Wed, Aug 13th: 'AI and the Future of Legal Services' 6:00 PM, CU Boulder

The Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group (RMAIIG) invites you to an in-person meeting on Wednesday, Aug 13th, at 6:00 PM at CU Boulder for our “AI and the Future of Legal Services."

As generative AI rapidly transforms the legal industry, this session will explore how new technologies are reshaping access to justice, redefining the role of lawyers, and creating new opportunities for legal innovation.

We’ll examine the tension between the promise of AI to expand access and its potential to disrupt traditional legal practice. From agentic AI systems that challenge current licensing rules, to domain-specific tools that streamline legal tasks, these shifts raise pressing questions about what it means to practice law in an AI-driven world.

Our speakers will share perspectives from academia, legal practice, and entrepreneurship. From building and selling an AI legal tech startup, to confronting regulatory and ethical concerns, to reimagining how legal services might be delivered at scale, we’ll explore where the future of law is headed and who it will serve.

'AI and the Future of Legal Services'
CU Boulder East Campus: In-person
Aerospace Engineering Sciences Building (Room 120)
3775 Discovery Dr., Boulder CO 80303
Wed, Aug 13th
6:00 - 8:00 PM - Meeting
5:30 PM Free pizza (thanks to our pizza sponsor, Pixel Law!)
Parking: https://www.rmaiig.org/parking

The session will open with Harry Surden, Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School, presenting "Opportunities and Peril at the Intersection of Technology and Access to Justice." His discussion will highlight specific access to justice shortcomings, the state of Generative AI tools in the legal industry, and weigh the pros and cons of more widespread use of Generative AI in connection with legal counseling.

Professor Surden is also the Associate Director of Stanford University's CodeX Center for Legal Informatics and the Faculty Director of CU's Silicon Flatirons Center's AI Initiative. He brings an interdisciplinary perspective, with a background in both computer science and law. Prior to academia, he worked as a professional software engineer at both Cisco Systems and Bloomberg L.P.

Next, Jason Lynch, General Counsel and COO at Foundry and Commissioner on Colorado's Access to Justice Commission, will present "AI Should Be Admitted to Practice Law in Colorado." Jason's talk will examine the implications for the delivery of legal services of generative AI and the rise of agentic AI. He will discuss the access-to-justice crisis in America and how AI tools may be a solution to that crisis, even though offering such tools to the public is currently unlawful. Jason will also offer some cautionary perspectives about how AI tools may undermine the skills and abilities of human lawyers.

Finally, Otto Hanson and Evan Harris, Legal AI Co-Founders, will present "Idea to Exit in 18 Months: How We Built and Sold Screens.ai" (acquired by Agiloft). What does it actually take to build and sell a legal tech startup in today’s AI-driven world? In this session, Otto and Evan will share the inside story of how they developed an AI-powered legal tool, scaled quickly, and achieved an exit, all in 18 months. They’ll demo the tech, walk through the technical and business challenges, and offer candid insights into building with a quick acquisition in mind.

At the end of the meeting, we'll bring all the speakers up for a Q&A panel. Bring lots of questions!

We will have free pizza sponsored by Pixel Law (pixellaw.com), a virtual law firm based in Boulder. Its founder, Chris Brown, counsels startups, freelancers, and small businesses on transactional matters such as incorporations, contracts, trademarks, and more. Chris also leads the RMAIIG Legal AI Subgroup (rmlegalai.org). Thanks, Chris!

Special thank you to Bobby Hodgkinson for arranging the meeting space!