Each year, teams create Projects of Worth—innovative startups solving a real problem in legal practice or education. Below are a few of the Projects being taken to market.
Ithaca
TEAM SPONSOR: JANDERS DEAN
Ithaca is a non-profit tech platform that helps refugees obtain legal assistance by 1) connecting them with pro bono lawyers based on availability, expertise, and need; and 2) providing a case management system and virtual space for initial consultation. The goal is to dramatically increase the number of legal advisors available to refugees upon landing in Europe to prevent individuals dropping out of the asylum application process and reduce the numbers using human traffickers. The platform simultaneously enables lawyers who have a desire to utilize their legal skills for public good, but often aren’t able to do so due to the lack of time and resources.
Ithaca was selected as part of the inaugural cohort of startups supported by Fuse, Allen & Overy's legal tech incubator, named finalists in the HiiL Innovating Justice Awards (result TBA), and named finalists in the European Youth Awards (result TBA).
Click here to view Ithaca's commercial.
Click here to view Ithaca's opening video.
Click here to view Ithaca's business plan.
Advocat
In 2015, a team from LWOW X, LWOW’s all-virtual offering, was tasked with the topic “Running For Their Lives: How Can the Legal Profession Help Prevent Violent Crimes Against Minors So They Don’t Have to Flee?”. In response, the team created Advocat, a revolutionary, multilingual interface for minor immigrant detainees and their advocates that uses gamification to build trust and explain and safeguard the best interests of the child. The Advocat team won awards as best and most creative LWOW project for 2015. To date, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, a national leader in advocacy for underage detainees, has expressed interest in piloting Advocat with its target children detainees across the United States.
Fissure Security Ltd.
In 2015, a team from LWOW Original, our blended in-person and virtual program, was tasked with the topic “In a Glocal World, How do Corporations Reduce the Dark Zone of Unknown Corporate Misconduct? There’s Got to be a Solution for That.” In response, the team created WhiteHatters (now incorporated under Fissure Security Ltd.) Fissure Security Ltd. increases cybersecurity protection and builds awareness against targeted phishing attacks through simulation and deconstruction learning. Fissure Security Ltd. has had meetings with multiple law firms that are interested in BETA testing their product.
Judgment Pay
In 2014, Paul DeCoster and his LWOW teammates created Judgment Pay. Judgment Pay is a website that facilitates the collection of legal judgments in an unprecedented fashion, by utilizing search engine optimization social media and an online marketplace for the exchange of legal judgments among industry players. Specifically, Judgment Pay will: (i) bring high online visibility/publicity to a debtor who has not paid a court-ordered judgment, providing a revolutionary incentive for judgment debtors to pay; (ii) allow judgment creditors to easily post their judgment to social media websites, calling for tips and collaboration from the broader online community in order to discover information necessary to determine the identity and location of a judgment debtor; and (iii) provide an “E-Bay”-like marketplace for collection agencies and distressed asset management companies to peruse and purchase individual judgments on the internet.
ProBono123
In 2014, a team from LWOW Original, our blended in-person and virtual program, was tasked with the topic “Increasing Access to Justice and Creating New Models of Regulation: How Can the Two Go Hand-in-Hand?”. In response, the team created ProBonoPro, a website designed to connect law students with pro bono opportunities, while also enabling students to track and verify their hours. This centralized portal filled two needs: first, increase support for pro bono efforts; secondly, to provide students with a way to log and certify their hours as required by several state bars, including New York.
Following the 2014 ConPosium, this Project of Worth served as the pilot project for LWOW Inc., our legal startup incubator. The team received interest and support from Richard Granat, a renowned legal entrepreneur. As of June 2015, the idea is now called ProBono123, and is undergoing both the incorporation process and preparing for launch in New York and London within the next few months.