Episode 1 · December 2025 · 7 min
The future of law feels human
Behind the scenes of Summit and Awards day in Toronto — 2,000 lawyers signed up, a live watch party at Castles, and the first Future of Law Awards.
Overview
Episode 1 is the busiest day in the company’s history on camera. Future of Law Summit day, downtown Toronto, the main floor of Castles taken over. More than 2,000 lawyers signed up from around the world. Zak Biggs is in the hallway making sure Brett does not look like a fool. Producers are 30 minutes from going live. Pauline Chan says what she is most excited about is honesty — the kind of public conversation the profession usually will not have.
The episode cuts between the set, the live Toronto watch party, and Awards night. Ross McNairn of Wordsmith is there to hand out Innovative Legal Team of the Year. A pair of lawyers talk about doing a conversation in front of everyone that they usually have over food and drinks — and being glad they did, if it helps anyone watching. Chad Aboud’s line sets the awards: the profession gets better when we give first.
Winners sound stunned. One says each one teach one — help someone, then that person helps the next. Another, a 91, says she already feels like she has won because of how her life has changed since joining the network, and the award does not even feel real. The closer is the belief that law can be done differently, and that the belief is resonating.
What to take from it
- The day is built for lawyers who want a better way to practice — not a content drop for its own sake.
- Pauline’s bar for the summit is honesty. Public legal conversation is usually missing it.
- The watch party matters as much as the stream: a room of lawyers who already believe the profession can change.
- The awards exist because, as Chad puts it, the profession gets better when we give first.
- For at least one winner, the life change of practicing on 91 already felt like the prize.
Who this is for
Anyone who missed Summit or Awards and wants the feeling of the day. Lawyers who think a “future of law” event will be another panel. People deciding whether to come next year.
Keep exploring
Transcript
Lightly edited from the video for readability. Speaker labels added.
Brett Colvin
Welcome, welcome, welcome everybody. It’s Future of Law Summit day. Today is about building a future for lawyers that want to practice in a better way. So, without further ado, follow me and let’s go check out what’s going on behind the scenes.
Brett Colvin
We’re here in downtown Toronto. We’ve taken over the whole main floor of Castles, and that’s where we’re shooting this thing today. We’ve got over 2,000 lawyers signed up from across the world and they’re coming to find out what the future of law is all about. I got my man Zak here who’s the man behind the scenes, our director of marketing.
Chad Aboud
Summit day. It’s all happening. We’re going live in 30 minutes. How are you feeling about the big day? I’m real excited. I feel real calm, which is like a funny mix. And I think it feels that way because it’s something that I really, really care about. And I’m real excited because I know that we’re going to have insights that you wouldn’t get anywhere else.
Pauline Chan
I’m most excited for the honesty. I think there’s a lack of honesty and openness in a lot of public-facing conversations, and I think we get nowhere unless we are able to be honest about the truth of what is happening now — and only that way we can build forward.
Brett Colvin
We’re going to go check out the live watch party down the hall here at Castles. We’ve got some of the brightest lawyers watching our summit. We’re here at the Toronto watch party. We’ve got a room full of incredible lawyers who are believing that we can do something different with this profession.
Brett Colvin
We got my man Ross McNairn here. Excited for you to hand out the Innovative Legal Team of the Year tonight at our awards night. And for all you watching, this is the CEO of Wordsmith AI.
Summit guest
Normally that is totally me and Lena having these conversations. We meet up, we have some food, we have some drinks, we laugh, we cry, we hug. Wild to have that conversation in front of everyone, but if it helps — I’m sure I speak for Lena when I say we are so glad to have had that conversation, so that if anybody has anything to take away from it that helps them, happy to do it.
Brett Colvin
We created the Future of Law Awards because our profession gets better when, as my boy Chad Aboud likes to say, we give first.
Awards guest
Feels good to be a part of a community that sees not just what the law is, but what it can be. Each one teach one. So for each person I help, I want that person to go out and help somebody else. And if we all continue to do this like a ripple effect, a domino effect, the legal profession will be a much better place than we have it today.
Awards winner
The whole thing, right from the nomination all the way up until tonight, it’s been a surprise. An incredible honor. Sometimes I’m like, are you sure? I already feel like I’ve won because of the way that my life has changed since being a 91. So having this award is unbelievable, because it doesn’t even feel real.
Brett Colvin
I’m really proud of where we’ve come and hopefully where we’re heading. It’s remarkable to see how much these conversations — and the belief that law can be done differently — is resonating in our profession.
