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Marc Raco is the Director of Legal Talk Network, and an award-winning seasoned podcast host and producer...
| Published: | September 25, 2026 |
| Podcast: | On the Road |
| Category: | Conference Coverage |
Rural legal deserts don’t lack demand, they lack reach, and Angela Armstrong sees AI as one of the clearest ways to close that gap. Executive Director of the Maine State Bar Association since 2013, Armstrong describes how her members have moved past early AI hesitation into practical daily use, from legal research to marketing their own practices, while still needing to check every output against the same professional judgment they would apply to any junior associate’s work. She also walks through the cybersecurity breach that reshaped her association’s entire approach to risk, and shares why she pushed to get CLE credit approved for yoga after watching burnout and depression take a visible toll on members, including a past bar president who spoke openly about his own struggle. Armstrong closes on the throughline she keeps coming back to in her role: leadership in this profession isn’t separate from service, it’s the same instinct that pulled her into the Army years before it pulled her into bar leadership.
Proving once again that ALPS Insurance puts the “treat” in retreat, they gathered leaders in law from across the country this summer. These sit-down conversations reveal flavors of leadership and legal trends from a variety of perspectives. Cool takes, one scoop at a time, recorded live at the 2026 ALPS Bar Leaders Retreat in Missoula, MT.
Angela Armstrong [00:00:00 – 00:00:50]
They need to be thinking about using AI in their practice somehow to benefit them and help them better manage their practice and also helping them with legal research. I also think if they can find ways to serve underserved areas, and that doesn’t mean places that can’t afford attorneys, I just like rural areas ’cause we have, as we, one of the topics, you know, rural deserts, Maine especially up north. If you can find ways in your practice to help those people and using AI, using all these tools, you’re going to actually have plenty of work to do if you can reach them and help them.
Marc Raco [00:00:55 – 00:01:27]
Welcome to another in our series of conversations recorded on location in Missoula, Montana. at the Alps Insurance Retreat for Bar Leaders. I’m Marc Raco, and with us is Angela Armstrong. Angela is the executive director for the Maine State Bar Association. She’s been the executive director since 2013. That’s no small tenure. She’s a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. She’s a former U.S.
Marc Raco [00:01:28 – 00:02:01]
Army officer. She previously served in university administration before joining the Maine State Bar, and she’s been recognized nationally for her bar leadership and association management. So, Angela, thank you so much for joining. We’re actually recording this at the tail end of the programming at the Alps Insurance Retreat for Bar Leaders. So our conversation is not about the retreat, but I’m curious, kind of looking back over it, What did that mean to you? What, what, what did you get out of that?
Angela Armstrong [00:02:02 – 00:02:18]
Well, I’m, I’m lucky enough to have been to several of these retreats, and ALPS always does such an amazing job of, of bringing so many different speakers and topics to us. This one did not disappoint. ALPS always does a great job.
Marc Raco [00:02:18 – 00:02:24]
What do you get out of content like that? What does that have to do with doing a better job in the legal field?
Angela Armstrong [00:02:24 – 00:02:50]
there’s always a tieback. Like this year there was Trailblazers, and they tied that to us being trailblazers in the, in the legal community, um, about community itself and how important relationships are. Um, so I think for me, some of these things that tend to not really relate to the legal world, but they make my know— my knowledge base broader, which I think just makes me a better person, a better leader.
Marc Raco [00:02:50 – 00:03:20]
Now, you’re a leader, obviously, as an executive director, and you’ve led in so many other ways, but you’ve also led a life arguably of service, not just in terms of the legal field, but obviously as a US Army officer attending West Point, and you’ve been recognized for your leadership and management. How do you look at the intersection of leading and serving?
Angela Armstrong [00:03:21 – 00:04:05]
Well, as you said, I’ve grown up in that kind of world of both leading and serving. And I think I gained that from my folks. They were leaders in my community growing up. My dad was also an Army officer, so I learned from that. And a lot of times when you serve, it almost automatically puts you into a leadership position because you are leading by example. When you’re doing that service, you’re gaining experience, and then other people that maybe are coming into that service are learning from you because you already have that experience. So, it almost kind of just happens naturally. It’s always been part of my life, so I don’t know anything different.
Angela Armstrong [00:04:07 – 00:04:37]
And obviously, I went to a school where I knew I was going to have more training on that too. I mean, I was a leader even in high school, as most kids that go to West Point are. But it’s something I really enjoy the challenge of, and I love helping people. I mean, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today if I didn’t, because it isn’t about being in charge particularly. It’s about relationships. For me.
Marc Raco [00:04:37 – 00:05:08]
So as the executive director of the Maine State Bar, obviously you’ve got a bird’s-eye view of what the membership is thinking about and what you’re trying to do to lead the membership in, uh, towards a better tomorrow and looking at the, the future of membership as well. So what’s on your mind this year in terms of your bar? What’s kind of the, the North Star that’s you know, you’re getting most of your attention?
Angela Armstrong [00:05:09 – 00:05:50]
Well, there’s a lot going on right now. So to, to pick one thing is difficult. I, I personally am not an attorney. I, so obviously I’ve been in the legal world. I’ve been with the Bar Association for 22 years. So I’ve been in the legal community for a long time, and I’m aware of a lot of those issues. But sometimes what might be the leading thing for my leadership, my president or something like that, sometimes obviously those are very important things for me too because they’re expecting me to follow through with a lot of that. But then I also have the actual running of the association as well.
Angela Armstrong [00:05:50 – 00:06:20]
So it’s more than stuff like the rule of law. we’re all dealing with. It’s extremely important. It’s important to my members, and it’s important to our country. So, it’s, that’s something all the bars are facing. But I’m also very worried about being relevant to my members, which includes the rule of law and stuff like that. But it also includes continuing legal education. It includes giving them value for their membership.
Angela Armstrong [00:06:22 – 00:07:01]
I worry about, you know, people belonging to the Bar Association. We are a voluntary Bar Association. I have to show value. So, although, you know, we might decide to make a statement about the rule of law and, or something that’s happening, taxes on legal services, or, and those are all very important things. I also am worrying about just making sure the Bar Association stays together and we’re surviving membership because, Membership associations, you know, aren’t the same as they used to be when I was younger. So it’s, it’s hard to say just one thing, but—
Marc Raco [00:07:01 – 00:07:03]
It’s tough when you’ve got a moving target, isn’t it?
Angela Armstrong [00:07:04 – 00:07:04]
It is. It is.
Marc Raco [00:07:05 – 00:07:08]
You’re almost unsure where to aim except to try to get ahead of it.
Angela Armstrong [00:07:08 – 00:07:13]
Yeah. And having lots of irons in the fire all at once.
Marc Raco [00:07:14 – 00:08:01]
So let’s move a little bit to the types of things that your membership are thinking about and that you’re thinking about for them. Certainly one of them is overall professional satisfaction and wellbeing. What’s on their minds? What are you paying attention to right now? It seems like there’s a lot of talk about mental health. There’s a lot of talk about succession planning. There’s a lot of talk about that moving target with everything from access to justice to rule of law, as you mentioned, and the political climate and trying to figure out— I can make this decision today, but will it be relevant tomorrow? The onslaught of AI and what that means in both opportunity and challenges. So I’m saying, how are you seeing that sense of professional satisfaction and wellbeing?
Angela Armstrong [00:08:03 – 00:08:56]
So our members are very much thinking about wellness. That is a big topic for us, and it has been for the last few years. We actually had a president within, not our current president, a couple presidents ago. He actually, and his story is well known, so I’m not sharing any secrets, but he had depression. And so that was a very important topic for him to bring to Maine. And it’s become a much bigger national issue. So, we’ve, we’ve found ways to bring wellness into all of our programming. We actually even were able to obtain CLE credit for yoga.
Marc Raco [00:08:58 – 00:08:58]
Wow.
Angela Armstrong [00:08:59 – 00:09:04]
Yeah. And, you know, ’cause we tied it to your, an attorney’s wellbeing. Oh, of course.
Marc Raco [00:09:04 – 00:09:06]
I swear it’s for work, honey.
Angela Armstrong [00:09:07 – 00:09:23]
And it just, we don’t do it all the time, but you know, it’s smart. It’s, yeah. So that’s, That’s a big one. And somewhat related to wellbeing, work-life balance. The younger generations seem to have that a little bit better than some of our older.
Marc Raco [00:09:24 – 00:09:24]
It’s an expectation.
Angela Armstrong [00:09:25 – 00:10:15]
Yeah, it’s an expectation as opposed to our older members that don’t. And the Maine bar is old. I mean, we are an old bar. Maine generally is an old state. So, It’s interesting when you have these younger attorneys coming in and trying to practice with some of these older attorneys. And then AI is huge. I mean, we’re, but we’re trying to get away from the scare you tactic of AI’s coming, you know, and it’s all about ethics and doing the right thing. And I mean, we need some of that, but it’s also— how do I use it? How do I work it into my practice to make my life easier? So, we’re trying to make that transition of not just scaring you about it or telling you it’s coming.
Angela Armstrong [00:10:16 – 00:10:34]
And some people have left the practice of the law because of it. Obviously, they’re getting close to retirement anyway, and they’ve decided to make that transition. And I was scared of it even, and I’m somewhere in between. But I’m learning how to use it and it’s not quite as scary as I thought.
Marc Raco [00:10:34 – 00:10:53]
You know, you think about the, um, and I’m not proselytizing here, but you think about when the internet came around, how many people said, that’s nothing, that’ll go away, that’s a fad or whatever. They said, I’m not learning that. They said, that’s dangerous, which maybe it is, but, and so forth.
Angela Armstrong [00:10:53 – 00:10:56]
Yeah. Like when email started being the thing. Yeah.
Marc Raco [00:10:56 – 00:11:02]
And now the internet is, is, is the engine of the world in a way of, of how we even do anything.
Angela Armstrong [00:11:02 – 00:11:07]
Oh yeah. If there’s a question in the room and nobody knows the answer, somebody pulls out their phone and looks it up.
Marc Raco [00:11:07 – 00:11:07]
That’s it.
Angela Armstrong [00:11:07 – 00:11:09]
I mean, it’s, it’s what we did.
Marc Raco [00:11:09 – 00:11:13]
There’s no longer not knowing the answer. It’s a matter of who pulls out their phone first.
Angela Armstrong [00:11:13 – 00:11:15]
Or, and, and finding the right one. Right.
Marc Raco [00:11:16 – 00:11:40]
So I guess with AI, this is what I’m understanding from you. It’s, it’s, is, is getting away from this is something to be scared of, to this is something that exists. So you should learn about the ways that it can be helpful to you instead of harmful to you and be aware of the ways also that it can be harmful to you so you can manage that risk.
Angela Armstrong [00:11:40 – 00:11:53]
Correct. And also, here are some classes on actually how to use it. So because they’ve been told about it, They know it’s coming, they don’t wanna use it, but now, okay, let us show you ways it can help your practice.
Marc Raco [00:11:53 – 00:11:59]
Can you give some examples of any of the types of programs or education you put on about that?
Angela Armstrong [00:11:59 – 00:12:42]
Yeah, so we’ve done, um, we’ve had programs about ChatGPT. Um, Clio is a practice management, um, software that offers an AI component. Velex, or I think it’s now called Vincent, um, which, and then Decisis, uh, Decisis is our, legal research engine, which also has an AI component. So, we, we have classes on all of those different formats. And of course, they’re becoming more and more prevalent and there’s more and more options now. I mean, more people are talking about Claude. I’m not as familiar with that one, but there, it’s out there.
Marc Raco [00:12:43 – 00:13:16]
As your members think about their own career outlook and professional direction? How are they thinking about this? What’s your read of the room of how they’re thinking about, ’cause you know, you said some people have left because of AI, let’s say. There’s a lot of onslaught about, you know, rule of law and changes in the legal system and political wins and so forth. How are they thinking about the future of their own careers?
Angela Armstrong [00:13:16 – 00:13:35]
I’m gonna kind of focus on the, the newer side of attorneys, ’cause, you know, the ones that are later in their careers are, are, some are embracing the technology and some aren’t. And, and, you know, and they don’t have many, many years left. So it’s, I’m, I’m gonna focus on the, the mid to newer ones.
Marc Raco [00:13:35 – 00:13:39]
And this is not also not the first new technology they’ve ever seen. This is the latest iteration of it.
Angela Armstrong [00:13:39 – 00:14:12]
Correct. Correct. And, but I think, I mean, I think a lot of them, it’s very interesting. They’re thinking about using, if we’re looking at AI in particular, as a time management piece, which then feeds back into the having a work-life balance. I’m not spending as much time in the office, and I can do it from all these other places. I also think they’re, they’re really into marketing themselves much more. I’ve noticed with some of the newer—
Marc Raco [00:14:12 – 00:14:13]
Well, that’s refreshing, right?
Angela Armstrong [00:14:13 – 00:14:54]
The newer firms, you know, it’s not the TV commercials that say, we’ll go to court for you. They’re— and my husband is a real estate agent, a fairly new real estate agent, and that I’m seeing it there as well. So it’s, they’re really using social media, short clips to market themselves. And some of it’s legal related, but some of it is just community service that they’re doing. And I, and I think they’re working that more into their, their practice so that they’re showing people that they have things outside the office that they do, but also that they, they feel like they do important social work.
Marc Raco [00:14:55 – 00:15:48]
That’s really good business because you think about it, if If I’m not a part of the community, I’m just a vendor taking from the community is the crudest way to put that. If I am participating in the community and I’m community service or as a philanthropist or whatever it may be, I’m part of the community. I am a peer and within the community. And this just happens to be one of the ways I can serve the community through what I do. Right. And in the past, The only way you could have really told about that is if either someone did a story about you or you boast about it. You do a commercial about all the ways we’re helping the community, which looks boastful. But if you simply document us, you know, at this particular golf tournament or at the Kiwanis Club or the Boys and Girls Club or whatever it is, then you, you’re just sharing your day.
Angela Armstrong [00:15:49 – 00:15:49]
Correct.
Marc Raco [00:15:49 – 00:15:52]
And that’s a different— that’s perceived differently.
Angela Armstrong [00:15:52 – 00:16:25]
It is. And another thing that I’ve seen both lawyers, and I happen to see it through the real estate side too, because again, my husband’s a real estate agent, is they’re actually doing community highlights. So they’re just going on and doing something on their social media page that’s highlighting another entity in the community, has nothing to do with it, but they know the relationships, right? And that entity is going to remember that this lawyer said this stuff and Oh, I need a lawyer. Maybe I’m gonna use this one. Yeah.
Marc Raco [00:16:25 – 00:16:37]
I love that. So let’s talk about risk. What is your viewpoint of the kinds of risks that you are thinking about in terms of the members and you’re seeing the members be focused on right now?
Angela Armstrong [00:16:38 – 00:17:13]
When I’m thinking about the Bar Association and kind of our internal workings, and which also goes out to our members, is, Cybersecurity and that type of stuff. We, several years ago now, we got hacked, for better, for lack of a better word. And happened early in the morning. And while I was working on documents, all of a sudden some of my files were corrupt. And then I started talking to someone else in the office. Okay, something’s going on. So I ran downstairs unplugged. I just, I don’t know what’s going on.
Angela Armstrong [00:17:13 – 00:17:31]
Called our guy and Thankfully, it had our membership databases on the cloud, so they never touched that. Our financial stuff was on a different database. So, they just got some of our Word documents, which we lost some of them. They wanted us to—
Marc Raco [00:17:31 – 00:17:33]
Was that a cataclysmic—
Angela Armstrong [00:17:33 – 00:17:35]
At the time, it seemed like it.
Marc Raco [00:17:35 – 00:17:35]
Yeah.
Angela Armstrong [00:17:36 – 00:18:39]
But once we really did a search, we stopped it pretty quickly. And the stuff that we lost was mostly documents, like memos we sent out, stuff like that, that could be recreated. A lot of them were ones we’d done over and over throughout the year. You know, you kind of do it every year type of thing. But what it did teach us, obviously, is we had to increase our security. So, I think sometimes you— that’s a huge risk that people— and we heard about it today, this guy that actually did a lot of physical entry work. But I think until it happens to you, sometimes you just don’t realize how at risk you are. And so, as much as, you know, you don’t want to admit that that happened to you, I’ve tried to make sure our members know how important that is in their own firms because you don’t— I mean, I didn’t have any confidential client data, but they do, and that can be super dangerous.
Marc Raco [00:18:41 – 00:18:57]
So, what did you learn out of this? What, from a practical standpoint, did you come away from this and say, all right, here’s where our vulnerability was, here’s what we can do better, or here’s what we’ve decided to put in place to narrow the chance of risk?
Angela Armstrong [00:18:57 – 00:19:01]
Unfortunately, we didn’t think we were a target, right?
Marc Raco [00:19:02 – 00:19:03]
Well, that’s common, right?
Angela Armstrong [00:19:03 – 00:19:12]
I think it’s very common because you think, well, we’re nobody, we’re too small. We’re not important to, ’cause we don’t have money, we don’t have all this stuff.
Marc Raco [00:19:12 – 00:19:13]
That’s just patently untrue.
Angela Armstrong [00:19:14 – 00:19:51]
Right. But as a small nonprofit, you’re just kind of like, yeah. So one, I’ve realized that is not a good mindset to have. totally increased all of our security. I, we now have a, you know, policy, uh, an insurance policy. Um, we have much better, um, uh, be— we’ve contracted with an IT company that is keeping track of that. It’s, and, and, and now, you know, you have to spend the money there. So that was an adjustment, right? We had to fix some things in the budget to make sure we, um, had coverage there.
Angela Armstrong [00:19:51 – 00:20:02]
And sometimes you think, oh, it doesn’t need that much money. You don’t want to overdo it, but in turn, if you’re small, you can’t overdo it, but it’s worth the money to spend to keep yourself safe.
Marc Raco [00:20:02 – 00:20:17]
Beyond the Word documents you might’ve lost, why is it so crucial to understand your cybersecurity risks and address them ahead of A breach?
Angela Armstrong [00:20:17 – 00:20:51]
I think mostly is because you don’t want your members to not have confidence in you. I mean, because if they don’t have confidence in you, they’re not going to be members. And if they’re not members, you don’t have an organization. So your members need to be sure that their data or, or their benefits or whatever you’re providing them is safe despite everything else. Yeah, it’s, it’s a pain in the butt to have to go through the process. By in and of itself. I mean, that’s just awful. But I think it’s mostly confidence from your members.
Marc Raco [00:20:51 – 00:21:00]
And this is, this is exactly the same situation with an attorney and their clients, except a far higher ethical obligation.
Angela Armstrong [00:21:00 – 00:21:03]
Correct. Correct. Yeah, there’s a lot more to it because you could even lose your license.
Marc Raco [00:21:04 – 00:21:24]
You have a responsibility to safeguard their information. And also, you know, here’s something that I don’t hear talked about a lot. Right. You’re responsible for protecting their information as an attorney, but aren’t you also responsible for protecting their right to what we’ll call speedy justice?
Angela Armstrong [00:21:25 – 00:21:25]
Correct.
Marc Raco [00:21:26 – 00:21:37]
Because a breach could end up delaying the delivery of justice or results, which injures them further, right? Correct.
Angela Armstrong [00:21:39 – 00:21:46]
Yeah, I would not want to be in that situation, which is why we’ve provided continuing legal education on this topic as well.
Marc Raco [00:21:46 – 00:21:50]
This is not, this is not a nice to have. This is a must have.
Angela Armstrong [00:21:50 – 00:21:57]
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I, I think you’re right. I think maybe that’s one of the takeaways too. It’s, and I, you said it more succinctly than me.
Marc Raco [00:21:57 – 00:21:58]
It’s part of walking in the door.
Angela Armstrong [00:21:59 – 00:21:59]
Correct.
Marc Raco [00:21:59 – 00:21:59]
To do this work.
Angela Armstrong [00:22:00 – 00:22:04]
It’s, it’s no longer, uh, mm, should we have it or not? It’s, You got to have it.
Marc Raco [00:22:04 – 00:22:20]
Think about the organizations that you may have done business with in the past, unrelated to this field, who are known to have large data breaches, and they, they certainly should have been protected against them. And somehow they got in and you never quite trust them again.
Angela Armstrong [00:22:20 – 00:22:20]
Right.
Marc Raco [00:22:21 – 00:22:36]
What do firms need to be thinking about? What do solos need to be thinking about other than cybersecurity, managing risk? What is on the agenda in the next 1 to 5 years of how they should be thinking about how they’re going to effectively run their practice?
Angela Armstrong [00:22:37 – 00:23:24]
Using AI in their practice somehow to benefit them and help them better manage their practice and also helping them with legal research. I also think if they can find ways to serve underserved areas. And, and that doesn’t mean places that can’t afford attorneys. I just like rural areas ’cause we have, as we, one of the topics, you know, rural deserts, Maine has ’em, especially up north. If you can find ways in your practice to help those people and using AI, using all these tools, you’re, you’re going to actually have plenty of work to do. If you can reach them and help them.
Marc Raco [00:23:24 – 00:23:27]
You’re also driving access to justice by doing that.
Angela Armstrong [00:23:27 – 00:23:28]
Correct.
Marc Raco [00:23:28 – 00:23:56]
Because I think about the number of people who would pursue, let’s say, a lawsuit for $50,000. But they do— number one, they may not be able to find an attorney to take a case of that size. Number one. Number two, if they live 2.5 hours from the nearest competent attorney that can take anything like that, You combine those 2 factors, they’re never— they may never go through with it, and they lose access to justice when they had a legitimate claim.
Angela Armstrong [00:23:56 – 00:23:57]
They absolutely do.
Marc Raco [00:23:57 – 00:24:17]
Right? So number one, AI can help answer that by making it more efficient and cost-effective to take on cases like that. And then just by serving in those areas, you help provide access to justice. And then, like you said, the opportunity from a business growth standpoint is just, there is low-hanging fruit in a way.
Angela Armstrong [00:24:18 – 00:24:49]
There’s plenty of work. It’s just getting to those folks. And, and AI can help you get to those folks too. I mean, before COVID everything seemed to have to be in person, right? Um, now we know that doesn’t have to happen. Do we like to meet in person? Yeah. But, um, when you’re learning about a case or meeting a client, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t. And obviously I’m thinking about this from Maine’s perspective, I, you don’t see a, a lot of attorneys in Maine that are super specialized. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Angela Armstrong [00:24:49 – 00:25:52]
There are, there are a lot that do. But if you’re, if you’re in Maine and you can be a little more general, you have, you’re gonna have a much bigger base of, and, and helping those people in the rural areas. I am, trying to focus on innovative ways to help my members. And coming to events like this is a great way for that to happen. As I said, I’ve been doing this a long time and a lot has changed over those years, but I would prefer to be a little more proactive rather than reactive. But I also I want my members to tell me some things they’re looking for too. You know, I want that feedback because the only way I can really give them what they want is knowing what they want. And everybody’s a little bit different, but there are themes, right? And so I want innovative ways.
Angela Armstrong [00:25:53 – 00:25:59]
I’m looking for those. I’m trying to think of those. But the input is super important too, and the feedback.
Marc Raco [00:26:00 – 00:26:04]
Fantastic. Thank you. Okay, last question. Favorite ice cream?
Angela Armstrong [00:26:04 – 00:26:05]
Mint chocolate chip.
Marc Raco [00:26:05 – 00:26:08]
That is a popular answer, by the way. Very good.
Angela Armstrong [00:26:08 – 00:26:09]
I don’t eat ice cream very often.
Marc Raco [00:26:10 – 00:26:12]
Well, when you do, it’s got to be mint chocolate chip.
Angela Armstrong [00:26:12 – 00:26:13]
Yeah, I like it.
Marc Raco [00:26:14 – 00:26:14]
Thank you very much.
Angela Armstrong [00:26:15 – 00:26:17]
Thank you. Appreciate being here.
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On the Road |
Recorded on the conference floor, "On the Road" includes highlights and interviews from popular legal events.
