon, now in its second year, just completed the first round of its latest competition. Over the course of last week and through the weekend, 6,000 participants from around the world in 46 cities across 24 countries engaged in a focused “sprint” to create new products and services for the legal profession. Through an organized and judged contest, each “hosted” location selected their best team to advance to the virtual semi-finals where teams will compete for slots at the GALA finals in New York City where venture capitalists will be in attendance on May 4th 2019.

We attended New York City’s first round chapter of the Global Legal Hackathon which took place at two beautiful venues, Orrick (6th & 53rd) and Microsoft (Times Square). We met amazing people, ate terrific food, and had a wonderful time. It is rumored that there may have been a little Xbox playing during the breaks. In addition to our local coverage in NYC, we patched in remote interviews to receive the latest updates from all over the world. We also included podcast coverage from Cori Goudchaux, one of the hackathon’s organizers who literally flew around the earth keeping everything running on time.

Another component of this year’s hackathon was worldwide “GROWLing”. Short for the Global Rise of Women in Legaltech, GROWL is an association of mentors who seek to include more women in technology development and innovation. Every location competing in the Global Legal Hackathon had at least one GROWL mentor ready to give pointers, advice, and encouragement to women competing on this unique world stage.


Below are links to our podcast coverage from the 2019 Global Legal Hackathon as well as a list of those who participated in our interviews.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Kicking It Off In NYC

Orrick’s Amy Lauren, Wolter Kluwer’s Dean Sonderegger, Neota Logic’s Kevin Mulcahy, and Integra Ledger’s David Fisher sit down to talk about this year’s Global Legal Hackathon, why they are participating, and what types of products they’d like to see developed.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: London

Robert Millard of Cambridge Strategy Group, Peter Lee of Wavelength, and David Terrar of The Agile Elephant remote-in from London to talk about their chapter of the Global Legal Hackathon, why they got involved, and predictions for the winning team.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Brazil

Attorney Paula Figueiredo and AB2L’s Clara Radicetti remote-in from Brazil to give updates from their chapter of the Global Legal Hackathon as well as how their location is providing solutions and solving problems.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Melbourne

Chris Roberts of Monash Law School remotes-in from Melbourne, Australia for a conversation with host Laurence Colletti about their chapter’s emphasis on private/public issues as well as his favorite ideas from the competing teams.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Hong Kong

Brian Tang of Asia Capital Markets Institute and Cori Goudchaux of Integra Ledger remote-in from Hong Kong to provide updates on what the teams were working on as well as LEXi, a legal tech incubator dedicated to developing ideas like the ones being built at the Global Legal Hackathon.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Hackathon’s Growth in Israel with Esther Dediashvili

Esther Dediashvili of Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co joins host Cori Goudchaux in Tel Aviv for a conversation about Israel’s large-per-capita lawyer population and why it’s so receptive to the tech ideas coming out of the Global Legal Hackathon.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: The Rise of Legal Technology In Israel

Professor Dov Greenbaum of The Zvi Meitar Institute for Legal Implications of Emerging Technologies, IDC Herzliya and doctoral candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School Aviv Gaon join host Cori Goudchaux in Tel Aviv to discuss legal technology acceptance in Israel’s education system, why they think the legal industry lags behind in tech, and what they want to see from the Global Legal Hackathon.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: What GLH Brings to the Legal Market in Israel

Raz Tepper and Eran Yaniv, co-heads of Fischer Behar Chen’s Hi-Tech Department sit down with host Cori Goudchaux in Tel Aviv to discuss their firm’s diversity, more lawyers embracing technology, and what they hope comes to Israel from the Global Legal Hackathon.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: GROWL

Heather McAuliffe of Morrison & Foerster, Anna McGrane of PacerPro, and Clare Godson of Allen & Overy join host Kim Sully of Integra Ledger for a conversation about the GROWL program (short for the Global Rise of Women in LegalTech) and its efforts to include more women in the development of legal technology.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: More GROWLing

Orrick’s Glynna Christian and Digitory’s Catherine Krow remote-in from San Francisco to discuss their involvement in the GROWL program (short for the Global Rise of Women in LegalTech) and share their favorite mentoring moments from the Global Legal Hackathon.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Empowering Women To Be More Legal Tech Savvy

Inbal Baumer of LegalUp sits down with host Cori Goudchaux from Tel Aviv to talk about the importance of including more women in the development of legal technology as well as why she became a mentor in the GROWL program (short for the Global Rise of Women in LegalTech).

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer’s Jonathan Cape, Peter Backx, Johannes Klostermann, and Magda Szmidt remote in from Chicago, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Warsaw respectively for a conversation about the challenges their teams are taking on as well as their best predictions for the winners.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Femme LeGAL

Team ‘Femme LeGAL’ from the New York City chapter of the Global Legal Hackathon discusses their new product and gives us an early version of their upcoming pitch to the judges. The team members include Marisha Thakker (leader), Vishal Agnihotri, Seray Nalbantoglu, Dana Lesham, Anthonia Carter, Khawla Benyamine, Yuliya Zemlytska, and Halyna Vaselyska.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Team Classify

Team ‘Classify’ from the New York City chapter of the Global Legal Hackathon talks about their new product, how it works, and who it’s designed to help. They also give us their early pitch for the judges. The team members include Shivam Satyarthi and Bliss Hu.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Tony Toronto

Team ‘Tiny Toronto’ from the New York chapter of the Global Legal Hackathon discusses their idea to alleviate the housing shortage. Team members include Sa’ad Ahmed and Andrew Kostyuk.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Granite Apple

Team ‘Granite Apple’ from the New York chapter of the Global Legal Hackathon talks about their new product designed to help fight crime with cell phones. Team members include Keith Kevelson (leader), Ankur Patel, Theodore Rand, Silu Hu, Lacoy Todman, Taylor Bliszcz, Janis Malnieks.

Global Legal Hackathon 2019: Pitching to Win

The three finalist teams from the New York City chapter of the Global Legal Hackathon give abbreviated pitches to the judges. Can you pick which one wins? Regardless of whether you were right or wrong, please share who you thought was best at #GLH2019.


Participants (In Alphabetical Order):

  1. Vishal Agnihotri – Hinshaw & Culbertson
  2. Sa’ad AhmedTiny Toronto
  3. Peter BackxWolters Kluwer
  4. Inbal BaumerLegalUp
  5. Khawla Benyamine – Nielsen
  6. Taylor Bliszcz
  7. Jonathan CapeWolters Kluwer
  8. Anthonia Carter – Recurse Center
  9. Glynna ChristianOrrick
  10. Laurence CollettiLegal Talk Network
  11. Esther DediashviliFischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co
  12. Paula FigueiredoFigueiredo.law
  13. David FisherIntegra Ledger
  14. Aviv GaonIDC Herzliya
  15. Clare Godsonaosphere LLP
  16. Cori GoudchauxIntegra Ledger
  17. Dov GreenbaumZvi Meitar Institute for Legal Implications of Emerging Technologies
  18. Keith Kevelson
  19. Johannes KlostermannWolters Kluwer
  20. Andrew KostyukFreelancer in Cyber Security
  21. Catherine KrowDigitory Legal
  22. Bliss HuRutgers University New Brunswick
  23. Silu Hu
  24. Amy LaurenOrrick
  25. Peter LeeWavelength
  26. Dana Lesham – Cornell Tech LLM
  27. Janis Malnieks
  28. Heather McAuliffeMorrison & Foerster LLP
  29. Anna McGranePacerPro
  30. Rob MillardCambridge Strategy Group
  31. Kevin MulcahyNeota Logic
  32. Seray Nalbantoglu – Cornell Tech LLM and Istanbul Bilgi University
  33. Ankur Patel
  34. Clara RadicettiAB2L
  35. Theodore Rand
  36. Chris RobertsMonash Law School
  37. Shivam SatyarthiRBC Capital Markets
  38. Dean SondereggerWolters Kluwer
  39. Kim SullyIntegra Ledger
  40. Magdalena SzmidtWolters Kluwer
  41. Brian TangAsia Capital Markets Institute (ACMI)
  42. David TerrarCloud Industry Forum
  43. Marisha Thakker – Cornell Tech LLM
  44. Lacoy Todman
  45. Halyna Vaselyska – Cornell Tech LLM
  46. Yuliya Zemlytska – World Bank Group


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After receiving his J.D. and MBA, Laurence Colletti went into solo practice with emphasis in general business and commercial real estate. He has always carried a strong passion for web-based media with a particular interest in podcasting and video. Laurence leverages his legal background against that passion to help bring sophisticated, relevant content to Legal Talk Network podcasts. You can follow Laurence on Twitter at @LaurenceEsq.