As the new uni year sets in, are you unsure which opportunities to try in the legal industry? Perhaps you are set on being a city lawyer, but are open to other roles... or maybe, you think the legal profession does not hold any possibility of an innovative or agile job...
This episode features a chat between Logan Oliver and Annabel about his path to becoming Head of Business Development at legal process tool, Office and Dragons.
Despite initially set on a career as a solicitor, Logan explains what hurdles he faced along the way to qualification, and how other jobs at companies such as Amazon, FLEX Legal, BT plus as a Whiskey Specialist eventually helped him land his current role.
Intrigued by what Logan and the team are up to at Office and Dragons? Be sure to check out their website: https://www.officeanddragons.com/
Because of your love, The Wired Wig is in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
Get behind the scenes and episode insights on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
It might sound like the distant future, but the use of AI in transport is already a reality.
A British barrister at Temple Garden Chambers, Alex Glassbrook works at the intersection of law and technology of the infrastructure that moves us from A to B: transport. His practice includes the law of advanced, automated and electric vehicles, serious personal injury cases, motor insurance law (including counter-fraud work) and high-value vehicle damages claims. In this episode, he explains how he got into technology law, the regulation of driverless cars and the current obstacles around regulation. We also discuss the history of transport regulation and what we can learn from the past.
Since we recorded this episode, the UK Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 was brought into force on Wednesday 21st April (by the AEV Act 2018 (Commencement No.1) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/396). There is currently no list of automated vehicles which the Act can apply to, but it is speculated that the Secretary of State will publish the list soon, as section 1 of the Act requires.
Find out more about Alex here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-glassbrook/
And find his most recent book, A Practical Guide to the Law of Driverless Cars, here: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Law-Driverless-Cars-ebook/dp/B0822ZC8DH/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=alex+glassbrook&qid=1619799469&sr=8-2
Sign up to The Wired Wig Byte:
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thewiredwig@gmail.com
Still not convinced using legal technology is crucial for the modern day lawyer?
Noah Waisberg is the co-founder and CEO of the legal artificial intelligence (AI) company Kira Systems. Previously, Noah was a corporate lawyer at Weil, Gotshal in New York. He is an expert on contract analysis, legal technology, and artificial intelligence, has spoken at multiple conferences, and has been named the FT's Intelligent Business Market Shaper in 2018 and ILTA's Innovative Thought Leader of the Year. He is also one of the authors of AI for Lawyers, now a Wall Street Journal best seller.
In this episode, Noah and I spoke about how he got into legal tech, how AI applies in the legal space, use cases legal teams can be inspired by, utilise and replicate, and why AI's usage is not going anywhere.
CELEBRATE OUR FIRST BIRTHDAY! 🥳
We are hosting our first meet up on Wednesday! Join us at 5pm UK time for speed networking and to meet other in the legal tech, law and tech and legal innovation space: https://www.linkedin.com/events/thewiredwigvirtualmeetup6788783046901411840/
WIN A COPY OF AI FOR LAWYERS 📖
To be in for a chance to win a copy of AI for Lawyers you can enter our giveaway on Instagram (@the_wiredwig): https://www.instagram.com/the_wiredwig/
https://amzn.to/3mVEUmC
https://kirasystems.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahwaisberg/
Lauren Moore is the Co-Founder of GlobalTechLoop, a platform designed to educate about technology. While she is now studying the GDL to pursue a career in Law, Lauren studied Chemistry at university.
We talk about Lauren’s route into law, the inspiration behind the platform, the importance of understanding technology in the legal profession, and how Lauren balances being a GDL student and a founder.
GlobalTechLoop is also hosting an event this Wednesday (14/04/2021) on legal tech usage in law firms. You can sign up here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-insight-into-legal-tech-within-law-firms-tickets-149115232675
Find out more about GlobalTechLoop here:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/globaltechloop/
Sign up to The Wired Wig Byte:
https://thewiredwig.com/
Provide feedback or suggestions:
thewiredwig@gmail.com
Luigi Cantisani, is a Junior Lawyer at Futura Law Firm where he is assisting a number of technology startups. His role also encompasses working alongside teams, assisting with legal engineering as part of Jur.
Luigi is also taking his Ph.D. in Law at the University of Warwick, researching "Blockchain-based Platforms and the Rise of Peer-To-Peer Transactions: Impacts on International Contracts and Trade". A commonly misunderstood topic, Luigi is closer to the scene of smart contracts and how the new technology could change how contracts are executed, also lecturing on the topic.
In this episode, we discuss Luigi’s current role, including Luigi’s work as a legal engineer. We then look at what is a smart contract, some common use cases in practice, and where legislation comes in. Finally, Luigi gives his advice for students to work alongside startups or within the technology space.
Luigi:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/luigicantisani/
Sign up to The Wired Wig Byte:
https://thewiredwig.com/
Provide feedback or suggestions:
thewiredwig@gmail.com
After meeting during their studies, John and Guglielmo created Rita, a tool to practically address the data portability issue. Under GDPR and other data protection laws, individuals have a right to request the download of their data in an accessible format. Both John and Guglielmo explain more, but typically this process is very drawn out, with companies, such as Facebook, requiring multiple steps to actually download your data. Rita changes that, allowing you to view and request your data from companies with which it has been shared with. They even calculate how much your data is worth.
In our conversation, we addressed how they came across this specific issue, building the tool and its features and the trends they see in data tracking.
Rita Personal Data will be launching on the 24th of March. To find out more:
go on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ritapersonaldata/
or head to their website: https://ritapersonaldata.com/
How can the legal industry apply innovation? Eimear McCann is a creative and strategic leader and thinker, bringing together knowledge of the law with a passion for identifying new and innovative ways of working. She is currently the Head of Strategy at Summize. Before this she has worked for a magazine, a law center in Belfast, F-Lex Legal where she was Head of the Northern Unit.
In this episode, we explored how Eimear got into a role in strategy and legal technology, how the legal industry has room to and should embrace creativity, and how businesses can further consider innovation.
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2021 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
Get behind the scenes and episode insights on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
Personable and genuine, Jay Smith is a Legal Engineer working at Stephenson Law. While Jay has always sought to improve how lawyers work with technology, he previously was working as a solicitor, and his change of role has been a gradual process. He now strives to remove as much copy and pasting to the lives of lawyers, and delight clients.
In this episode, we discuss why he transitioned into legal engineering, his work on a day-to-day basis, and how he codes from scratch but also utilizes off-the-shelf products. We also discuss Jay's own startup, SenseCheck, designed to streamline KYC processes and make AML joyful. Jay explains the motivation behind the tool and the ambitions for the future.
You can find out more about SenseCheck here: https://www.sensecheck.tech/
and hear more from Jay here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jermainepaulsmith/?originalSubdomain=uk
This week we spoke to polyglot and multi-talented Karol Valencia, Legal Services Designer, and Business Innovation Strategist at Lawcus-LPM and Legal Project Leader at eID. Karol's design work looks at law school education systems: she is the coordinator for Peru of the ILSA Alliance, while also a digital transformation lecturer at Wenex Formación by Adams. Karol also works alongside a number of legal tech startups and is a recent EWOLT winner.
In this episode, we focused on legal design, what it means to Karol and why and how it can be important to improve access to justice. We also explore Karol’s future plans to use voice interfaces in design to improve accessibility. This leans on Karol’s experience as a founding member of the A11YPeru community, the first digital and inclusive accessibility community in Peru. Karol also shares several educational resources for those interested in the legal design space.
Follow Karol:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karolvalencia/?originalSubdomain=es
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karolvalenciaj/
Resources mentioned:
The Design Of Everyday Things: https://www.amazon.es/Design-Everyday-Things-Revised-Expanded/dp/0465050654/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_es_ES=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=don+norman&qid=1611072239&sr=8-1
This Is Service Design Doing: https://www.amazon.es/This-Service-Design-Doing-Successful/dp/1491927186/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_es_ES=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=35Q8OCOSS4LKS&dchild=1&keywords=service+design+doing&qid=1611078179&sprefix=service+design%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1
Music playlist (A collaborative playlist on Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0P3jQiRvh9mEl6WdocDP24?si=rTx6j-rwTJGd93ybfTKjOg
Tom Dunlop is the CEO and Founder of the tool Summize, contract management, and review product. After qualifying as a solicitor in the UK, Tom has led several legal teams including UserZoom, Zuto, and AppSense.
In this episode, we discuss the use cases of Summize and their philosophy of ensuring lawyers have a tool for multi-uses. Tom also discusses the company culture of incremental improvement and how lawyers are inherently creative. Finally, we discuss how legal technology can work alongside and not against lawyers.
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
Get behind the scenes and episode insights on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
Vishal Sunak is the CEO and Co-founder of Linksquares, an AI-powered platform to enable legal and finance teams to not need to read each contract one by one and gain data insights.
Alongside building the company, Vishal has been recently named an Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in recognition of his dedication to innovation and growth.
We discussed how LinkSquares is using machine learning to provide data insights into legal teams' work, including the benefits it brings. We also explored how this development can work alongside and not against lawyers.
Find out more about LinkSquares here: https://linksquares.com/
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
Get behind the scenes and episode insights on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
Lorraine Chimbga is an LLB graduate from UCL and an incoming trainee on Clifford Chance’s IGNITE Training Contract. Before starting her TC, Lorraine worked as a Compliance Analyst at financial compliance startup, FundApps.
Lorraine holds a number of positions including being a Contract Intelligence Executive at ThoughtRiver and on the Advisory Board at the Society for Computers and Law. She also excellently shares her experience in studying and applying to Law firms on Instagram and Youtube.
We discussed what drew her to Law and technology, the advice she has for students wanting to get into Law and Technology and her work in previous roles.
Lorraine's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpQlgXQecSrXthQ8IVWmfiw
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
Get behind the scenes and episode insights on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
Dan Grant Smith is Head of Engagement at Legatics, a transaction management program. Prior to joining the Legatics team, Dan was working as an associate at Hogan Lovells for 5 years in the Private Equity/M&A team. Today he works with law firms and their clients to improve transaction management, overcome adoption barriers, and engage with the wider industry to raise awareness and affect change. Dan has also contributed to publications such as the Legal Technologist where he shared his research on the implementation and practical adoption of legal tech tools at law firms.
In this episode, we discuss Dan's transition from city firm to startup, what Legatics is and the problems it seeks to solve. We also discuss how education around Law and Technology could be changed in the future.
Find out more about:
Legatics: https://www.legatics.com/
Dan's Legal Technologist article: https://www.legaltechnologist.co.uk/TheLegalTechnologistMay20.pdf (page 18)
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
Get behind the scenes and episode insights on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
Alongside watching The Grinch, Elf or your favourite holiday movie, you might be also celebrating Application Season. Whether it is training contracts, vacation schemes or internships, this episode brings together fourteen of The Wired Wig's 2020 guests to give guidance. The advice is split into:
1. Finding a Law and technology role (2:55)
2. Answering Law and technology questions e.g how will the legal industry be affected by technology? (7:00)
3. How to shine in written applications (19:35)
4. Mindset and mental wellness (23:15)
Thank you to Marian Porvaznik, Lorraine Chimbga, Eliot Benzecrit, Giles Thompson, Catherine Bamford, Anton Vashkevich, Ilona Salo, Amy Conroy, Electra Japonas, Blessing Mukosha, Elizabete Ludborza, Erika Ly, Bianca Caravtov and Jozef Maruscak for your advice provided. Merry Christmas from The Wired Wig! The first episode of 2021 will be released on the 4th of January.
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
Get behind the scenes and episode insights on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
Anton Vashkevich is the Founder and CEO of Contract.One, a contract and process management platform which is humanising contracts through simplicity in design and ease in collaboration. Anton brings his experience in Corporate M&A and legal technology consultancy, to increase efficiency in legal teams and deliver enjoyment in working with enterprise tools.
In this episode we discuss what are the capabilities of ContractOne, the mission behind the tool, practical use cases and how it is streamlining how legal teams cooperate. As Contract.One looks to solve issues in collaboration in contracting, we also discuss how the tool differs from alternatives like Slack. Finally, Anton shares some predictions for legal tech's future and actions Law students who are looking to shake the industry can take.
LINKS: Find out more about Contract.One here: https://www.contract.one/remote-work
TIMESTAMPS:
1:00: Legal Tech journey
2:15: Corporate vs. Legal Tech
4:35: Contract.One, collaboration and use cases
11:40: Legal Tech adoption
17:10: Contract.One future
18:00: Next 3-5 years
20:30: Improving design
22:30: Advice for students
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
Get behind the scenes and episode insights on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
Bianca Caravtov is a Warwick Law graduate, with a story inspiring for those currently unsure if the Law is for them. Despite being the President of the Commercial Law Society at university and a Campus Brand Ambassador for a city firm, Bianca is now enjoying her non-legal role in managing clients at Microsoft.
In this second part of two, we discuss her role at Microsoft, what is mixed reality and the hololens, how her law degree helps in her role and her experience working for a technology company.
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
Get behind the scenes and episode insights on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
Bianca Caravtov is a Warwick Law graduate, with a story inspiring for those currently unsure if the Law is for them. Despite being the President of the Commercial Law Society at uni and a Campus Brand Ambassador for a city firm, Bianca is now enjoying her non-legal role in managing clients.
In this first part of two, we discuss her journey to deciding maybe Law was not for her, her year abroad and the experience she did before making her decision.
Timestamps:
1:25: Journey to LLB
2:55: Commercial lawyer dream
3:50: Society positions and legal aspirations
6:35: Year abroad in Hong Kong
8:30: Academic year abroad details
12:45: TomTom Internship
16:50: If not Law... then what?
Thank you for supporting the podcast! If you like what you just heard then please rate, review, follow or share the show.
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
Get behind the scenes and episode insights on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
Eliot Benzecrit & Giles Thompson are both ex-city firm lawyers who now reside at legal technology tool Avvoka. Avvoka automatises and assists teams in legal processes and contract automation, with a flavour of legal technology education and awareness. You might have even enrolled at one of their automation classes at Avvoka Academy!
In this episode we discussed what problems the tool is looking to solve, explored the changes in the market and how remote work has increased the need for process automation, and provide some insights on the future of technology in Law.
For students, there is also an opportunity for you to engage and work with Avvoka towards the end of the episode! To apply to be an Avvoka Campus Ambassador you can apply here now/via Avvoka's instagram page.
Learn more about Avvoka here: https://avvoka.com/
Thank you for supporting the podcast! If you like what you just heard then please rate, review, follow or share the show.
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
You can follow the podcast on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter to stay up to date about Law and technology news. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
In an ideal world using a new technology would be as simple as training and trusting your team will adapt. But it usually isn’t that straightforward.
In this episode I spoke with Heidi Smith, Creator of Jurilogical.com and User Adoption Expert. In one of her roles, Heidi is driving change through the technology and innovation team in a magic circle law firm, applying the science of behavioural change. She has also created the platform Jurilogical, which addresses the learning and skills gap in the current curriculum for barristers.
We discuss why she takes the approach she does, what this approach is and why she decided to enter the legal technology space. We also address other aspects to help improve product adoption, making it a helpful episode for both legal teams and legal technology founders.
Find our more about Jurilogical here: https://jurilogical.com/
Thank you for supporting the podcast! If you like what you just heard then please rate, review, follow or share the show.
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
You can follow the podcast on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter to stay up to date about Law and technology news. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.
Think coding is just for those who studied Maths or a Science at undergrad level? Think again.
Amy Conroy is a legal technologist with a passion for helping make the Law more accessible through technology. Intrigued by buzzwords such as machine learning and artificial intelligence during her LLB, Amy completed an MSc in Computer Science to understand these topics and how to code.
She now works on a number of projects including being part of the team at Avvoka, developing case judgement search through her thesis and improving the searchability of tenancy rights as Co-Founder at Open Tenancy.
In this episode, Amy shares her journey, insights and a way you can gain practical experience in a legal technology project.
Read and sign up to updates about Open Tenancy: https://www.opentenancy.co.uk/register
Contribute to the tool: https://github.com/open-tenancy/opentenancy_law
Thank you for supporting the podcast! If you like what you just heard then please rate, review, follow or share the show.
Because of your love, the podcast is number 10 in the Legal Tech Podcasts to Listen to in 2020 by Feedspot! See it here: https://blog.feedspot.com/legal_tech_podcasts/
You can follow the podcast on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter to stay up to date about Law and technology news. You can also contact Annabel Pemberton at thewiredwig@gmail.com for suggestions and feedback.