Our People
Michael Lissner – Executive Director and CTO
Michael Lissner is a co-founder of Free Law Project and serves as its executive director. Under his leadership, Free Law Project has brought innovation and equity to the legal ecosystem. Free Law Project's strategy of open tools like CourtListener, RECAP, and Bots.law, enable it to impact tens of millions of people each month. Michael is a FastCase 50 Honoree and has been awarded the Public Access to Information Award from the American Association of Law Librarians. He is an endurance athlete, having completed numerous long-distance challenges.
Brian Carver – Co-Founder and Board Member
In 2009 and 2010, at the UC Berkeley School of Information, Brian advised Michael Lissner on the creation of CourtListener. After Michael's graduation, he and Brian continued working on the site and have grown the database to include millions of documents. In 2011 and 2012, Brian advised masters students Rowyn McDonald and Karen Rustad on the creation of a legal citator built on the CourtListener database. During 2012 and 2013 he collaborated with computer scientists at UC Santa Cruz on the enhancement of the search capabilities of CourtListener. He continues to support all of Free Law Project's efforts as a member of its Board of Directors.
Ansel Halliburton – Board Member
Ansel has been involved in legal technology since 2006, when he joined a team at Stanford Law School to help build a comprehensive database of all federal intellectual property litigation — work that later spun out as Lex Machina. Ansel practiced technology law before co-founding Syntexys, a document analytics software company spun out from A3 by Airbus. Ansel holds degrees from UC Berkeley and UC Davis School of Law, writes about technology and security for Lawyerist, and builds small robots.
Rebecca Fordon – Board Member
Rebecca brings a unique perspective on legal technology and legal research, having transitioned into law librarianship after a successful career as a corporate bankruptcy attorney at an AmLaw 200 firm. A long-time volunteer with Free Law Project, her research interests have been greatly influenced by the organization’s mission, focusing currently on electronic court records, legal citators, and expanding open access to legal information. Rebecca frequently writes and speaks about legal technology and generative AI in the legal field and is a 2024 vLex Fastcase 50 honoree. She currently serves as a Law Librarian and Assistant Professor of Professional Practice at The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, where she brings her expertise to both the classroom and the library. Rebecca holds degrees from Ohio Wesleyan University, Boston University School of Law, and UCLA and in her spare time loves crosswords, cooking, and cycling.
Michelle Ma – Board Member
Michelle Ma is an attorney and startup founder who is passionate about building legal technology for self-advocacy. She brings a decade of legal experience counseling technology companies on contracts, technology licensing, product and IP issues, and M&A. A former mechanical engineer, she worked as an executive and founder of several early stage startups before opening her own practice.
Jenifer Whiston – Director of Philanthropy
Jenifer joins Free Law Project with over a decade of fundraising, grant writing, and relationship-building experience. She has previously worked in Development and Communications with the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York and YWCA Greater Capital Region. She received her bachelor’s degree from Siena College and a master’s from Long Island University Brooklyn. Jenifer lives in upstate New York with her two rescue dogs and enjoys curling, gardening, hiking, and snowboarding.
William E. Palin – Lead Developer
William is an attorney and software developer that is passionate about technologies role in bridging the Access-to-Justice gap. Prior to joining Free Law Project he was the Access to Justice/Technology Fellow at Harvard Law School, an Adjunct Professor of Law and Technology at Suffolk University in Boston and a practicing attorney.
Jessica Frank – User Researcher and Project Manager
Jessica Frank is a passionate legal technologist with a focus on expanding access to justice through innovative software solutions. After earning her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2011, she quickly transitioned from traditional legal practice to the intersection of law and technology. Before coming to Free Law Project, Jessica spent 12 years training users at legal aid organizations, courts, and law schools on how to use technology to simplify legal processes and bridge the civil justice gap. For fun, Jessica is the president of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at her daughter's school and runs a cottage sugar cookie business. She also loves to read historical fiction & biographies, hang out at the beach, and cook.
