Understanding Hackathons through VAILL's Hacking Pro Bono event
What's a hackathon? What's that mean for lawyers? And how can you get involved?
When we first heard about "hackathons," our minds immediately conjured images of darkened rooms filled with computer programmers frantically typing code, trying to break into secure systems by guessing passwords. As members of the legal profession, we couldn't imagine why we would ever participate in — or even care about — such an event. Weren't hackathons for tech experts and coding wizards, not lawyers and legal professionals?
We couldn't have been more wrong.
In reality, hackathons have evolved far beyond their origins in the tech world. They've become powerful collaborative events where diverse groups of people come together to solve pressing problems — including those in the legal sphere. And they're particularly relevant when we consider the staggering justice gap in our country:
260 million legal problems emerge annually in the United States
More than 50% remain unresolved
Only 8% of problems experienced by low-income individuals receive legal assistance
The current attorney population, even with substantial pro bono commitments, could provide only minimal assistance per legal issue
These metrics illuminate the limitations of traditional pro bono approaches and suggest the necessity for innovative methodologies. While conventional legal assistance remains essential, the scale of unmet need indicates an opportunity for technological enhancement—particularly through artificial intelligence applications—to expand legal service delivery in previously unexplored dimensions.
That's exactly what the upcoming "Hacking Pro Bono" event at Vanderbilt Law School aims to explore. But before we tell you more it, let us demystify what a hackathon actually is, and why legal professionals should be paying attention.
What’s a hackathon, and what do lawyers have to do with it?
We love a definition to center a conversation, so let’s start there. What’s a hackathon?
Still too technical (and scary!) sounding for our taste. How about this for a definition?
A hackathon is a collaborative event where people work together to try and come up with solutions to solve a problem.
Now, when you put it like that, it sounds almost identical to what many of us do as part of our every day.
The legal profession has always tackled problems through established frameworks — e.g., think carefully analyzing precedents, methodically reviewing documents, and making incremental changes — and usually with other lawyers in the same firm or company. Sometimes, we jump on a call with an old law school friend and pick their brain for advice. Maybe we call up opposing counsel and negotiate a better deal for our client and theirs. But we’re really in our own little bubble: we spend a lot of time talking to lawyers.
And we’re not often talking to lawyers (or non-lawyers) who do “other stuff.” We develop and refine our skills and knowledge in one main area. If we get a request from a client asking us to do something outside our practice group, we refer it over to the folks at the firm who do that type of work. We stay in our lane, so most of the time we end up only really talking to lawyers who do the same things as us.
Hackathons can get us outside of that comfort zone, but still rely on the skills lawyers excel at: problem-solving and collaboration. Hackathons bring together diverse groups in high-energy environments where rapid collaboration becomes the fuel for innovation. This makes a difference when addressing access to justice issues, because it connects lawyers who understand the systemic problems with technologists who can build scalable solutions, plus other folks who we typically don’t get to work with in a professional setting: students, academics, and organizational contacts.
Traditional legal work happens within existing constraints; hackathons question those constraints and ask "what if we approached this differently?" Hackathons transform seemingly impossible problems into solvable (or at least accomplish-able) design challenges. As Stefan Eder points out, hackathons create unique spaces where professionals who might never otherwise collaborate can build solutions together.*
When lawyers explain complex legal concepts to developers, and developers show lawyers what technology can do, magic happens. The ideas that emerge don't just address immediate needs but often create frameworks for ongoing innovation (which is exactly the kind of transformative thinking needed to make meaningful progress on closing the justice gap in our communities). And given the scale of some of our A2J problems, traditional incremental solutions aren't enough. Hackathons give us the opportunity to be more proactive, creative, and collaborative.
Some of the coolest hackathons are now, naturally, using Gen AI: not just as a coding assistant but as a collaborative partner that helps bridge disciplinary gaps. Gen AI provides participants with powerful tools to rapidly develop and test solutions to complex access-to-justice challenges. Teams can leverage large language models to quickly prototype legal document automation systems, create user-friendly interfaces for legal information, and develop sophisticated triage systems that match client needs with appropriate resources. Unlike traditional development, which might require weeks of coding, Gen AI enables participants to iterate through multiple solution concepts in hours, focusing their energy on legal accuracy and user experience rather than technical implementation. These tools democratize participation by allowing those with limited technical backgrounds to contribute meaningfully alongside developers.
Now that you know what hackathons are and how they can help the legal field, let's dive into exactly what you can expect at a hackathon and how to prepare for one.
*We encourage you to give Eder’s post a full read!
What to Expect & How to Prepare
Participants at our upcoming Hacking Pro Bono event will experience a dynamic day of innovation and collaboration, carefully structured to maximize creativity and impact. But we’re not reinventing the wheel, so for those of you who can’t join us, don’t worry! These tips will still apply to any legal hackathon, and we hope you’ll keep them in mind for one of our next hackathons, which maybe you do get to join us for!
The event starts with check-in and morning networking, followed by an introductory session setting the context of the problem. You'll hear from an expert panel featuring representatives from legal tech startups, legal aid organizations, and law firms who will share insights on leveraging technology for access to justice. Like any good hackathon, you’re not jumping right into coming up with solutions: we’re making sure everyone is on the same page before we get started. Before lunch, our VAILL lab students will introduce a few AI tools, like Perplexity Pro and Party Rock, that teams can use during the hackathon.
The heart of the event is a guided design sprint that runs throughout the afternoon. Any hackathon will have a version of this. Our teams will move through a structured process beginning with challenge discovery and problem framing, where you'll define your target users and develop a focused "How Might We" statement. Next comes ideation and brainstorming, where you'll generate diverse solutions, potentially (we encourage!) leveraging Gen AI for inspiration.
After selecting and refining your best concept, teams will engage in rapid prototyping using no-code tools, sketches, or AI mockups to create a visual representation of your solution. The day culminates with team pitches to a panel of judges, followed by feedback, awards, and a celebratory networking reception. Throughout the day, expert mentors will be available to provide guidance.
To get the most out of this experience or any future hackathons, a bit of preparation goes a long way. But, if you’re anything like us, you may be thinking, “I bet I could come up with a few ideas before Saturday— I don’t want to be ‘unprepared'.”
Stop right there! You don’t need to develop perfect solutions in advance: the structured design sprint process and expert mentorship will guide you through turning your initial thoughts into actionable prototypes. The hackathon is designed to be accessible to all, whether you're a tech enthusiast or a legal professional with no coding experience.
Whether you’re a seasoned AI pro or someone just signing up for ChatGPT, spend some time familiarizing yourself with the basics of AI technologies being used in both general and legal settings. Even a basic understanding of tools like document automation, legal chatbots, or predictive analytics will help you contribute meaningfully regardless of your technical background.
Oh, and, of course, pack a laptop and maybe a notebook to jot down ideas.
We’ve got more information over on the website: https://www.hackingprobono.org/ The challenge brief is especially helpful to get you ready for this event! (And would be excellent inspiration for your own hackathon.)
Most importantly, whether you’re joining us Saturday or thinking about attending a hackathon in the future, make sure you come with an open mind and embrace the collaborative spirit.
Convinced? But missing out on this one?
Legal hackathons offer an exciting and energizing departure from traditional legal work. They still ask us to utilize our lawyering skills, just in new and collaborative way. We’re able to use hackathons as a creative space to work with folks outside of traditional legal practice to create real solutions, or at the very least, get some new ideas.
If that sounds like something you’re interested in, but you missed the deadline for our specific Hacking Pro Bono event, fear not! These events take place all over the world, year-round. We encourage you to try it out for yourself. Simply search “legal hackathon + (your city)” and we are confident you can find a way to plug in and make a change!
For inspiration, prior hackathons helped create tools to assist veteran’s with the claim’s process, M&A due diligence checking, and help self-represented litigants navigate and fill out forms, just to name a few.
We hope to see some of you this Saturday, and the rest of you in the future. Hackathons don’t have to be scary, and you don’t have to be an expert to participate. Getting together to share ideas is the core of what a hackathon is, and that’s what lawyers, law students, and other legal professionals do best.
P.S. Hey there! Today’s post is brought to you by some new faces you might not have heard from on the Substack so far: Emily Pavuluri and Kyle Turner. We’re VAILL team members. We’ll be writing on our experiences as both learners and educators in this space.