2025 vLex Fastcase 50 Nominations Now Open
13 June 2025
For 14 years, the vLex Fastcase 50 has served as the legal profession's premier recognition program, celebrating the innovators, visionaries, and leaders who are transforming how legal services are delivered worldwide. Today, we're excited to announce that nominations are now open for the 2025 awards.
The vLex Fastcase 50 has achieved a level of prestige that extends far beyond our initial expectations. As legal technology journalist Bob Ambrogi noted, the Fastcase 50 represents "probably the best-available roster of those who are leading the charge on innovation in law." What began as a way to spotlight unsung heroes has evolved into the preeminent industry list of legal innovation experts, thought leaders, and trendsetters.
Recognizing Excellence Across the Legal Ecosystem
The beauty of the vLex Fastcase 50 lies in its inclusivity and scope. We're looking for the law's smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries, and leaders – and anyone is eligible. Whether you're a lawyer or nonlawyer, techie or nontechie, the mission remains the same: to shine a light on both well-known figures and unsung heroes who are making significant contributions to the legal profession.
Consider nominating professionals who excel in:
Legal Technology Innovation: The pioneers developing cutting-edge AI tools, platforms, and solutions that transform how lawyers research, draft, analyze, and serve clients. From generative AI applications to workflow automation, these innovators are redefining what's possible in legal practice.
Legal Practice Excellence: Attorneys and legal professionals who are pioneering new approaches to client service, case management, or legal delivery. These leaders demonstrate that innovation isn't just about technology – it's about reimagining the fundamental ways we practice law.
Access to Justice: Champions creating solutions that make legal services more accessible and affordable for underserved communities. These innovators understand that true legal innovation must expand access to justice, not limit it.
Legal Education & Research: Academic leaders, librarians, and researchers advancing legal knowledge, training, and educational innovation. These professionals are preparing the next generation of legal minds for an AI-enhanced future.
Professional Leadership: Executives and leaders driving positive change in law firms, bar associations, courts, or legal organizations. These visionaries are transforming institutional approaches to legal service delivery.
Legal Communications: Professionals effectively sharing legal insights and innovations with the broader community, helping to educate and guide the profession through periods of rapid change.
2024: A Watershed Year for Legal Innovation
This past year has been remarkable for legal innovation, particularly as the legal community grappled with the transformative potential of Generative AI. Many of our 2024 winners were at the absolute forefront of this revolution – whether developing cutting-edge tools, implementing ethical AI frameworks, or providing the thought leadership and education that the legal community desperately needed during this pivotal moment.
The conversations happening today around AI in law weren't theoretical discussions in academic journals – they were practical, urgent questions about how to responsibly integrate powerful new capabilities into daily legal practice. Our 2024 honorees helped answer those questions through their pioneering work, demonstrating that thoughtful innovation can transform the profession while maintaining the highest standards of excellence and ethical practice.
See the 2024 vLex Fastcase Honorees
A Global Community of Innovation
One of the most exciting developments in recent years has been the increasingly international nature of legal innovation. The 2024 class was our most global group of honorees in the award's history, with winners spanning from Latin America to Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. This geographic diversity reflects both vLex's growing international presence and the reality that legal innovation knows no borders.
Whether you're nominating someone from Silicon Valley startups or Singapore legal tech hubs, São Paulo innovation centers or Barcelona legal entrepreneurs, we want to hear about the innovators in your network who are making a global impact on the profession.
Join a Legacy of Excellence
Since 2011, we've recognized over 600 innovative leaders who are actively shaping the future of law. This isn't just an award – it's membership in a community of legal professionals committed to advancing the profession through innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
Past honorees represent the full spectrum of legal innovation: legal tech founders building the tools that power modern practice, judges pioneering court technology initiatives, law school innovators preparing students for an AI-enhanced future, bar association leaders modernizing professional standards, corporate counsel reimagining in-house legal operations, and entrepreneurs building the next generation of legal solutions.
The diversity of our honoree community reflects the reality that legal innovation happens everywhere – from solo practitioners developing creative client solutions to AmLaw 100 firms implementing enterprise-wide AI strategies.
The Nomination Process
Ready to nominate someone who deserves recognition? The process is straightforward and takes just minutes to complete.
Nomination deadline: July 4, 2025
Don't overthink it – sometimes the most deserving candidates are the ones working quietly behind the scenes, making incremental but profound improvements to how legal services are delivered. Your nomination could spotlight someone whose contributions deserve broader recognition and celebration.
Awards Announcement at ILTACON 2025
The 2025 vLex Fastcase 50 will be announced at ILTACON 2025, bringing together the legal technology community's most influential voices to celebrate these exceptional achievements. This premier legal technology conference provides the perfect venue to recognize the innovators who are defining the future of legal practice.
Your Nomination Matters
The legal profession stands at an inflection point. The decisions we make today about technology adoption, ethical frameworks, client service models, and professional standards will define the practice of law for decades to come. The innovators we recognize through the vLex Fastcase 50 aren't just adapting to change – they're actively creating the future we'll all inhabit.
Whether you know a legal tech startup founder revolutionizing contract analysis, a law librarian implementing AI tools to transform legal research, a solo practitioner creating innovative client communication systems, a corporate counsel pioneering new approaches to regulatory compliance, or a judge modernizing court operations – your nomination can spotlight someone whose contributions deserve recognition and celebration.
Take five minutes today to nominate a legal innovator.