CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 22, 2025--
Litera, a global leader in legal AI technology solutions, has been selected for this AI Business Solution’s 2025-2026 Microsoft Inner Circle. Participation within Inner Circle is based on sales achievements that rank Litera in the top echelon of Microsoft’s AI Business Solutions global network of partners. It's widely acknowledged that Inner Circle members perform at a high level by delivering valuable and innovative solutions that help organizations excel.
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2025-2026 Inner Circle members are invited to the Inner Circle Summit in Spring 2026 as well as virtual meetings between August 2025 and June 2026, where they will have a unique opportunity to discuss strategy with Microsoft senior leaders and fellow Inner Circle partners, while learning more about the company’s road maps and plans, establish strong executive connections, and collaborate on best practices.
“Being part of Microsoft’s Inner Circle, a distinction awarded to less than 1% of Business Applications partners globally, marks a major milestone in our long-standing relationship,” said Greg Ingino, Chief Technology Officer at Litera. “This integration empowers us to advance legal technology and help the legal industry thrive where it works best: inside Microsoft 365. Thanks to Litera’s focused strategy in cutting-edge legal technology, we are now participating in Microsoft's Digital Native Customer Advisory Board and other programs that reflect our commitment to driving innovation in legal through deep collaboration with Microsoft.”
Litera is a global leader in legal workflows, offering a connected suite of solutions—including Litera One and Lito —that drive innovation for law firms and corporate legal teams worldwide. Instead of building standalone AI tools, Litera enhances proven products with AI to improve accuracy, efficiency, and user experience across Legal Work & Drafting, Knowledge Management, Business Development, Legal Operations, and Security & Governance. By collaborating closely with Microsoft, Litera leverages the Microsoft platform to provide innovative solutions, strong services, and unparalleled value to its customers.
Litera’s tools specialize in Microsoft technologies—including Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Dataverse, Microsoft 365 integrations, Outlook, Teams, and Azure—to develop and deploy solutions such as Client Engagement/Legal CRM, Matter & Case Management, Work Management, and Enterprise Relationship Management. Built on Microsoft platforms, these solutions enable firms—especially in the legal sector—to get to market faster, streamline operations, strengthen client relationships, reduce risk, and sustain success.
“Inner Circle partners are at the forefront of delivering transformative business outcomes. They empower organizations to reimagine productivity and unlock value, through Microsoft Copilot, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform,” said Peter Jensen, Microsoft AI Business Solutions Lead in Enterprise Partner Solutions. “These partners combine deep industry knowledge with innovative, agentic solutions to help customers modernize operations, streamline decision-making, and drive sustainable growth. Their achievements reflect the strength of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program and the impact of trusted collaboration in accelerating AI-driven transformation.”
About Litera
At the forefront of the legal technology revolution, Litera provides both cutting-edge and globally trusted solutions to law firms and corporate legal teams worldwide. Our comprehensive suite of AI-driven tools powers and unifies legal workflows across Legal Work & Drafting, Knowledge Management, Business Development, Legal Operations, and Security & Governance. Delivered right where lawyers work—in Microsoft 365 and across devices—Litera helps legal professionals create exceptional work, win more business, streamline operations, and ensure seamless governance and data security. Engineered for legal success, Litera's technology is built for easy integrations, security, and scale. With over 30 years of innovation, a majority of the world’s largest law firms as clients, and 2M+ daily users, Litera is just getting started. For more information, visit litera.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
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Litera Achieves the 2025-2026 Microsoft AI Business Solutions Inner Circle Award
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A state appeals court is being asked to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa, one of numerous cases that have drawn attention to the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory.
In arguments Thursday, attorneys for Tupe Smith plan to ask the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage to reverse a lower court's decision that let stand the indictment brought against her. Her supporters say she made an innocent mistake that does not merit charges, but the state contends Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship.
Prosecutors also have brought charges against 10 other people from American Samoa in the small Alaska community of Whittier, including Smith’s husband and her mother-in-law. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil and instead are considered U.S. nationals. Paths to citizenship exist, such as naturalization, though that process can be expensive and cumbersome.
American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.
About 25 people gathered on a snowy street outside the courthouse before Thursday's hearing to support Smith. One woman, Fran Seager of Palmer, held a sign that said, “Support our Samoans. They are US nationals.”
Smith's husband, Michael Pese, thanked the American Samoa community in the Anchorage area. “If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t be strong enough to face this head on,” he said.
State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat who attended the rally, said the Alaska Department of Law has limited resources.
“We should be going after people who are genuine criminals, who are violent criminals, or at least have the intent to deceive,” he said. “I do not think it is a good use of our limited state resources to go after these hardworking, taxpaying Alaskans who are not criminals.”
Smith was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023. She said she relied on erroneous information from local election officials when she identified herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration forms.
In a court filing in 2024, one of her previous attorneys said that when Smith answered questions from the Alaska state trooper who arrested her, she said she was aware that she could not vote in presidential elections but was “unaware of any other restrictions on her ability to vote.”
Smith said she marks herself as a U.S. national on paperwork. But when there was no such option on voter registration forms, she was told by city representatives that it was appropriate to mark U.S. citizen, according to the filing.
Smith “exercised what she believed was her right to vote in a local election. She did so without any intent to mislead or deceive anyone,” her current attorneys said in a filing in September. “Her belief that U.S. nationals may vote in local elections, which was supported by advice from City of Whittier election officials, was simply mistaken.”
The state has said Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”
The counts Smith was indicted on “did not have anything to do with her belief in her ability to vote in certain elections; rather they concerned the straightforward question of whether or not Smith intentionally and falsely swore she was a United States citizen,” Kayla Doyle, an assistant attorney general, said in court filings last year.
One of Smith's attorneys, Neil Weare, co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, said by email last week that if the appeals court lets stand the indictment, Alaska will be “the only state to our knowledge with such a low bar for felony voter fraud.”
Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
Michael Pese and his wife, Tupe Smith, stand outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Michael Pese, left, his wife, Tupe Smith, and their son Maximus pose for a photo outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
FILE - Tupe Smith poses for a photo outside the school in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
