LawtechUK Panel Meeting minutes 13 July 2023

LawtechUK Panel Meeting

Date: 13/07/2023

Time: 16.30-18.00

Location: 102 Petty France / via MS Teams

Attendees:

Christina Blacklaws (CB) – Chair
Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Vos (SGV), Master of the Rolls
Samuel Allen (SA), Private Secretary to the Master of the Rolls
Professor Richard Susskind (RS), President, Society for Computers and Law
Chris Grant (CG), Head of Legal Market Engagement, HSBC
Sarah Green (SG), Law Commissioner for Commercial and Common Law at the Law Commission
Katie Atkinson (KA), Dean of Electrical Engineering, Electronics, and Computer Science, University of Liverpool
Brian Liu (BL), CEO, Overture Law
Maya Markovich (MM), Founder of the Justice Technology Association
Mimi Zou (MZ), Founder of Deriskly and academic in Law at the University of Exeter 
Isabel Parker (IP), Partner at Deloitte Legal
Stephen Browning (SB), Challenge Director for Next Generation Services at UK Research and Innovation 
John Heavens (JHe), Deputy Director, Legal Services Policy, MoJ
Rachel Tocknell (RT), Head of Legal Services Innovation, MoJ
Daniel Simpson (DS), Senior Policy Advisor, MoJ UK Legal Services
Jon Hope (JH), SVP Ecosystems, CodeBase
Aleksandra Wawrzyszczuk (AW), LawtechUK, CodeBase
Jimmy Vestbirk (JV), Founder, Legal Geek
Beth Fellner (BF), Director, Legal Geek

Apologies:

Sophia Adams Bhatti

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Chair introduction and update

1. CB confirmed the announcement of the appointment of 5 new panel members. This includes 4 new members who attending the May panel and Sophia Adams Bhatti, who will be attending the next panel meeting.
   
2. CB reminded panel members to return the conflict-of-interest form that had been circulated to members in advance of the meeting.
   
   MoJ Update
   
3. JHe provided the panel with an update on recent MoJ work promoting the Lawtech sector internationally, including Minister Freer’s recent trip to Singapore to kick off lawtech cooperation under the UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement.
   
4. The Online Procedure Rule Committee (OPRC) was constituted in June with the first introductory meeting. It will have a role in setting data and behavioural standards for digital dispute resolution tools in the pre-action space. A launch is planned for Autumn.
   
5. Finally, JHe announced that MoJ are pleased to have received the Law Commission’s recommendations on law reform in relation to digital assets. Recommendations are being considered and the panel will be updated on progress.
   
   MoJ Open Justice Call for Evidence
   
6. The MoJ Transparency Team attended the meeting to provide an update on the Open Justice Call for Evidence. The aim of this was to use evidence gathered to develop new guidance to inform open justice policy and enhance current and future services. 
   
7. The team summarised to the panel the topics that will be covered and advised that a number of roundtables with stakeholders will occur to gather evidence. The call for evidence will close on 7^th September 2023.
   
8. CB asked the panel members to consider a meeting outside the quarterly panels to draft a response. The panel agree that they should take advantage of the panel members expertise in responding to this and other relevant consultations.
   
9. Action: The panel asked MoJ to update the Panel Terms of Reference to enable the panel to do this
   
10. Action: Following the update to the Terms of Reference MoJ will set up a roundtable with interested panel members to feed into the call for evidence.
    
    CodeBase and Legal Geek Update
    
11. Codebase and Legal Geek presented an update on the four workstreams of the LawtechUK programme.  AW welcomed panel members to promote each of these programmes within their own networks to generate more interest, where appropriate.
    
12. The panel were keen to understand if there was a focus on upskilling in law firms and engaging the next generation of lawyers as part of the education workstream. AW confirmed that this was planned.
    
    Generative AI events
    
13. The panel discussed the proposal for a series of AI events and agreed it was a good idea and good to see a broad audience proposed.  They agreed it was important to make LawtechUK more visible beyond the legal community.
    
14. The panel proposed 90 minute sessions and recognised that lawyers would welcome a discussion but emphasised that demonstrations to show what it means in practice would be important.
    
15. The panel recommended a 4^th session on access to justice showing how generative AI could affect individuals.  The panel recognised the importance of ensuring that the events were not too London-centric.
    
16. Action: The panel were asked to consider any speakers and would be contacted separately to be involved.
    
    External messaging and calendar of events
    
17. JV updated the panel on upcoming LawtechUK events and panel members were asked to be present and to speak at events if possible. Legal Geek will host an event on investment on 3^rd October with a focus to get investors excited about investing in UK lawtechs.
    
18. Action: Legal Geek asked  panel members for support in identifying people to speak and attend the investment event.
    
    AOB
    
19. JV thanked panel members for the feedback from previous meetings and encouraged the panel to complete this to continue improving future meetings.
    
20. CB closed the meeting.