The Brief

Joe Stephens Wins ILTA's Innovative Leader of the Year, Business Partner

dan.malgran@steno.com (Team Steno) — Tue, 05 May 2026 14:23:33 GMT

Joe Stephens, Steno's Director of Legal Solutions, has been named the 2026 Innovative Leader of the Year, Business Partner, by the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA). The award recognizes business partners who drive meaningful innovation across the legal ecosystem. Joe's honor was announced at the ILTA EVOLVE Conference in Denver on May 1. Steno was also named as one of three Solution Provider of the Year finalists, alongside Thomson Reuters and Infodash.

At the MBBA Trial Academy, the Fundamentals Were the Point

joe.stephens@steno.com (Joe Stephens) — Mon, 04 May 2026 16:27:29 GMT

On April 17, I had the opportunity to join a panel at the Metropolitan Black Bar Association Trial Academy at New York Law School. It was exactly the kind of room I love being in, filled with people who showed up because they want to get better at trying cases, not just collect CLE credit.

Carly Savar in Corporate Counsel: Reliable by Design—What In-House Counsel Really Need from Legal Tech Partners

dan.malgran@steno.com (Team Steno) — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:21:48 GMT

In-house legal teams are facing faster turnarounds, fewer resources, and business stakeholders who measure value in response time, not risk methodology. The promise of legal technology is that it closes that gap, the wrong tools and the wrong partners can widen it. In a new piece for Corporate Counsel, Steno General Counsel and former litigator Carly Savar explains why choosing the right legal tech partner is a strategic decision, and that most evaluation frameworks aren't built to surface the criteria that actually matter.

Sean Twersky in Bloomberg: How to Succeed in Your Very First Job

dan.malgran@steno.com (Team Steno) — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 18:04:06 GMT

Landing your first job is one thing. Actually thriving in it is another.

Dan Ivtsan in InformationWeek: The Hidden High Cost of Training AI on AI

dan.malgran@steno.com (Team Steno) — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 17:28:23 GMT

AI-generated content isn't just filling inboxes. It's quietly corrupting the models organizations are counting on to run their businesses. And for many, the bill for that mistake is already coming due.

Steno Appoints Former Red Bull and Ontra Executives to Leadership Team

dan.malgran@steno.com (Team Steno) — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:37:23 GMT

Anjelica Garcia (Red Bull) and Jeff Herscott (Ontra) join Steno, bringing world-class expertise to drive organizational culture and expansion into new markets.

Voices Behind the Record: Sheri Smargon

dan.malgran@steno.com (Team Steno) — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:12:19 GMT

Speed, Realtime, and the Resilience It Takes to Master Both

Welcome to Voices Behind the Record, our ongoing series spotlighting the professionals who make up our court reporting community. Each installment takes you inside the career, craft, and mindset of a court reporter who has not only mastered the technical demands of the job, but has also stayed curious, kept growing, and pushed the profession forward.

Attorney Work Styles: Why We Built a Framework Specifically for Lawyers

scott.downing@steno.com (Scott Downing) — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:30:01 GMT

Legal work rewards excellence. But in practice, excellence looks very different from one attorney to the next. Deadlines collide, documentation piles up, pressure is constant. In that environment, understanding how you naturally work is a performance advantage.

Joe Stephens in Legal Reader: AI Adoption Is Outpacing the Rules. Here's How to Stay Ahead of Both.

joe.stephens@steno.com (Joe Stephens) — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 22:26:26 GMT

The ABA Task Force's Year 2 Report on AI doesn't pump the brakes on adoption. Instead, it draws a clear distinction between tools that meet professional standards and those that carry more risk than reward.

Steno at Legalweek: Above the Law on What AI Competence Actually Means

jeff.cox@steno.com (Jeff Cox, Esq.) — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:41:03 GMT

The years-long debate over whether the legal industry should adopt AI is mostly settled. The next question—what does it actually mean to use AI competently, and what happens when you don't?—took center stage at a Legalweek 2026 panel sponsored by Steno and led by Joe Stephens, JD, Steno's Director of Legal Solutions.