AI & Legal Innovation
What does a law firm look like when the routine work runs itself and the lawyers spend their day on judgment?
Trial lawyer · Professor · Builder
Always learning.
Always building.
I'm a trial lawyer, a professor, and a lifelong student of people, performance, and technology. This is where I share what I'm learning, what I'm building, and what I believe.
Right now
- Coaching the St. Thomas Law Trial Team through the 2026 season.
- Running AI systems inside my own law firm, and taking notes on what breaks.
- Writing about AI and the right to counsel.
What I write about
Four questions I keep coming back to.
Trial Advocacy & Teaching
A machine can draft a closing argument. It can't tell you whether twelve strangers will believe it. So what is it good for?
Law Firm Ownership & Leadership
A firm shouldn't need its owner to make every decision. Most of them do. Why, and what does it take to fix?
Human Performance & Personal Philosophy
Excellence demands consistency. Talent gets you one good round. What gets you the fourth one, when you're tired and the witness goes off script?
How I work
Take the work seriously. Don't take yourself too seriously.
Curiosity over certainty.
My first read on a case, a student, or a new tool is a hypothesis. When the evidence changes, so do I.
Substance without self-importance.
Knowing things is useful. Advertising that you know things mostly isn't.
Judgment over noise.
Most of the job is deciding what matters. The rest is having the nerve to say no to what doesn't.
Experimentation over tradition.
"We've always done it this way" describes a habit. It doesn't justify one. I test new ways to prepare, coach, and run a firm, and I keep what works.
Latest essay
The Next Gideon Question
In 1961, Clarence Earl Gideon asked a Florida judge for a lawyer and was told no. The Supreme Court fixed that. Now the head of an AI company has argued that anyone facing the government should have AI at least as capable as the government's.
I think he's right. And for those of us who practice criminal defense, it isn't a future problem. It's already here.
Read it on SubstackAI consulting
I help law firms and trial programs put AI to work without giving up judgment.
Two kinds of clients. Same rule for both: the technology should make people think better, not less.
For law firms
Run the firm differently, not just faster.
For owners and managing partners. Workflow audits, intake, document work, delegation, and the confidentiality rules that come with all of it.
AI for law firmsFor trial teams
Better advocates, not just faster ones.
For directors and coaches. Case preparation, practice systems, and feedback that hold up from one season to the next, with the students still doing the thinking.
AI for trial programsI speak to law firms, bar groups, law schools, and trial advocacy programs about AI, advocacy, and building teams that perform.
Speaking requestsLooking for a lawyer? I practice criminal defense and personal injury with Lafrance Golondrino Law in Plantation, Florida. Call the office at 954-998-4567 or visit lglawfl.com.