When Mike Whelan invited me onto his new podcast, AI in Practice (presented by Spellbook), I expected we’d discuss legal research tools and workflow automation. We covered those topics, but most of our conversation centered on a bigger question: what expertise means when AI can analyze a 5,000-page record in minutes.

My consultative practice

The world of public defense is traditionally challenged by limited resources. Appellate practice carries weighty time demands. Now comes AI—a disrupting force that can solve those problems and bridge the justice gap, says Joe Stephens. His insights come from several roles, including as chief public defender for the Caprock Regional Public Defender Office, consultant

Chief Justice Nathan Hecht is retiring after an extraordinary 43 years on the bench. In this special episode, he joins Todd Smith and Jody Sanders to reflect on his remarkable career as Texas’s longest-serving Chief Justice. He shares personal stories, pivotal milestones, and the transformative reforms he championed, from modernizing court technology to improving access