Since launching LawscotTech last October, we now have more than 100 active participants from across Scotland’s legal community working with us.
LawscotTech, which has brought in a group of Scottish legal technologists, has helped companies access the deep knowledge we hold in the legal sector and to run ideas or even test products, as a result. This has included specialist solutions for litigators, smart-contracts, GDPR compliance tools, wills creation tech for firms, and price transparency tools which aims to benefit both legal professionals and their clients.
Our approach aims to ensure that the legal profession can be at the heart of the discussion about new technology. We will support new products as they come to market, with some currently under development by start-ups as well as well-known companies.
Our strong relationships with Scotland’s universities has also meant we have been able to join them on their own legaltech journey and we are making connections and sharing knowledge with our peers in other parts of the world, including Singapore which is a similar sized jurisdiction to Scotland and shares our ambition and energy.
Our role is also to stimulate innovative thinking in law firms and as part of that we hosted an event in Glasgow last month which examined the cultural and behavioural barriers to innovation in law firms.
Read about the LawScot Tech in FutureScot Magazine in The Times Scotland: Download PDF.
Next month, we are hosting a law and technology seminar that will explore, among other things, the application of artificial intelligence and blockchain in legal tech, how can lawyers react to technological change, what will the law firm of the future look like, how should new technologies be implemented, and what should be used.
It will also look at cloud computing – the benefits and risks – the ‘social engineering’ phenomenon and how to avoid data breaches, and why law firms are vulnerable to cyber threats. The seminar includes sessions on digital evidence in legal work and how can lawyers better interpret digital evidence.
We are not asking lawyers to become technology experts, although we know there are a number who are, but rather we are asking lawyers to be lawyers and technology experts to be, well, technology experts – it is definitely not about hard coding! It’s this collaborative approach that is already delivering change and will ensure that Scottish solicitors can be ahead of the technological curve.
Paul Mosson is Executive Director of Membership Engagement and Support at the Law Society of Scotland.
Law and technology seminar, 8 May, Glasgow: https://bit.ly/2Iajks2. To find out more about upcoming events or get involved email us at tech@lawscot.org.uk.