Ed Walters

Ed Walters is a legal technology entrepreneur, author, and educator recognized as the co-founder and longtime CEO of Fastcase, a major legal research platform. After working in the George H.W. Bush White House speechwriting office and practicing at Covington & Burling, Walters and physicist-turned-lawyer Phil Rosenthal founded Fastcase to address challenges in legal research. Prior to Fastcase, Walters advised clients such as Microsoft, Merck, SmithKline, the Business Software Alliance, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., and Brussels.

Walters led Fastcase as it introduced innovations in legal research, including citation analysis, mobile apps, and analytics, expanding the platform to more than 1.2 million subscribers through partnerships and acquisitions. He also established the Fastcase 50, an annual list highlighting legal industry innovators. Fastcase’s growth demonstrated how a focused approach to legal technology and customer service could disrupt established legal research providers.

Following the merger of Fastcase and vLex, Walters became Chief Strategy Officer at the combined company. The merged entity’s global law library serves more than 3 million subscribers and covers the law of more than 110 countries, offering access to over 1 billion documents. The integration of AI capabilities, including Vincent AI, has advanced legal research and practice worldwide.

In addition to his entrepreneurial work, Walters is an author and academic. He is the author and editor of "Data-Driven Law" and a contributing author to "Legal Informatics." Walters serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches "The Law of Robots" and "Gen AI & Big Law," and as a Lecturer in Law at The University of Chicago Law School, where he teaches "Generative AI in Legal Practice." His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The University of Chicago Law Review, The Green Bag, and Legal Times, and he has spoken widely on legal publishing and technology. Walters serves on the board of directors of Pro Bono Net and on the Leaders Counsel for the Legal Services Corporation, supporting efforts to expand access to justice. His career spans legal technology, legal publishing, academia, and public service.