Canadian legal aid teams, court personnel, and justice advocates are being encouraged to participate in the inaugural LawDroid Hackathon, a virtual competition aimed at turning access-to-justice challenges into working software prototypes.
Organized by LawDroid alongside Lagniappe Law Lab and the Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project (LSNTAP), the hackathon uses low-code and no-code AI tools to help participants build solutions without requiring traditional software development expertise.
While much of LawDroid’s work is U.S.-focused, the company is seeking Canadian participants. Applicants need a clearly defined problem rather than a finished product, with ideas due October 21, 2026.
Selected teams will receive LawDroid-funded access to Replit, a software-building platform, along with hands-on support to develop a working demo. Every project will be open-sourced so the wider justice community can use and build on the work.
“Today’s low-code and no-code tools mean that the old hackathon model needed to be updated,” said Shellie Reid, Program Manager at LSNTAP.
The initiative extends the LawDroid AI Conference 2026 theme, “The Year to Build,” and follows the company’s free, open-source Legal Aid Plugin and A2JRAG research initiative.
“We’re not watching from the sidelines. We’re in the game with legal aid, courts, and A2J advocates, building with them, not just for them, because none of us can do this alone,” said Tom Martin, CEO and Founder of LawDroid.
For Canadian participants, the competition offers an opportunity to prototype tools informed by the access-to-justice challenges they encounter firsthand.