Episode 22 - Technology and Pro Bono Appeals: An Allegheny Co. Pilot Program Aims to Bring Greater Access to Pro Se Custody Appeals | Katherine Norton and Morgan Grey

In episode 22 of the Law in the Family podcast, host and family law attorney Aaron Weems talks with Katherine Norton and Morgan Grey of Duquesne University’s School of Law. They're leveraging their experience in the law, and artificial intelligence/machine learning, to create a program that allows pro se custody litigants to bring better crafted custody appeals to the Superior Court. This program hopes to be an example of how technology can serve the dual purpose of giving access to justice for pro se litigants, while also providing pro bono counsel an effective intake and preparation program that will allow them to maximize their time and expertise when accepting a custody appeal. Katherine L.W. Norton, is an assistant professor and director of clinical and international programs at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University. Within the clinical legal education program, she teaches and acts as the supervising attorney for the Family Law Clinic. The Family Law Clinic provides limited legal services to low-income individuals needing assistance in the areas of child custody, divorce, family support, and domestic violence. Norton focuses her research on issues relating to access to justice and the role that technology and artificial intelligence have in this arena. Most recently Norton received an American Bar Endowment Grant for the project, Utilizing Technology to Enhance Access to Custody Appeals. This research will result in the development of an online tool to assist low-income individuals access the custody appellate process. Morgan A. Gray is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University, where he teaches programming for lawyers. He is also a Doctorate Student in the University of Pittsburgh’s Intelligent Systems Program.  His main area of research is Legal Text Analytics, which focuses on using Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to analyze and learn information from legal text.  Aside from this, his research interests include access to justice.  In this vein, he is currently researching the development of a tool to increase access justice for low-income individuals with respect to custody appeals. This research has been enabled by the American Bar Endowment Grant for Utilizing Technology to Enhance Access to Custody Appeals. *audio editing, voice over & music by Nick DeMatteo