LEGAL GEEK COMMUNITY NEWS - JUNE 2025
This is your hub for all things community – where we celebrate the brilliant minds shaping legal innovation, highlight exciting opportunities to get involved, and share stories from our incredible network.
Whether you’re a curious newcomer or a long-time Legal Geek fan, this is the place to stay connected, inspired, and in the loop.
Monica Goyal has seen it all: emerging legal tech, evolving client expectations, and the uphill battle many law firms face when trying to adopt new tools. As VP of Legal Innovation at both Briefly Legal and Caravel Law, and a part-time lecturer at TMU’s Lincoln Alexander Law School, Monica helps bring new technologies into practice every day. Her work at Caravel Law recently earned the team a 2025 LexisNexis Canada Award for Best Use of Technology in a law firm.
We asked Monica: What are your top two tips for law firms looking to implement new technology? ahead of Legal Geek North America (June 17, Recess Chicago), where she will be joining us.
1. Experimentation and open mindedness.
First, take an experimental and open minded approach. I can’t count how many times I’ve met a legal tech company, read their product description, and still had no idea what they really did until I saw it in action. That moment of oh wow this could actually solve a real problem only comes when you’re curious enough to explore and you keep an open mind. So don’t go in with a fixed mindset, go in willing to be surprised.
2. Pilot, pilot, pilot
Second tip, my rule of thumb, Pilot pilot pilot vendors will always push for firm-wide licenses, but you never know how the lawyers at your firm will actually respond to the tool. I’ve seen very promising solutions fail because pilot was not conducted. Instead, run a small test with a few users, gather feedback, and only then consider a broader roll out. That’s how you can avoid costly missteps and make smarter tech decisions for your firm.
"Don't go in with a fixed mindset, go in willing to be surprised."
Community spotlight: Maya Markovich
Maya is a driving force in justice tech, bringing bold ideas to life as VP at the AAA-ICDR Institute and Executive Director of the Justice Technology Association. We spoke to Maya about the role of AI and B2C legal tech in expanding access to justice, what the funding landscape looks like for justice-focused startups, and what it truly means to be an advocate for access to justice today. Read Maya’s story
How MAPD Group uses AI and psychology to innovate law
MAPD Group is redefining client care with a powerful blend of AI, behavioural psychology, and legal expertise. We spoke to Joanna Kingston-Davies and Paul Madden about their pioneering Knowledge Transfer Partnership, emotional insights model, and how this innovation is reshaping communication in law. Continue reading
Legal Geek insights: Leading by design
OpenAI’s partnership with former Apple design chief Jony Ive underscores the importance of design as a critical success factor in GenAI adoption, particularly among students and teenagers whose use of GenAI on their smartphones is driving the revival of voice as a primary interface. And how is legal design helping to overcome the data paradox that is holding back progress when it comes to applying GenAI to legal tasks? Read Joanna’s article.
That’s a wrap for this edition! Check back next month for more community highlights, and ways to get involved.
Got news to share? We’d love to hear from you!
