Best Use of Artificial Intelligence
The firm is a finalist in this category for its launch of an AI assistant, Athena, that harnesses OpenAI’s GPT to help attorneys and business professionals safely and effectively use generative AI to improve workflows and enhance overall user and client experiences. In doing so, the firm became of one the first to have a bespoke tool approved for such use. Within 24 hours of its firmwide release, more than 125 different users, including users from all the firm’s practice and administrative departments, engaged the platform in nearly 300 conversations.
Innovations in Pro Bono
Troutman Pepper is nominated here for its ongoing pro bono work with the Education Law Center-PA, Vanguard, J.M. Smucker, and American Legal Claim Services to assist former students of Glen Mills Schools (GMS) in securing compensation from a settlement fund. The Education Law Center and pro bono counsel filed a lawsuit alleging that GMS, a now-closed Pennsylvania reform school, was a site of pervasive abuse and intimidation, which disproportionately impacted Black students and students with disabilities. Chester County Intermediary Unit, one of the defendants in the lawsuit, agreed to a $3 million settlement. Troutman Pepper’s attorneys and professional staff are responsible for notifying students of their rights to compensation, assisting in the submission of supporting affidavits for their claims, and tracking the claims and amounts sought. Troutman Pepper is coordinating its work with J.M. Smucker and American Legal Claim Services, which are determining eligibility and administering the settlement fund. The project has many innovative aspects ranging from a bespoke platform created by the firm’s Innovation team to enable multi-stakeholder collaboration and an AI program used to convert scanned images to text.
Innovators of the Year- Law Firm (Individual), William Gaus
Troutman Pepper’s first Chief Innovation Officer Will Gaus is up for the Innovators of the Year award recognizing individual law firm practitioners who have spearheaded initiatives or introduced new solutions to creatively address legal problems through technology. In the last year alone, Gaus has guided several marquee innovation projects and initiatives, including launching the firm’s AI assistant, Athena, and heading the firm’s Generative AI Task force. He also led best-in-class data analytics projects, helped to optimize internal firm processes through technology, and managed technology-supported engagement projects like the firm’s award-winning employee engagement app, MobileOne.
An external judging panel will next determine the winners, which will be announced at a January 29 awards ceremony during the 2024 Legalweek conference in New York.
