Michael Mills, ’74, 1946-2023
Michael Mills
Michael Mills, the co-founder and President of Neota and a polymath with careers in legal technology, litigation, and local television, has died. He was 77.
Michael died on October 1, 2023, at his home in St. Helena, California, of complications from leukemia. His life partner, Karen MacNeil, was at his side.
Called “the leading global figure in law firm technology” by Richard Susskind, Michael was known as both an innovator and an urbane role model within the legal community. The Chairman and CEO of Elevate Law, Liam Brown, spoke for many when he said “Law has lost a visionary strategist, an imaginative practitioner, and a business leader. We have all lost an extraordinary friend.”
Skadden’s Harris Tilevitz described Michael as a mensch. “I used to tell my kids when they were little and they asked what a mensch was, think of the person you like the most, who you want to be the most. And that is Michael. Kind, unassuming, gentle, brilliant and someone you want to be like. From almost the first time I met him in 1987, I always wanted to be Michael.”
In his 50+ years in the law, Michael played many roles. He attended law school at the University of Chicago, serving as a research assistant to Professor Richard Posner. He practiced litigation at two premiere New York law firms, then left a prestigious partnership role to begin a 20-year knowledge management career at Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he devised several revolutionary technologies for lawyers, and helped build a ground-breaking expert system to support the firm’s international bankruptcy practice. Drawing from his experience with expert systems, Michael left Davis Polk in 2010 to co-found Neota Logic, one of the first software companies to apply artificial intelligence to legal work.
While Michael blazed his own trail, he was a kind and indispensable mentor to others who sought to transition out of their legal practices and into technology and knowledge management roles. He established informal groups where like-minded professionals could exchange ideas and seek advice. He shared his hard-won insights as a valued speaker at legal technology conferences. And he willingly offered one-on-one help to others coming up through the ranks.
Simpson Thacher’s Oz Benamram said of Michael: “I admire both what Michael has achieved professionally and the person that he was. His generosity, combined with his superior brain, made him a pillar of the legal tech community. I see him as one of the founding fathers of legal KM, innovation, and LegalTech. And a very kind one, who not only paved the way, but also helped others walk on it.”
Along the way, Michael quietly but effectively lent his time, expertise, and money to the causes he found important. He co-founded the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit organization entrusted with the day-to-day care and management of Central Park. He served as Fellow, board member, and President of the College of Law Practice Management, and funded the College’s annual innovation awards. And he acted as founding director, vice chair, and generous financial contributor to Pro Bono Net, a nonprofit corporation created to improve the coordination and delivery of pro bono legal services through technology.
Mark O’Brien, Executive Director of Pro Bono Net, recalled Michael’s contributions. “It was not surprising that we would turn to Michael as a founding board member. He was a founder’s dream advisor: endlessly generous with his time, professional connections and good ideas, but completely without ego or need to be in control or even acknowledged. Michael possesses a rare combination of deep intellectual curiosity and love for rolling up his sleeves to solve difficult challenges, with a keen sense of the possible. He is also deeply committed to making the world a better place and is an unfailingly loyal friend. I and my colleagues at Pro Bono Net have benefited from those attributes on countless occasions over the past 25 years.”
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