Since 2011, Fastcase has released an annual list of the Fastcase 50, honoring 50 of the law’s “smartest, most courageous, innovators, techies, visionaries, and leaders.” Fortunately, even though Fastcase merged earlier this year with vLex, that tradition continues, as Fastcase has now announced the 2023 honorees. 

I say “fortunately” because, as I wrote when last year’s list was announced, the Fastcase 50 is probably the best-available roster of those who are leading the charge on innovation in law.

Over the years, the list has included a diverse selection of lawyers, legal technologists, policymakers, judges, law librarians, bar association executives, and people from all walks of life who are innovating in the legal profession. (I was honored to be in the inaugural Fastcase 50 class in 2011. 

“This has been an amazing year of change for legal tech, including at vLex and Fastcase,” said Ed Walters, Fastcase co-founder and the Chief Strategy Officer of vLex. “This year’s list of honorees reflects a year of transformation for legal services. The Fastcase 50 class of 2023 is also the most international group of honorees in our history, which reflects the growing scale of vLex and Fastcase.”

The Fastcase 50 honorees for 2023 are:

  • Daniel Acevedo, Senior Manager and Legal Operations Services Leader, LatAm North, Ernst & Young.
  • Ben Alarie, Professor & Osler Chair in Business Law, University of Toronto Faculty of Law; Founder & CEO, Blue J Legal.
  • João Alberto de Oliveira Lima, Legislative Information Systems Analyst, Senado Federal (Brazil).
  • Joe Breda, President, Bloomberg Law.
  • Junior Browne, Officer-in-Charge, Faculty of Law Library, The University of the West Indies.
  • Ana Buitrago, Senior Advisor, PWC.
  • Wendy Butler Curtis, Chief Innovation Officer, Chair eDiscovery & Information Governance Group, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
  • Rodrigo Camarena, Director, Justicia Lab.
  • Erick Rincón Cárdenas, Director, TicTank.
  • Kevin Colangelo, Senior Director, Professional Learning, Law School Admission Council.
  • Ken Crutchfield, Vice President & General Manager of Legal Markets, Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US.
  • Anthony Diana, Co-Chair of IP, Tech & Data Practice Group; Enterprise Data Risk Management Partner, Reed Smith LLP.
  • Diana Didia, Senior Vice President; Chief Information and Innovation Officer, American Arbitration Association.
  • John DiGilio, Firmwide Director, Library Services, Sidley Austin LLP.
  • Mark Doble, CEO and Founder, Alexi Inc.
  • Chris Dralla, Founder and CEO, TypeLaw.
  • Tim Fox, Director of Practice Intelligence and Data Analytics, Ogletree Deakins.
  • Bill Girdner, Editor, Courthouse News Service.
  • Gordan Glover, Founder, Glover Law Firm.
  • Mónica González Contró, Director, Institute of Legal Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
  • Dirk Hartung, Founder and Executive Director, Center for Legal Technology and Data Science at Bucerius Law School.
  • Daniel Hoadley, Head of Data Science & Analytics, Mishcon de Reya LLP.
  • Douglas Keith, Counsel, Democracy Program at Brennan Center for Justice.
  • Scott Kelly, Senior Manager of Product, NetDocuments; Co-Founder, Afterpattern.
  • Linda Kruschke, Director of Legal Publications, Oregon State Bar.
  • Jamie Maclaren, Founding Executive Director, Access Pro Bono Society of BC.
  • Conor Malloy, Supervising Attorney & Rentervention Director, Law Center for Better Housing.
  • Maya Markovich, Executive in Residence – Justice Tech, Village Capital.
  • Theresa McCue, Member Support Manager, NELLCO Law Library Consortium.
  • Sara Molina, Senior Manager in Legal Management Consulting, Deloitte Legal.
  • Francesc Muñoz, CIO, Cuatrecasas.
  • Joy Murao, Founder & CEO, Practice Aligned Resources.
  • Aaron O’Brien, CEO, Parrot.
  • Mark C. Palmer, Chief Counsel, Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism; Adjunct Professor, University of Illinois College of Law.
  • Marcos Ríos, Partner, Carey; Chair, American Bar Association International Law Section.
  • Julia Rodgers, CEO and Co-Founder, HelloPrenup.
  • John Sheridan, Digital Director, The National Archives, UK.
  • Andrew Solomon, Senior Rule of Law Advisor, United States Agency for International Development.
  • Quinten Steenhuis, Practitioner in Residence and Adjunct Professor, Legal Innovation and Technology Lab, Suffolk University Law School; Founder, Lemma Legal.
  • Holly Stevens, Chief Data Officer, Legal Services Corporation.
  • Nicole Stone, Director of Product Management, Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US.
  • Alex Su, Head of Community Development, Ironclad.
  • Joaquim Matinero Tor, Banking-Finance & Blockchain Associate, Roca Junyent.
  • Kelly Twigger, Founder and CEO, eDiscovery Assistant.
  • Joshua Walker, CEO, System.Legal; Co-Founder, CodeX; Author, On Legal AI.
  • Caroline Walters, Collection Development Librarian for US and Materials Budget, Harvard Law School Library.
  • Nick West, Chief Strategy Officer, Mishcon De Reya LLP.
  • Laurent Wiesel, Litigation Knowledge Lawyer, Simpson Thatcher.
  • Keli Whitnell, Director of Firm Intelligence, Troutman Pepper.
  • Stephanie Wilkins, Editor-in-Chief, Legaltech News.

 Congratulations to all! 

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.