LexLab, at UC Law San Francisco, Announces Second Cohort of its Justice Technology Accelerator Program

Since 2019, LexLab, an innovation lab at UC Law San Francisco, has run an annual legal tech startup accelerator program, but last year, the program shifted gears slightly to focus on justice tech — startups that are developing technologies that positively impact individuals and communities affected by the justice system  and the gap in access to justice.

To do this, LexLab partnered with the Justice Technology Association, Dream.Org, gener8tor, and Village Capital to provide curriculum, mentoring, and exclusive cohort benefits, and this year, according to Maya Markovich, JTA executive director, Dream is underwriting a major boost in the prize money to a level that is greater than LexLab has ever previously given away — a pool of $10,000.

Now, LexLab has announced the eight startups that will participate in the second justice tech accelerator. They will participate in a 10-week program that will meet weekly online, with a curriculum presented by the host organizations. The program will culminate in a Demo Day on Nov. 19, where the eight startups will showcase their work to investors and members of the justice tech community.

To complement the accelerator program, UC Law San Francisco is offering a course this semester, “Justice Technology: Building a Startup,” in which law students will develop their own justice tech startup ideas. Three student teams from that course will also take part in Demo Day.

The Justice Tech Startups

The startups in this year’s justice technology cohort are:

Advocord

Advocord is built for Advocates — guardians, conservators, POAs and others — who have responsibility for the well-being and finances of an adult dependent with age-related cognitive decline, traumatic brain injury or intellectual disabilities. Our attorney-designed software tool securely manages legal compliance, financial affairs and medical information while promoting accountability and transparency. By focusing on educating lay people in fiduciary roles, and promoting the preservation of rights of the person at the heart of the protective arrangement, Advocord is advancing its mission to increase the quality of life for our most vulnerable individuals.

Brightwayz

Brightwayz is a comprehensive digital platform dedicated to connecting vulnerable communities with critical services and resources, including affordable housing, emergency shelters, food pantries, low-interest credit, affordable childcare, employment opportunities, and upskilling programs. Our mission is to simplify access to essential services for diverse populations—such as individuals experiencing homelessness, students, and justice-impacted communities—by providing a robust, verified database of nonprofit, public, and private opportunities. Through our platform, users can easily discover legitimate services tailored to their needs and register for eligible programs directly through our platform. This centralized approach empowers individuals and their families to access and fully benefit from the resources available to them.

descrybe.ai

descrybe.ai is a singular way to search for, and understand, caselaw. Our unique process leverages generative AI to make complex legal information more accessible to professionals and laypeople alike. We are laser-focused on easy access to caselaw research, by lowering cost (it’s free!), increasing ease of use, and employing natural language search and summarization capacity. descrybe.ai was recently named a finalist in two categories for the American Legal Tech Awards – Startup and the inaugural AI category.

kosigner

Kosigner is a risk model backed platform that aims to improve housing quality for marginalized populations by co-signing for renters with low to no credit or criminal records. Our mission is to help property owners and managers divest the risk of helping people that might normally be denied by more accurately identifying non-traditional low risk renters and then providing the coverage needed for properties to welcome their most loyal tenants.

OpenProBono

OpenProBono aims to provide legal information in a faster, easier, and more affordable way. We offer an Open-Source web and mobile AI-powered platform where users can ask questions, verify information, and discover resources to address their legal issues. By prioritizing safety, our software is built to be trusted, support ethical legal research, and foster collaboration among AI and legal experts in pursuit of fair and equal justice.

Redo.io

Redo.io helps government agencies identify folks in the carceral system who are harshly sentenced for low-level offenses and maybe eligible for second-look case reviews under justice reform laws such as Prosecutor Initiated Resentencing (PIR). Redo.io’s open-source models and open databases will leverage AI and knowledge graphs to extract meaningful insights about the system impacted population in the United States. Our goal is to help advocates, researchers and decision makers connect the dots between people and policy interventions that can benefit them.

Thurgood

Thurgood uses AI to provide legal services to the 160 million annual victims of arbitration-eligible claims. Our client intake product saves attorneys over 200 hours per year, with a take-rate up to 14.4x higher than phone-based evaluations. And with the tap of a button, plaintiffs can use their evaluation to auto-generate the paperwork needed to self-file their claim with the state and federal agencies that offer out-of-court arbitration services that don’t require an attorney.

We Decide

We Decide is an innovative Justice Tech Platform that employs dispute avoidance technology, automation, and empathy to help separating and divorcing couples to sort, and solve the financial and property complexities of divorce. Founded by Wanda Butler, We Decide embraces a client-centric approach to divorce that will enable couples to have a better understanding of their financial situation, empower them to explore various out of court settlements, and save unnecessary and onerous legal and court costs for issues that are financial, not legal. We Decide works by simplifying the financial & property division process, offering an accessible delivery method, and increasing access to effective tools and resources for separating couples.

Related Resources

• Guest Post: The Year in Justice Tech: 2023 Report and News Roundup.
• On LawNext Podcast: DoNotPay, Legal Regulatory Reform, and the Op-Ed the ABA Wouldn’t Publish, with Maya Markovich and Tom Gordon.
• LawNext Podcast: What Is Justice Tech? A Conversation with Maya Markovich.
• LawNext: When A Tech Accelerator Goes Virtual – LexLab Director Drew Amerson and Anü Founder Tiyani Majoko.
• LawNext Episode 43: LexLab’s Alice Armitage on Teaching Innovation and Mentoring Startups.
• LawNext Episode 34: Alternative Legal Models – A Panel Discussion.