LawDroid Manifesto Podcast

Jonathan Petts, co-founder and CEO of Upsolve, has spent a decade building a nonprofit TurboTax for bankruptcy that has helped tens of thousands of low-income Americans find a fresh financial start. In this episode, Jonathan traces his path from a Brooklyn bankruptcy court clerk's office to Y Combinator, sharing how Upsolve's AI Paralegal now enables paralegals to serve four times as many people while users complete the filing process at three times the rate. He offers hard-won lessons on human-centered design, the distribution challenge every legal tech builder faces, and why ruthless focus beats expansion every time. Explore more at lawdroidmanifesto.com.


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David Colarusso—physicist, Fulbright teacher, public defender, data scientist, and co-director of Suffolk Law's LIT Lab—joins Tom Martin for a conversation about what it really takes to prepare lawyers for an AI-driven world. David shares his extraordinary career journey and walks us through a classroom simulation that reveals how quickly lawyers fall into automation bias: trusting AI tools so completely that they perform worse than they would have on their own. If you want to understand the human skills that will define tomorrow's legal profession, this episode is essential listening. Find more at lawdroidmanifesto.com.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lawdroidmanifesto.com/subscribe

Sam Harden taught himself to code as a criminal defense lawyer because he saw a problem no one else was solving: people missing court dates they never knew about, setting off a spiral of warrants, job loss, and eviction. That tool became the foundation of a career at the intersection of law, technology, and justice. Now an Innovation Strategist at Affinity Consulting Group, Sam shares his vision of "Lawtown" — a future where lawyers supervise AI agents handling routine work so they can focus on counseling and advocacy. Honest, practical, and deeply human. Find more at lawdroidmanifesto.com.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lawdroidmanifesto.com/subscribe

What does it mean to work with AI consciously—and why does it matter for lawyers? In this episode, Tom Martin interviews Mia Ihamuotila, Legal Tech & Design Lawyer at Castrén & Snellman and Chair of the Legal Design Summit, about her human-centered approach to legal AI transformation. Mia shares how she helps lawyers and clients expand their skill sets, adopt process thinking, and engage with AI as a genuine collaborator rather than a threat. Her framework—breadth from machines, depth from humans—offers a practical and philosophical compass for any lawyer navigating this moment. Discover more at lawdroidmanifesto.com.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lawdroidmanifesto.com/subscribe

Edward Bukstel built one of the first networked electronic health records in 1987, fought a pharmaceutical giant over stolen software, and is now applying that same builder's instinct to legal client acquisition. As CEO of Giupedi, Edward has the data: AI overviews are capturing 56% of clicks that used to go to law firm websites, while 40% of people who ask ChatGPT for a lawyer will act on its recommendation. The old playbook is broken. In this episode, we trace where clients are actually coming from now — and what it means for the future of legal practice. Explore more at lawdroidmanifesto.com.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lawdroidmanifesto.com/subscribe