#54: Empowering People in the Courtroom. Interview with Courtroom5 CEO, Sonja Ebron

The Tech Savvy Lawyer

It can be challenging for people with limited means to find attorneys willing to take them on as clients. Courtroom5 provides this group with Do-It-Yourself online help in some areas of law. This online service assists people in representing themselves in court. This week's Tech Savvy Lawyer podcast episode features Sonja Ebron, CEO of Courtroom5.

Sonja is a Ph.D. electoral engineer and former college professor with a background in utilities and artificial intelligence. She has represented herself in court numerous times. As CEO at Courtroom5, Sonja has made it her personal mission to empower people to represent themselves effectively in court. She serves on the board of Responsive Law, a national advocacy organization focused on the rights of legal consumers, and on the Leaders Council of the Legal Services Corporation, the nation's primary funding source for legal aid programs. She is a founding member of the Justice Technology Association, a trade organization for direct-to-consumer legal tech companies and nonprofits.

Join Sonja and me as we discuss the following three questions and more!

1. What are three areas of technology attorneys should be looking at when it comes to assisting those with lesser means?
2. What are three things attorneys can learn from platforms like courtroom five to help serve those with lesser means?
3. What are your top three concerns regarding courtroom five, raising UPL scrutiny?

In our conversation, we cover:

[00.56] Tech setup – Starting the conversation, Sonja dives into her current tech setup and on what specific occasions she uses her tech tools.

[13.52] Typing and writing – Sonja shares how writing makes a difference in a person.

[16.06] Lesser means – Sonja shares some areas of technology where attorneys have to assist with lesser means.

[22.55] Access to the internet – Michael and Sonja discuss how difficult it is to work with a client who has no way of using technology.

[25.28] Courtroom5 – Sonja shares how the lawyers she works with try to educate clients that they can't serve otherwise.

[28.18] Top three concerns – Sonja shares their top concerns in courtroom5 regarding raising UPL.

[37.50] Legal services – Courtroom5 is not a law firm. It does not provide any legal advice. Sonja explains what courtroom5 does to help their clients to understand the required work.

Resources:

Connect with Lindsey:

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/sonjaebron/

Website - courtroom5.com/

Twitter - twitter.com/Courtroom5Legal

Equipment Mentioned in the Podcast

• MacBook Air - apple.com/macbook-air/
• Mojo headphones - mojoburst.com/shop
• Sony headphones - electronics.sony.com/audio/headphones/c/headband
• Ring light - lumecube.com/collections/content-creators
• Microphone - bluemic.com/en-us/products/yeti/
• iPad - apple.com/ipad/
• iHome speaker - ihomeaudiointl.com/products/#/
• TNT wifi - tntph.com/
• HP laser printer - hp.com/us-en/shop/vwa/printers/prnttyp=Laser
• Brother printers - brother.com.lk/en/products/all-printers/printers
• M1 chip - apple.com/macbook-air-m1/
• Apple pencil - apple.com/apple-pencil/
• Notebooks - getrocketbook.com/

Software & Services Mentioned in the Podcast

• PandaDoc - pandadoc.com/
• DocuSign - docusign.com/
• HelloDivorce - hellodivorce.com/
• Courtroom5 - courtroom5.com/