WilmerHale recently concluded its inaugural AI March Madness, a firmwide initiative designed to encourage creative, practical thinking about how artificial intelligence can enhance legal work, firm operations, and client service.
Inspired by the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, the program used a bracket‑style format to surface and highlight the most compelling ideas from across the firm. Attorneys and business professionals were invited to submit AI use‑case ideas. Those ideas then advanced through a series of head‑to‑head matchups, narrowing the field over multiple rounds until category champions emerged. The familiar tournament structure helped make innovation engaging and accessible. It also provided a clear framework for identifying ideas with real‑world impact.
An overwhelming response, with more than 260 ideas submitted, brought together attorneys and business professionals from across the firm to share ideas and perspectives on how AI can support their work. That level of participation reflects the growing momentum around AI at WilmerHale and the firmwide interest in exploring new ways of working.
AI March Madness focused on two broad areas: legal and client‑facing applications of AI, and operational and business professional use cases. Together, the categories reflected WilmerHale’s view that meaningful innovation must span both legal practice and the systems that support it.
Two submissions were ultimately recognized as winners. Kaylene Khosla earned top honors in the Operational and Business Professional category for One‑Click Time Entry, which reimagines timekeeping by turning a traditionally multistep process into a simple, intuitive interaction. Jonathan Cox was named the Legal and Client‑Facing winner for Minerva: The Matter Minder, which provides teams with an improved at‑a‑glance view of everything happening on a matter, including tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities.
As part of the program, each winner received $1,000 and a $1,000 donation to a firm‑funded charitable organization of their choice. There is also the opportunity for their ideas to be developed into firm solutions.
Additional runner‑up recognition went to Molly Jennings for Needle in an Email Haystack, which applies AI‑powered search to help professionals quickly surface exactly the emails they need, and Andrew Dulberg for KM Crusher, which unlocks the firm’s collective experience by making past work easier to find.
Beyond celebrating individual ideas, AI March Madness reflects WilmerHale’s broader commitment to exploring AI in thoughtful, practical ways. The firm plans to continue building on the momentum generated by AI March Madness, exploring additional select ideas from the initiative and evaluating future opportunities for innovation.