Eighteen months ago, the first-of-its-kind Judicial Innovation Fellowship launched with the mission of embedding experienced technologists and designers within state, local, and tribal courts to develop technology-based solutions to improve the public’s access to justice. Housed within the Institute for Technology Law & Policy at Georgetown University Law Center, the program was designed to be a catalyst for innovation to enable courts to better serve the legal needs of the public.
In August, the program will conclude its inaugural cohort, which placed three fellows in courts in Kansas, Tennessee, and Utah. While these fellowships have been hailed as successful, the future of the program remains uncertain due to funding challenges. Jason Tashea, the program’s founding director and cofounder, points out that, “these programs are expensive, they are hard to fundraise for.”
In a recent LawNext podcast episode, Tashea, an entrepreneur, educator, and award-winning journalist, joined host Bob Ambrogi to discuss the need for and genesis of the program, the fellowships it supported this year, and his assessment of the program’s success. Additionally, Tashea shared his broader views on the necessity of innovation in the courts to address the access to justice gap.