Last
fall,
this
readership
and
I
were
fortunate
to
hear
from
the
head
of
the
Free
Law
Project
(FLP),
Michael
Lissner.
FLP
is
a
nonprofit
that
brings
innovation
and
equity
to
the
legal
ecosystem
through
a
host
of
open
tools
and
data
including
CourtListener,
the
RECAP
Suite,
and
Bots.law.
As
I
noted
in
my
interview
with
Michael,
“These
platforms,
alongside
their
numerous
open-source
tools
for
data
collection
and
analysis,
empower
millions
of
users
—
from
journalists
and
academics
to
everyday
Americans.”
(I
continue
to
encourage
those
interested
to
reach
out
to
FLP
with
inquiries
about
how
to
support
their
efforts.)
In
that
interview,
I
asked
Michael
about
FLP’s
continued
development
of
new
tools
that
can
advance
FLP’s
mission
of
expanding
legal
access
for
all.
At
the
time,
he
reiterated
FLP’s
commitment
to
“to
open-source
development
and
privacy,”
alongside
the
goal
of
increasing
the
usability
of
FLP’s
tools
for
the
general
public,
including
by
integration
of
AI-driven
capabilities
such
as
“AI-powered
search
tools.”
With
such
a
commitment
to
continued
innovation,
it
is
no
wonder
that
less
than
a
year
from
my
interview
with
Michael
we
can
now
discuss
a
major
enhancement
to
one
of
FLP’s
best-known
offerings,
the
RECAP
Archive
in
CourtListener.
Helping
us
understand
this
new
feature
launch
will
be
Stephanie
Taube,
a
product
manager
and
user
researcher
contributing
to
FLP.
Stephanie
has
prior
experience
as
director
of
product
at
an
AI
startup,
and
as
a
research
fellow
at
Harvard
University.
She
holds
a
master’s
degree
in
public
policy
from
the
University
of
California,
Berkeley.
I
very
much
welcome
the
opportunity
to
share
Stephanie’s
insights
with
this
audience.
As
usual,
I
have
added
some
brief
commentary
to
the
answer
to
my
first
question
below,
but
have
otherwise
presented
her
answer
as
she
provided
it.
Gaston
Kroub:
Tell
us
about
Free
Law
Project’s
newest
feature
launch.
Why
is
it
a
gamechanger?
Stephanie
Taube:
On
June
18,
we
launched
RECAP
Search
Alerts
for
PACER.
The
RECAP
Archive
in
CourtListener
is
the
biggest
open
collection
of
federal
court
data
on
the
internet.
For
years,
our
docket
alerts
have
enabled
users
to
track
existing
federal
dockets.
Now,
with
search
alerts
for
RECAP,
users
can
set
alerts
for
specific
keywords,
receiving
a
notification
whenever
there’s
a
match
in
a
new
PACER
case
or
filing.
This
allows
users
to
follow
topics,
organizations,
people,
and
lots
of
other
things.
For
example,
a
lawyer
may
want
a
notification
when
their
client
is
sued,
or
when
there
is
a
new
case
with
a
particular
nature
of
suit
code.
This
feature
has
been
on
our
backlog
for
eight
years,
so
we’re
really
excited
to
be
launching
it.
We
think
it
will
be
hugely
powerful
for
attorneys,
journalists,
and
more.
Our
commitment
to
providing
free,
public
access
to
primary
legal
materials
means
we
make
five
daily
alerts
available
to
every
user
at
no
charge.
As
far
as
we
know,
we’re
the
only
organization
providing
this
type
of
service
for
free.
GK:
It
is
hard
to
overstate
just
how
helpful
FLP’s
newest
innovation
can
be
for
those
concerned
with
goings
on
in
the
federal
court
system.
As
an
IP
litigator
who
currently
has
docket
alerts
set
for
dozens
of
active
cases,
the
additional
functionality
now
on
offer
from
FLP
—
for
free,
no
less
–-
will
only
enhance
my
ability
to
track
issues
of
interest
across
a
wider
swath
of
active
cases.
Moreover,
in
a
fast-moving
field
like
patent
litigation,
the
ability
to
receive
alerts
when
issues
of
interest
are
addressed
by
courts
around
the
country
can
provide
a
critical
edge
to
practitioners,
so
I
expect
to
see
rapid
uptake
of
FLP’s
new
tool
by
the
IP
litigation
community.
Likewise,
I
can
see
a
lot
of
value
for
those
interested
in
legal
topics
that
have
resonance
across
different
practice
areas.
What
comes
to
mind
would
be
something
like
an
alert
setting
for
all
decisions
in
federal
cases
where
the
court
deals
with
issues
relating
to
litigation
finance,
for
example.
Rulings
on
discoverability
of
funding
arrangements
or
disclosure
obligations
relating
to
funding
can
have
cross-disciplinary
impact,
making
FLP’s
new
tool
a
powerful
addition
to
the
arsenal
of
those
hoping
to
remain
on
the
cutting-edge
of
fast
moving
legal
developments.
All
in
all,
it
will
be
very
interesting
to
see
how
users
decide
to
utilize
this
new
tool.
We
should
also
commend
the
team
at
FLP
for
again
delivering
a
tool
that
promises
to
increase
access
to
the
court
system
for
us
all.
I
will
continue
with
Stephanie’s
answers
to
my
remaining
two
questions
next
week.
In
the
meantime,
please
take
the
opportunity
to
sign
up
for
CourtListener
and
RECAP.
Please
feel
free
to
send
comments
or
questions
to
me
at
[email protected]
or
via
Twitter:
@gkroub.
Any
topic
suggestions
or
thoughts
are
most
welcome.
Gaston
Kroub
lives
in
Brooklyn
and
is
a
founding
partner
of Kroub,
Silbersher
&
Kolmykov
PLLC,
an
intellectual
property
litigation
boutique,
and Markman
Advisors
LLC,
a
leading
consultancy
on
patent
issues
for
the
investment
community.
Gaston’s
practice
focuses
on
intellectual
property
litigation
and
related
counseling,
with
a
strong
focus
on
patent
matters.
You
can
reach
him
at [email protected] or
follow
him
on
Twitter: @gkroub.
Kathryn
