Dr. Sonja Ebron

Today's guest is Dr. Sonja Ebron, a PhD of electrical engineering and an entrepreneur with a background in AI. She co-founded Courtroom5 with her wife, Dr. Debra Slone, PhD, a former librarian, school professor, and qualitative data and analysis expert. Motivated by their own difficult experiences navigating the judicial system, they decided to help others in similar situations. Courtroom5 provides people with the tools, resources, and workshops needed to help them settle civil cases, with or without a lawyer to accompany them. Through the resources they provide, people of all classes can learn and understand the legal process without being shut out. Courtroom5 won first place at the Duke Law Tech Lab Demo Day in 2019 and since then, has continued to grow. In 2022, Courtroom5 partnered with Fastcase to provide limited scope access to lawyers who use Fastcase, and to select individual elements of cases where they can provide the most help. It was a fascinating conversation with Dr. Ebron, covering everything from her personal journey to her experience as a serial entrepreneur, and how her training as an engineer influences her approach to the development of Courtroom5. Dr. Ebron is also the host of a podcast called Who Wrote That Up For You?, so we talked shop about the ins and outs of podcast life. Dr. Ebron is a fabulous example of the incredibly important role allied professionals can play in driving change in the profession.