Nicole Clark, CEO and founding father of Trellis, created the authorized analytics platform to handle challenges she confronted as a litigator. Drawing from her expertise in enterprise litigation, she started aggregating state trial courtroom knowledge to tailor authorized arguments and enhance case outcomes. Recognizing its potential, she expanded Trellis to democratize entry to authorized insights.
With an unconventional background, together with early faculty enrollment and levels in journalism and regulation, Clark now shares her experience extensively whereas residing in Los Angeles along with her daughter and her love for vegetation.
Trellis is a authorized analytics platform targeted on bettering accessibility to state trial courtroom information and authorized knowledge. By offering instruments to investigate judicial rulings, authorized developments, and opposing counsel methods, Trellis helps authorized professionals in making knowledgeable choices. Its mission facilities on enhancing transparency and accessibility inside the judicial system.
What position does democratizing entry to authorized knowledge play in Trellis’ mission, and why is it so necessary?
Democratizing entry to regulation by making state trial courtroom information and authorized knowledge extra accessible is central to our core mission at Trellis. The state courtroom system is definitely the biggest courtroom system on this planet, but traditionally, it has been extremely fragmented and tough to navigate. This lack of transparency has created an uneven taking part in area the place solely these with substantial assets might entry and analyze this important knowledge successfully.
By making this knowledge searchable and accessible, Trellis brings larger transparency to our judicial system which advantages companies of all sizes, from solo practitioners to massive companies. By offering entry to state trial courtroom knowledge and insights, we empower attorneys to make extra knowledgeable choices, higher serve their shoppers, and finally contribute to a extra equitable justice system. Our mission goes past accessibility – it’s about reworking how the authorized occupation interacts with knowledge to create lasting affect.
Your inspiration for Trellis got here from a late evening spent writing a movement for abstract judgment, the place a previous ruling by the decide grew to become a game-changer in your case. Are you able to stroll us by that second and the way it developed into the thought of constructing a platform to combination state trial courtroom knowledge?
That evening was really a turning level for me. Whereas drafting a fancy movement for abstract judgment, I struggled as a result of I wasn’t accustomed to the decide assigned to the case. A colleague shared an previous ruling from the identical decide and it was like touchdown an in depth research information for a closing examination.
The ruling gave me insights into how the decide thought, enabling me to tailor my arguments accordingly. I gained that movement, and it was a lightbulb second: if one doc might rework my technique, think about the chances with larger entry to trial courtroom knowledge.
This expertise planted the seed for Trellis. I began aggregating state trial courtroom knowledge with the assistance of software program builders for my very own observe, focusing initially on tentative rulings from judges in Southern California. The outcomes have been so impactful that I knew this instrument couldn’t stay my private secret weapon.
Trellis was born to convey this similar stage of perception to attorneys all over the place, making it straightforward for them to investigate judicial tendencies, craft profitable methods, and save numerous hours of guide analysis.
Are you able to discuss concerning the early days of growing the Trellis database and the way you recognized essentially the most precious options for attorneys?
The early days have been pushed by my firsthand expertise as a litigator. I understood that attorneys face recurring ache factors, and I knew we wanted to resolve these first. Our preliminary focus was on making trial courtroom information searchable and creating decide analytics to uncover ruling patterns.
From the start, it grew to become clear that the true worth lay in taking these foundational options to the following stage. Trellis now permits attorneys to do way over simply seek for instances, we assist with strategic choices all through the lifetime of a case—from researching comparable instances and understanding decide tendencies to monitoring newly filed litigation and analyzing opposing counsel’s patterns.
We targeted on constructing options that might assist attorneys work extra effectively and make extra knowledgeable choices, at all times protecting in thoughts that point is an lawyer’s most respected useful resource.
Trellis is a chief instance of verticalized AI purposes. How does specializing in authorized analytics make Trellis AI totally different from extra generalized AI instruments like ChatGPT?
We not too long ago launched Trellis AI, the one productiveness platform tailor-made for trial courtroom litigation. What units Trellis AI aside is that it is constructed particularly for litigators, by litigators, and is powered by the biggest state trial courtroom database in existence. Not like generalized AI instruments, we’re not simply making use of language fashions to authorized work – we’re combining AI with tons of of hundreds of thousands of precise courtroom motions, briefs, and paperwork that symbolize numerous hours of lawyer work product and judicial choices.
Trellis AI is exclusive as a result of it is constructed upon trial courtroom knowledge—the place 99.7% of instances really happen. Whereas different authorized AI merchandise may depend on appellate case regulation or basic authorized information, we’re targeted on the courts the place litigators really observe day-to-day. This focus permits us to supply actionable insights based mostly on real-world litigation expertise, not simply theoretical authorized ideas. Trellis AI transforms trial courtroom knowledge right into a strategic benefit for attorneys.
Trellis presents instruments like movement drafting, case assessments, and decide analytics. How do these instruments rework the day-to-day workflows of attorneys?
Our instruments are designed to handle the true challenges attorneys face of their day by day observe. For instance, our decide analytics permit attorneys to grasp a decide’s tendencies —how they’ve dominated on comparable motions, their case period averages, and tendencies in particular observe areas. This helps set life like consumer expectations and develop efficient methods from day one.
Our AI instruments streamline time-consuming duties like doc evaluation, creating timelines, and analyzing arguments. As an alternative of spending hours manually reviewing paperwork or researching comparable instances, attorneys can get prompt and actionable insights that assist them make strategic choices. These instruments don’t substitute lawyer judgment—they improve it by providing higher instruments to train that judgment extra effectively and successfully.
May you elaborate on the method behind integrating Trellis’ state trial courtroom knowledge into actionable insights for attorneys?
At Trellis we’re targeted on making advanced knowledge accessible and actionable. Once we combination courtroom knowledge, we’re not simply accumulating it – we’re structuring it in ways in which instantly reply essentially the most urgent questions attorneys face. For instance, an lawyer may wish to perceive a decide’s grant charges on particular forms of motions, or see how typically opposing counsel has dealt with comparable instances together with their success charges.
The important thing has been to take care of the context that makes this knowledge precious. We’re not simply exhibiting numbers – we’re offering direct hyperlinks to the underlying instances and paperwork, so attorneys can dive deeper when wanted. This mixture of high-level analytics and granular element permits attorneys to maneuver seamlessly between strategic overview and tactical implementation.
With issues about AI “hallucination” in authorized outputs, how does Trellis keep accuracy and reliability in its suggestions?
Accuracy is non-negotiable for Trellis AI. Not like generalized AI, which can generate speculative or unreliable outputs, Trellis AI is grounded in verified courtroom knowledge. Our insights are derived from actual courtroom rulings, motions, and filings—eliminating a lot of the guesswork that may result in hallucinations related to different AI fashions.
What units Trellis AI aside is that it was constructed upon precise courtroom information and actual case outcomes. When our system delivers insights or suggestions, they’re based mostly on an evaluation of instances, motions, and rulings which have really occurred in state trial courts. Whereas we encourage customers to evaluation the output, our method of mixing AI with precise courtroom knowledge helps decrease the danger of hallucination that may happen with generic AI instruments.
To make sure reliability, our crew of attorneys has rigorously examined our fashions with 1000’s of paperwork. Trellis AI goes past offering solutions—it delivers instruments attorneys can belief. Each perception is backed by knowledge that’s verifiable, making Trellis AI not simply highly effective, but additionally reliable and indispensable for authorized professionals.
What have been the most important challenges in transitioning from authorized observe to constructing a know-how firm?
The transition required a whole mindset shift. As a litigator, I used to be skilled to concentrate on particular person instances and particular authorized arguments. Constructing a know-how firm, nevertheless, required considering on a a lot bigger scale—growing options that would serve 1000’s of attorneys throughout numerous observe areas and jurisdiction
One of the vital challenges was addressing the fragmented nature of state trial courts. Every jurisdiction operates with its personal distinctive techniques, codecs, and processes, making it extremely advanced to create a unified, searchable database. Fixing these technical challenges whereas making certain the platform remained intuitive for attorneys was a fragile balancing act.
We prioritized simplicity with out sacrificing sophistication, constructing highly effective analytics instruments that present deep insights but stay accessible with just some clicks. This mixture of user-friendly design and superior know-how has been key to empowering attorneys to work smarter and extra effectively.
The place do you see Trellis within the subsequent 5 years, notably as AI continues to advance?
Our imaginative and prescient is to proceed revolutionizing how attorneys work with state trial courtroom knowledge. We’re at the moment increasing our protection throughout extra jurisdictions whereas growing more and more refined AI instruments to assist attorneys work extra effectively and successfully. We’ve protection for 45 states now, and we’re actively working to broaden our attain.
As AI know-how advances, we’ll have the ability to present much more nuanced insights and predictions about case outcomes, whereas sustaining our concentrate on accuracy and reliability. The long run is not about changing lawyer judgment—it is about augmenting it with higher knowledge and extra refined analytics. Whether or not it’s serving to a solo practitioner put together for trial or equipping a big agency with data-driven insights, our aim is to make working towards regulation smarter, fairer, and extra accessible.
What recommendation would you give to authorized professionals who’re contemplating leveraging AI instruments of their observe?
My recommendation is to view AI instruments as enhancers of your experience somewhat than replacements for it. Concentrate on options particularly designed for authorized professionals—instruments that ship tangible worth to your day by day workflow. The most effective authorized AI instruments ought to prevent time, streamline duties, and help extra knowledgeable decision-making with out compromising the standard of your work.
Begin by figuring out ache factors in your observe the place higher knowledge or automation might make a distinction. Whether or not it’s conducting analysis, reviewing paperwork, or growing case methods, select instruments tailor-made to handle these particular wants. Prioritize instruments that emphasize accuracy and supply transparency about their knowledge sources and methodologies.
Finally, the aim of authorized know-how isn’t to redefine what attorneys do however to assist them do it extra effectively and successfully. Probably the most profitable attorneys can be those that be taught to successfully mix their authorized experience with these new instruments whereas sustaining their skilled judgment and moral obligations.
Thanks for the nice interview, readers who want to be taught extra ought to go to Trellis.