Law Newbie democratizes answers to legal queries Kingston invests in young entrepreneurs

Queen’s law grad supported research and development

Asbah Ahmad

Editor in Chief

Technology is changing the legal landscape, and Lawyer Jordan Donich is working to streamline answers to basic legal questions.

Though it isn’t legal advice or substitute for a lawyer, Law Newbie is a legal chatbox software that Donich developed by licensing the underlying chatbox software and making changes to the user interface. Law Newbie is designed to democratize access to basic criminal and civil legal questions that might be asked by a client looking to connect with a lawyer.

During the development process of Law Newbie, Donich hired Sarah MacDonald, Law ’20, as a summer research student. She worked extensively with other law students at the time to train the chatbot with researched information.

“There’s not a lot of innovation [in the legal profession]. It’s scary as a lawyer because you don’t want to get sued. You’re taking a risk,” Donich said in an interview with The Journal.

“[Law Newbie] is bridging the gap between people who don’t have a lawyer and people who need a lawyer. It’s a lot of answers to questions. That doesn’t require as much of an analysis,” MacDonald said in an interview with The Journal.

Most technology in the legal profession is currently aimed at allowing lawyers to efficiently practice law. Donich’s site works to create an interface for clients who are looking for guidance on which questions to ask a legal professional.

Accessibility in law is important for those who might not be able to afford legal services and need direction, explained MacDonald. Having access to accurate and reliable information also allows people to save precious time when dealing with legal problems.

“I worked at a legal clinic when I was at Queen’s. We were able to help people with those questions. But there’s a certain income cap where you’re able to qualify for those services,” MacDonald said.

Future development of legal chatboxes means the potential for development across many areas of law. This would help broaden the scope of the types of issues clients can receive support for.

“The way I see it, is that it could encourage other law firms who have different practice areas to develop similar tools. If you need advice about a will, an estate matter, or corporate issue [...] other types of firms could utilize it,” MacDonald said.

As it stands, Donich remains involved with the programming of Law Newbie. He still works to program the chatbot to answer new and evolving queries. He said the most common query is asking for legal advice, which he shuts down.

With changing technology, legislation and regulations are catching up. Now well out of law school, MacDonald said her experience in a technology law club at Queen’s was important, along with the case studies related to technology taught in courses. This is part of a broader trend at better integrating technology and legal education across the board according to Donich.

Kingston providing up to $3,000 for student entrepreneurs

Nay Chi Htwe Contributor

Government funding is enabling student entrepreneurs to innovate in diverse fields.

Since 2001, the City of Kingston has provided young entrepreneurs aged 15 to 29 with grants up to $3,000 with funding from the Ontario government. Besides funding, the program provides mentorship opportunities, enabling participants to work closely with local entrepreneurs.

This year, four of the 10 participants are Queen’s University students: Eric Colonna, Mason Rice, Roman Mironov, and Owen McDowell. The Journal had the opportunity to sit down for interviews with the four participants.

Eric Colonna, Comm ’23, is the founder of Pick 6 Athletics, a business he started in the summer of 2020. Colonna first generated a following by posting workout drills and football tips on Instagram.

Using his experience as a defensive back on the Queen’s football team, Colonna hopes to make high-level coaching accessible to young defensive backs.

Besides content creation, another way Colonna utilized business technology was through Wix, a website provider he used to create a site and mobile application which offers additional workout resources.

A piece of advice he would give to future entrepreneurs is to avoid paralysis by analysis and to start their business as soon as possible. Colonna emphasized the importance of a supportive environment, reflecting on the times his family and peers helped him film content.

Mason Rice, Sci ’27, started Rice Photography, which reflects his passion for tinkering with video and film production and specializes in creating short films.

As part of the program, Rice hopes to expand his business under the mentorship of local social media marketing company, James Media.

As an incoming first-year student, Rice looks forward to meeting new people and hopes to take Instagram pictures for first years during special events like Homecoming.

Rice identified consistency as a key trait entrepreneurs should strive for. Despite his upcoming engineering course load, he’s still going to try to find free time to keep filming videos.

Once in university, Rice hopes to shoot videos for sports teams, like football and rugby. As of now, Rice has shot an advertisement for the Kingston Yacht Club, as well as for Roman Mironov, Comm ’25, a fellow participant of the 2023 Summer Company Program.

Mironov founded 199 Media, a consulting company specializing in digital advertising for businesses.

Mironov’s marketing experience started early—he helped his mother’s e-commerce business by making posters on Canva before branching out into social media advertising.

To read the full story, visit queensjournal.ca/