A2J Tech Employee Spotlight Series: Joseph Schieffer and Lezlie Paulus
Welcome back to our Employee Spotlight Series!
At A2J Tech, we believe in more than just showcasing the intellectual prowess of our team; we're here to highlight the vibrant personalities that are the heartbeat of our mission. This series offers a window into the lives of our dedicated team members, each of whom is deeply committed to making justice accessible to all.
Find out where our employees are from, their hidden talents, beloved pets, favorite books and movies, and maybe pick up a new favorite holiday recipe along the way!
This week we are introducing Joseph Schieffer, CEO, and Lezlie Paulus, Project Manager.
Joseph Schieffer
How did you get into legal tech?
I started working for the Florida Justice Technology Center in 2017. I loved working with legal aid people! I found my peeps! I then started A2J Tech in 2018.
Why is access to justice important to you?
I believe that everyone should have access to the legal system. Access to justice is a problem that can be solved if we have the will.
If you weren’t working for A2J Tech, what would you be doing?
I would be doing similar work, but for a different cause. A couple of causes I could see myself being involved in include combating racism and preventing mass shootings.
A2J Tech has employees all over! Where are you based out of?
I’m in Denver, Colorado. The mountains are my happy place.
A2J Tech does a weekly employee trivia! What topic would you be best at?
Sports. Go Chiefs!
What’s your favorite holiday recipe?
It’s our family tradition to try something new every year for the holidays – my wife is an amazing cook! My favorite is whatever she decides to make.
Do you have any pets?
Not at the moment. We had guinea pigs for a few years and are on a pet break.
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What is your favorite book or movie?
Slumdog Millionaire.
What do you listen to while working remotely?
Silence is my favorite. Sometimes the kids interrupt the tranquility.
What’s one place you’d really like to visit?
I would like to go to a village in Africa and play soccer all day with children.
What’s a surprising fact about you?
My mom worked as a paralegal at Dakota Plains Legal Services in Rapid City, South Dakota. Legal aid is in our DNA.
What’s your Meyers-Briggs alignment?
INFJ.
Lezlie Paulus
How did you get into legal tech?
As the Director of Business Administration for a large legal aid organization, I got to see first hand how legal tech impacted the ability of the organization to deliver on its mission and expand our ability to serve clients. I developed a strong desire to have a broader impact and to be able to facilitate the informed and innovative adoption of technology across the legal aid sector to help narrow the access to justice gap and to better support individuals working in legal aid.
Why is access to justice important to you?
I believe a society should be judged by how it cares for its most vulnerable members. I also believe that a society cannot be considered truly just when its legal system is only accessible to those with significant means and the rules are different for different socioeconomic groups. I am appalled by the access to justice gap and the different experiences that individuals have trying to enforce their rights. These beliefs have motivated me to use my skills and experiences to do what I can to make things better.
If you weren’t working for A2J Tech, what would you be doing?
Honestly, my dream job is to own my own leadership and life coaching business for women leaders and others working in legal aid. I feel like working in a sector with scarce resources, overwhelming need, and where secondary trauma and burnout are real takes its toll on staff, no matter how mission-driven they are. I would love to help these justice warriors with self-care, leadership skills, strategic life/job planning and other things to help them care for themselves while they care for the world.
A2J Tech has employees all over! Where are you based out of?
The Land of 10,000 Lakes, baby! I am a lifelong resident and based out of Center City, Minnesota, a small town about an hour north of St. Paul near the Wisconsin border.
A2J Tech does a weekly employee trivia! What topic would you be best at?
Ooooo, good question. Probably natural history or anything to do with gardening, hiking and the outdoors. I love to garden, hike, and forage and will shortly begin training to become a Forest Therapy guide!
What’s your favorite holiday recipe?
I don’t really have one. My kids love Christmas brunch at our house, so probably a brunch related recipe. I love to experiment with new recipes - last year it was an eggs benedict casserole that was a huge hit.
Do you have any pets?
Not at the moment, but I have always had a dog in my life. My husband and I are trying to figure out when we can get another, but the timing hasn’t worked out for us yet. I don’t believe in owning pets when you can’t give them the right amount of time and attention. I am also trying to talk my better half into goats and a mini-Highland cow, but I haven’t sealed that deal yet.
What is your favorite book or movie?
I don’t really have a favorite - so many really good ones come out all the time. I just finished Three Sisters, about a trio of sisters in the Nazi concentration camps. It was very well written and moving. I also just finished The River We Remember by William Kent Kruger, a Minnesota author I am obsessed with. Reading is an escape for me, so I look for things that match my mood or current interests.
What do you listen to while working remotely?
Good podcasts when I drive or walk. I can’t listen to music and work on my projects at the same time, I find it distracting.
What’s one place you’d really like to visit?
One place? Does “the world” count as one place? I love traveling - I think it expands our world view and makes us better humans to go places and really experience the location. We are traveling some this winter - Costa Rica and Lake Chapala, Mexico, but I am really looking forward to our Utah Big 5 National Park tour in September of next year.
What’s a surprising fact about you?
I don’t know that there’s much surprising about me, I’m a pretty open book and lead a pretty normal life. I believe that life is what you make it, that an attitude of gratitude and love are things I aspire to, and that life is too short to spend it obsessing over things and money. Experiences, relationships and living in harmony with your true self and nature are where it’s at.
What’s your Meyers-Briggs alignment?
Most of my life I was an INTJ, but as I’ve aged, had life experiences and children, the borderline “T” factor has changed to a strong “F”. I now test as a strong INFJ. I may have always been an INFJ who, through school, law school and full-time work acted as an INTJ, but I definitely lean into my heart and feelings more now.
