The Court ODR Podcast

Envisioning AI-powered Small Claims - with Sateesh Nori, Senior Legal Innovation Strategist at Just-Tech

In this episode Colin chats with Sateesh Nori, a lawyer, law professor, and author on the leading edge of AI and A2J.  Sateesh is a Senior Legal Innovation Strategist at Just-Tech and the visionary behind Claimsy, a new AI-powered resolution platform. For twenty years, he represented tenants across New York City at various legal services organizations.  He was a commissioner of the 2019 Charter Revision Commission. He is currently a member of the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. He  co-created and co-teaches the Housing Rights Clinic at NYU Law. Sateesh is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and NYU Law.  Sateesh was named a “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal, one of “Queens’ Power 50,” and was featured as a “Legal Rebel” in the Spring  2021 ABA Journal. In 2023, he was a recipient of  the New York City Bar Association’s “Legal Services Award.” He is also the author of “Sheltered: Twenty Years in Housing Court.” In 2024, he gave a TedX Talk called “How a chatbot can stop homelessness.”
Learn more about Sateesh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sateesh-nori-9a80aa102/
 

Advocating for Dads in Family Court: A Conversation with David Pissara (Episode 11)

In this episode Colin chats with David Pisarra, founder of Men's Family Law in Santa Monica, California. He is an expert in family law, including divorce, alimony, child custody and support. David practices in the courts of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Ventura counties regularly. He has authored three books for men; A Man's Guide to Child Custody, A Man's Guide to Divorce Strategy and A Man's Guide to Domestic Violence. David earned his B.A. degree from St. John's College and his J.D. degree from the University of West Los Angeles.
David is the host of The Union of Dads podcast, which features interviews and insights from experts, advocates, and dads who share their stories and advice on how to navigate the legal system and the emotional journey of fatherhood. His program Dad's Law School is designed to help fathers who are representing themselves in Family Court. The program is designed to teach fathers how to present their case to the judge, how to overcome the challenges and biases they face, and how to create a parenting plan that works for them and their kids. He also does live, in person trainings that cover Evidence, Discovery and Courtroom skills.
More about David: https://mensfamilylaw.com/ 
More about Union of Dads: https://www.unionofdads.com/ 
Info on his book Dad's Child Custody Action Plan: https://www.unionofdads.com/offers/pzLYitMZ/checkout 

Exploring Asynchronous Trials with Professor Henry Zhuhao Wang (Episode 10)

In this episode Colin chats with Professor Henry Zhuhao Wang from the College of law at Florida State University about asynchronous trials, or trials that take places online without real-time interaction between the litigants and judge. Almost all US court procedures currently involve live, real-time interaction between the participants (e.g. in person or video hearings, referred to as synchronous interactions) -- in contrast, asynchronous trials enable participants to log in, respond to information, and then log out (think email based interaction, or an online discussion forum, or even a documents-based arbitration). As more of the internet moves from synchronous to asynchronous interaction, Henry and Colin explore the challenges and opportunities that could arise from the application of this new model to trials.
Henry Zhuhao Wang is the Tallahassee alumni professor at Florida State University College of Law. His research focuses on evidence and juridical proof, exploring evidence law outside the jury context, primarily in bench trials, arbitration, and administrative proceedings. He served as a visiting professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law during the 2022-2023 academic year and was a professor at China University of Political Science and Law from 2012 to 2022. Wang co-authored the book “Proof in Modern Litigation: Evidence Law & Forensic Science Perspectives” (Barr Smith Press 2017), and published extensively in U.S., Chinese, and international legal journals. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Texas Law Review, Vanderbilt Law Review, Utah Law Review, UC Irvine Law Review, Denver Law Review, Nevada Law Journal, and the peer-reviewed International Journal of Evidence & Proof. He previously worked as an international associate at Locke Lord LLP in Dallas, Texas, and as a visiting researcher at the University of Adelaide Law School in Adelaide, Australia. He teaches Civil Procedure, Evidence, and Alternative Dispute Resolution.
More about Henry: http://law.fsu.edu/faculty-staff/henry-zhuhao-wang
Henry's article "Asynchronous Trials: A New Approach To High-Volume Civil Adjudication" in the Denver law Review (discussed extensively in the podcast) can be accessed here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4946817
 

Artificial Intelligence, Justice, and ODR: A Conversation with Richard Susskind (Episode 9)

In this episode, Colin interviews AI and justice expert Richard Susskind about his new book, How to Think about AI: A Guide for the Perplexed, the latest developments in AI and the justice system, and how artificial intelligence will transform court ODR (as well as our very notions of the role of humans in justice) over the coming years and decades.
Professor Richard Susskind CBE KC (Hon) is the world’s most cited author on the future of legal services and a leading expert on the impact of AI on society. He is President of the Society for Computers and Law and, from 1998 to 2023, he served as Technology Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. In 2024, Richard was appointed Special Envoy for Justice and AI to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. He advises leading professional firms, in-house legal departments, and governments and judiciaries around the world. In the 1980s, he wrote his doctorate on AI and the law at Balliol College, Oxford. His work has been translated into 18 languages and he has been invited to speak in over 60 countries. He has written eleven books, including Online Courts and the Future of Justice (2019, 2021) and How to Think About AI (2025).
More about Richard: https://www.susskind.com/
Information about his new book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Think-About-AI-Perplexed/dp/0198941927
Online Courts and the Future of Justice: https://www.amazon.com/Online-Courts-Justice-Richard-Susskind/dp/0192849301

ODR as a Justice Pathway for Unrepresented Litigants, with Becky Kourlis, Founder of IAALS (Episode 8)

In this episode Colin chats with former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rebecca (Becky) Kourlis.  After her service on the bench, Becky founded and lead the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) at the University of Denver, which continues to tackle some of the legal system’s most entrenched problems. Becky's public policy work over the years has focused on court procedures, legal ethics, regulation of the legal profession, water, oil and gas, jury trial reforms, and education issues. Becky now serves as a full-time neutral at her ADR firm Decisioncraft, where she is available for arbitrations, mediations, public policy facilitations, and court and moot court services.
More about Becky: https://decisioncraftadr.com/becky-kourlis

Unrepresented Parties, Family Disputes, and ODR with Jim Williams, Retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Family Division) (Episode 7)

In this episode, Colin interviews the Honorable R. James (Jim) Williams, retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Family Division.
Born in Alberta, Justice Williams graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alberta in 1972, a Master of Social Work from the Maritime School of Social Work in 1974 and a Bachelor of Law degree from Dalhousie University in 1977. He was admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1977 and the Alberta Bar in 1986.
Justice Williams’ career has been devoted to Family Law and Legal Education. He worked in private practice in Halifax for ten years until his appointment to the Family Court of Nova Scotia in March 1987. Twelve years later, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Family Division).
A lifelong learner, Justice Williams earned a Certificate in Mediation from the University of Toronto in 1982 and a Master in Judicial Studies from the University of Nevada National Judicial College in 1996.
Justice Williams served as Associate Director with the National Judicial Institute, the independent institution providing education to Canada’s Judiciary from 2000 to 2016, co-chaired the Federation of Law Societies National Family Law Conference from 1994 to 2022 and was President of Family Mediation Canada from 1990 to 1992. Through these organizations he chaired or co-chaired more than 40 national Family Law conferences.
Justice Williams was President of the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family at the University of Calgary from 2005 to 2009. He is a past chair of the Canadian Bar Association Family Law Subsection. He served as a member of the Canadian Judicial Council Education Committee (2013 to 2016), a board member of the Canadian Superior Court Judges Association (2015 to 2021) and on a number of other court related committees. 
Justice Williams taught at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University for over 30 years. He also taught or lectured at the University of Alberta Law School, the University of Calgary Law School, the University of Saskatchewan Law School, the University of Sydney Law School (Australia), the University of Hong Kong Law School, the University of Surrey Law School (U.K.), Westminster Law School (U.K.), the University of London Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and the Maritime School of Social Work.
Justice Williams served as Host Chair for the World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights in Halifax in 2009. He has delivered innumerable presentations to the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, various Bar Associations, the National Judicial Institute and has spoken or consulted internationally on many occasions. He was a member of the Family Law Review's editorial board from 2000 to 2021 and has published several journal articles and book chapters.
Justice Williams was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Dalhousie University in 2015. He was the first Canadian puisne judge awarded the University of London’s Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Inns of Court Judicial Fellowship in 2015.
Read an article by Jim on eCourts: https://tbla.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/R__James_Williams___Taking_a_Shot__Access_to_-re-changing-face-of-famil....pdf
 

Medical Debt ODR, with Dana Schmidt, Manager of Mediation Programs, Tennessee Supreme Court

In this episode Colin interviews Dana Schmidt, who manages the mediation programs at the Tennessee Supreme Court. Dana oversees an innovative Court ODR program to help Tennesseans resolve medical debt before it escalates to lawsuits or credit damage. Through the TN Med Debt platform, patients owing money to Erlanger Hospital can initiate private, convenient negotiations—often with help from trained mediators—on payment plans or reduced amounts. The program is free, voluntary, and accessible via smartphone, offering an alternative to court that eases strain on the legal system and on struggling families.
Tennessee faces some of the nation’s highest rates of medical debt, and this effort aims to change that. With backing from the State Justice Institute, Tennessee Supreme Court, and Legal Aid of East Tennessee, the pilot offers a compassionate, scalable solution that benefits both patients and providers. Erlanger supports the approach as a way to avoid collections and preserve patient relationships. Leaders hope to expand the program statewide and plan to build a new system, launching in September, to introduce new features to the system.
Information on the program: https://www.tncourts.gov/news/2021/05/18/new-online-dispute-resolution-platform-offers-hope-those-medical-debt
Current (June 2025) landing page for the Medical Debt ODR Program: https://cii2.courtinnovations.com/TNMEDDEBT
 

The Evolution of Court ODR with JJ Prescott, Professor of Law at the University of Michigan (Episode 6)

In this episode of the Court ODR Podcast Colin interviews J.J. Prescott, the Henry King Ransom Professor of Law at the University of Michigan. JJ founded Court Innovations Inc. and developed Matterhorn, an online dispute resolution platform that helps people facing warrants, fines, minor charges, and other legal issues resolve their disputes with the government and other parties online and without the need to hire an attorney. Colin and JJ discuss the development of court ODR, lessons learned, and the potential for new approaches (such as asynchronous evaluative processes) moving forward.
Much of JJ's research is empirical in focus, so the podcast also touches on data collection and continuing evaluation of court ODR. JJ's current research projects include exploring the role of technology in improving access to justice and legal decision-making; studying the consequences of criminal record expungement and record-clearing reform; measuring the importance and role of noncompetition agreements in the US labor force; evaluating the effects of prosecutorial discretion and decision-making on short- and long-term defendant outcomes, including disparities; and investigating the nature and repercussions of partial settlements in litigation.
More about JJ: https://michigan.law.umich.edu/faculty-and-scholarship/our-faculty/jj-prescott
JJ's article "Next Steps in Online Courts: Accelerating Access To Justice Through Court Technology Through Court Technology" from the Alaska Law Review (discussed in the podcast): https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4067&context=articles
 

What should we call court users? with Katherine Alteneder, Director Emerita of SRLN (Episode 5)

In this episode Colin chats with Katherine Alteneder, Director Emerita of the Self-Represented Litigation Network (SRLN, now called the a2jnetwork) about the best words to refer to court users (e.g. parties? litigants? users? plaintiffs/defendants? customers?)
Katherine is currently Principal at Alteneder Consulting, where she provides independent consulting services on matters relating to judicial ethics, court rules, geospatial analysis, digital inclusion, and the optimization of technology. She is a well known national leader on strategies for systemic advocacy and reform to build more equitable and inclusive justice systems for people without lawyers, and thereby improve public trust and confidence in the judicial branch.As the executive director of SRLN for nine years, Katherine built a vibrant community of over 2,000 lawyers, judges, policy makers, technologists, researchers, and allied professionals who share a vision of transforming the American legal system to ensure access to justice for all. Under her leadership, SRLN developed and disseminated best practices, tools, and resources for court self-help services, remote service delivery, plain language communication, and user-centered design. SRLN is now called the Access to Justice Network, and if you're passionate about these issues and you haven't already signed up we encourage you to do so ASAP.
More about Katherine: https://www.srln.org/node/37/katherine-alteneder
Sign up for the Access to Justice Network (a2jnetwork) here: https://a2jnetwork.org/
 

Graham Ross - Inside the Mediation Room Episode #4

This is the fourth episode of Michael and Karen Aurit's podcast "Inside the Mediation Room," devoted to hearing stories and insights from some of the world's most experienced mediators and dispute resolvers. In this episode their guest is Graham Ross, an experienced mediator and the United Kingdom's leading pioneer in online dispute resolution (ODR). Graham co-founded the first ODR service in the UK, WeCanSettle, and designed the blind bidding software at the heart of the system. Graham subsequently founded TheMediationRoom.com, for whom he designed their online mediation platform. Graham speaks regularly at international conferences on the impact of the law on the Internet and e-commerce and on the application of technology to ADR. Graham was host of the 5th International Conference on Online Dispute Resolution held in Liverpool, UK, in 2007.