Dr. Alex Reiss Sorokin

I am a legal scholar and a historian of technology, law, and work. My research examines how information technology interacts with law, shapes workplaces, and transforms knowledge and expertise. I earned my Ph.D. from MIT’s Program in History, Anthropology, Science, Technology, and Society in 2024, and subsequently served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of History at Princeton University and the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study from 2024 to 2026. Before MIT, I studied law at New York University School of Law (LL.M., 2016) and Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law (LL.B., magna cum laude, 2013).

 

My current book manuscript, In Search We Trust: Credibility and Doubt in Legal Research Technologies , explores how information technology transformed legal work, analysis, and access to justice in twentieth-century America. I trace how the Ohio Bar Automated Research (OBAR) Service—initially a local initiative intended to broaden access to justice—evolved into LexisNexis, a commercial product tailored to the interests and budgets of Big Law.  

 

In addition, I am investigating the history of Responsa digitization in 1960s Israel. Drawing on administrative records, technical reports, and marketing materials, I study how the pioneers of the first database of Jewish case law approached the task of making these ancient texts more accessible. The study explores how seemingly technical choices reflected deeply held assumptions about utility, expertise, and knowledge.

 

Publications:

“The Mechanics of Law: Judgment and Expertise in the Automation of Legal Research, 1964-1970”, forthcoming in Technology & Culture 68, no. 3 (2027)

“Stewards of the Organization: The Management of Repair and Maintenance Work in Large Organizations,” Engaging Science, Technology, and Society 9, no. 3 (2023)