Community spotlight
Maya Markovich, Vice President of the AAA-ICDR Institute and Executive Director of Justice Technology Association
Meet Maya Markovich, this month’s Community Spotlight and a powerhouse at the forefront of legal innovation. She is driving real change where technology, equity, and the legal system meet. Her mission? To transform bold ideas into action, leveraging innovation to make justice more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
We caught up with Maya to talk AI, B2C legal tech, the funding hurdles justice tech startups face, and what it truly means to be an access to justice advocate.
Photo: Maya Markovich
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
My academic background is in organizational psychology and behavioral economics, with a focus on how groups in various settings adapt to change, influence one another, and collaborate best. That initially led me to change management consulting in tech, geared toward maximizing engagement and driving faster adoption and higher proficiency in new workflows or systems. I then decided I wanted a career with broader social impact, so I attended law school, practiced for a few years, and then transitioned to the legal tech provider side in product management.
The field of legal innovation wasn’t something I’d ever considered, because it didn’t exist. I joined Nextlaw Labs just as it launched. It was the industry’s first legal tech-focused innovation catalyst, founded by Dentons, the world’s largest law firm. Our mandate was to reinvent the business and practice of law via technology. We invested in and accelerated legal tech startups through the first-ever venture fund focused on legal tech, Nextlaw Ventures. We also created new tech-supported legal services, helped global practice leaders develop and implement their own innovation strategies, and supported clients in their own legal departments’ transformation and efforts to deliver more value to their own organizations. And we partnered with Jimmy Vestbirk on the first two Legal Geek events – the legal tech road trip around Europe, and doing a global legal tech callout (Jimmy and I got very lost in the Moscow subway system)!
After six wonderful years at Nextlaw, I unbundled my career and became a startup advisor, legal tech investment advisor, and legal innovation consultant, working with teams from legal operations to ALSPs and law firms to help them deliver tech-enabled services, make sense of the legal tech landscape, and implement legal tech with a long-range, change design perspective.
In 2022, I co-founded the Justice Technology Association along with four founding members. The first and only trade organization representing tech companies focused on bridging the access-to-justice gap, we’re building an impact-focused innovation ecosystem and supporting early-stage startups to build the nascent justice tech sector.
This year, I joined American Arbitration Association – International Centre for Dispute Resolution as vice president of the Institute, a newly formed thought leadership arm and AAAI Lab, where I focus primarily on AI, innovation, and entrepreneurship in alternative dispute resolution (ADR). I help prioritize the “big ideas” and map the Institute’s approach to addressing them against broader organizational goals of increasing public access to justice through alternate pathways for conflict resolution.
What is the funding landscape like for justice tech, and what are the main barriers for startups trying to raise capital?
Justice tech represents a unique challenge and a unique opportunity for investors who count positive social change as an additional return on investment. The most impactful solutions are built by those who have lived experience with the problem being solved. Paradoxically, justice tech entrepreneurs who have experienced the justice gap firsthand are often from underrepresented and justice-impacted communities, which are closest to the solution but farthest from resources and power. These founders receive less than 2% of funding, which impairs their ability to reach those who need assistance navigating basic legal matters. In addition, as pioneers in this space, educating potential funders about justice tech and the actual investment landscape often dominates many conversations with potential investors.
The other hurdle is determining the most effective way to reach potential customers. For example, legal aid organizations turn away between 50 and 90% of the people who come to them for help due to capacity constraints, funding restrictions, or practice areas they don’t cover. The same thing happens in courts and self-help centers – people are unaware that vetted, ethical technology exists that can help them navigate their legal problems. There can be some reluctance in these organizations to spread the word about justice tech solutions, not because they don’t want to, but because they are afraid of running afoul of Unauthorized Practice of Law rules, funding, or potential liability. At JTA, we’re working to clear those roadblocks and create alternate pathways of access.
Can you talk about AI and the role of B2C legal tech in expanding access to justice?
The law pervades nearly every aspect of our lives. It’s the operating system for society as we know it, and the operating system is broken. Most legal tech is built for elite sectors, and often by members of those sectors and is geared toward law pertaining to business. The legal system is designed for lawyers to run as a business, not for public benefit. As a result, there’s a massive area of law, legal matters, and market share that has been left almost entirely unaddressed.
Justice tech is ethical B2C technology created by, and in partnership with, those unable to afford a lawyer, and it can and should be a critical component of the effort to democratize justice. Pro bono services and legal aid organizations are doing incredible work, but are chronically under-resourced and overwhelmed. With the advent of widely available AI solutions, addressing that gap is even more crucial – and more readily within reach.
Justice tech has emerged as a vital sector to address these disparities by helping expand access to legal resources, streamline processes, and improve outcomes. This field encompasses an expansive array of digital tools, including online legal platforms, document automation software, virtual courtrooms, AI-powered legal assistance, and other related technologies.
What does it mean to be an access to justice advocate?
Advocacy consists of two parts – conviction and action. You’re an access to justice advocate if you believe that the legal system should offer everyone, regardless of socioeconomic position, a level playing field and a fair outcome on the merits of their legal issue.
Taking action is the next step, and we must understand that the justice gap is something lawyers created, and we have a responsibility to solve it rather than perpetuate it. I urge legal professionals to take a moment to learn about the vast range of efforts that are underway to solve the problem. Use your voice, influence, time, and money to support access to justice and increase awareness.
"The justice gap is something lawyers created, and we have a responsibility to solve it rather than perpetuate it.”
