Ayyoub Ajmi serves as the Director of Legal Innovation and Technology at the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law. Ayyoub is a strong advocate of leveraging open and inclusive technologies to support access-to-justice initiatives. Ayyoub is leading and growing the Legal Technology Laboratory (LTL) at UMKC. The LTL is a global initiative with the mission to promote the education and exploration of legal technology by empowering multidisciplinary teams to address social, civic, and economic development challenges. Ayyoub championed several projects, among them the Self-Help Legal Clinic, which provides free limited-scope legal representation to over 700 litigants every year. In 2020, the clinic was recognized by the AALL for outstanding achievement in public relations activities (Excellence in Community Engagement Award). During the coronavirus pandemic, Ayyoub successfully moved the entire operation of the clinic to the cloud, allowing hundreds of litigants to access legal help despite the lockdown.
In 2017, Ayyoub founded CiviLaw.Tech, a consulting firm that provides organizations with the legal tech solutions they need to make a meaningful impact. With the help of his team, Ayyoub is committed to bridging the justice gap with a creative, out-of-the-box approach by leveraging technology, innovation, and outstanding support.
Ayyoub’s latest work with CiviLaw.Tech is the development of a state-wide interactive self-help portal that will provide citizens with easy access to education, resources, and self-help tools in several areas of the law. Prior to that, Ayyoub led the development and currently maintains the Kansas Protection Order Portal (KSPOP). KSPOP is an award-winning online platform that allows Kansans to file for a protection order petition with the court remotely. In 2021, KSPOP was recognized as the best Automated Form by the Self-Represented Litigation Network. In its first year, the platform processed over 6000 protection order petitions. Currently, KSPOP processes more than 75% of all protection orders filed in KS courts.
Before joining UMKC, Ayyoub served as Library Technology Manager at Tarrant County Community College in Fort Worth, Texas where he initiated numerous projects among them digital exhibition platforms made out of repurposed laptops.
Originally from Morocco, Ayyoub worked on various technology companies in his home country. As a freelance web designer, Ayyoub pioneered several online community platforms promoting culture and democracy. Among the projects that received numerous accolades were Selwane.TV, the first online video news platform, and Settatbladi.org a portal dedicated to folk music.
Ayyoub earned his Juris Doctor from UMKC School of Law in May of 2022. He received his M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas in Denton and a B.A. in Communication Technologies from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Ayyoub’s areas of expertise include emerging education technologies, open-source web development, and legal tech. Ayyoub teaches and speaks regularly on these topics at national and regional conferences. His personal interests focus on the intersection of law and technology to advance access to justice and to promote privacy and online data protection.
