AI, Access to Justice & the Future of Legal Research W/ Will McCartney, Founder of HABEAS

What happens when a law student decides the traditional research grind is broken… and builds something better?

In this episode, Lofty sits down with William McCartney, founder of HABEAS, a next-generation AI legal research platform designed to make the law more accessible, intuitive, and commercially viable for modern lawyers.

Will shares his unconventional path from humanities student to legal tech founder, why he stepped away from law school to go all-in on building HABEAS, and how AI is reshaping legal research, access to justice, and the future of the profession itself.

This is not hype-driven AI chatter.
It’s a grounded conversation about where AI actually helps, where it still falls short, and how lawyers who learn to work with it will outpace those who ignore it or wait too long to add it into their practice.

If you’re a sole practitioner, small firm lawyer, law student, or simply curious about how AI will impact justice and the business of law, this episode is essential listening.
Episode Chapters & Timestamps

00:00 – Welcome & intro to William McCartney
02:00 – From humanities to law to legal tech
05:00 – Why entrepreneurship isn’t taught (and why it matters)
08:30 – Dropping out of law school to build HABEAS
12:00 – What’s broken about traditional legal research
15:30 – AI, semantic search & natural language law queries
19:00 – Hallucinations, accuracy & why lawyers still matter
24:00 – AI as a “first-year lawyer” vs a senior practitioner
28:00 – What AI means for grads and junior lawyers
32:00 – Small firms, leverage & the future of legal practice
36:00 – Access to justice: promise vs risk
40:00 – HABEAS x League Loot offer
43:00 – Where to find HABEAS & final thoughts

Key Takeaways
AI doesn’t replace legal judgment, it compresses time and removes friction.
The future lawyer is part practitioner, part strategist, part technologist.
Legal research is shifting from keyword hunting to conversational discovery.
Access to justice improves when research costs drop, but only if deployed responsibly.
Grads who learn AI and fundamentals early will move faster than prior generations.
Small firms now have enterprise-level research power at their fingertips.

Tools & Resources Mentioned

HABEAS AI Legal Research Platform
👉 Free trial + demos available via the website
https://www.habeas.ai/

Self-Employed Lawyers League (SELL): https:thesell.life/start-here
👉 League Loot Members receive 25% off HABEAS subscriptions