Joe Stephens, Steno's Director of Legal Solutions, has been named the 2026 Innovative Leader of the Year, Business Partner, by the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA). The award recognizes business partners who drive meaningful innovation across the legal ecosystem. Joe's honor was announced at the ILTA EVOLVE Conference in Denver on May 1. Steno was also named as one of three Solution Provider of the Year finalists, alongside Thomson Reuters and Infodash. 

A Unique Feedback Loop

Building legal technology, practicing law, and teaching it are three distinct careers. Joe does all three simultaneously, and each one makes the others sharper. As Steno CEO Greg Hong noted in his support letter for the nomination: "Joe brings a unique combination of courtroom credibility, technical fluency, and operational discipline to his work."

Joe is a product leader at Steno, a Clinical Lecturer at Texas Tech University School of Law, and Chief Public Defender of the Caprock Regional Public Defender Office. Joe built that combination by design, and the result is something rare in legal tech: a continuous feedback loop between product development, courtroom reality, and legal education.

(Left to right: Jeff Cox, Director of Brand; Clare Foley, VP of Strategic Accounts; Joe Stephens, Director of Legal Solutions; Dayna Shi, SVP of Finance; Kaitlyn Shelly, Senior Account Executive)

Built in Legal Practice

That feedback loop is not theoretical. Joe deploys Steno's tools in active litigation and brings what he learns directly back into the product cycle. His work lands so broadly across the industry because he translates technology into terms that legal professionals actually use—not a list of features, but operational outcomes that matter to firms under deadline: billable-hour recovery, case throughput, cycle time from deposition to motion practice, and preparation quality.

Across his roles, Joe is deliberate about who gets access to that work. Legal technology tends to flow toward the best-resourced firms. He has spent his career routing it the other way. His public defense work brings advanced litigation technology to indigent clients across rural West Texas. His teaching puts those same tools in front of law students with proper grounding in how to use them responsibly.

The Broader Conversation

Joe's work at Steno extends beyond our products. As host of the Between the Briefs podcast, he engages legal professionals on the practical and ethical dimensions of AI in law. His published work on AI governance, professional responsibility, and legal education has helped shape how the profession thinks about responsible adoption—not just what technology can do, but how it should get there.

That combination of hands-on implementation and public thought leadership is what makes this recognition meaningful. It's not just a celebration of Joe's achievement. It's a validation of the principle that legal technology is strongest when it's shaped by practitioners, tested in real matters, and oriented toward service.

Congratulations to Joe and the entire Steno team.