LawtechUK Panel Meeting
Date: 07/03/2024
Time: 16.00-17.30
Location: 102 Petty France / via MS Teams
Attendees:
Christina Blacklaws (CB) – Chair
Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls (MR)
Michael Padfield (MP), Deputy Private Secretary to the Master of the Rolls
Professor Richard Susskind (RS), President, Society for Computers and Law
Stephen Browning (SB), Challenge Director for Next Generation Services at UK research and Innovation.
Brian Liu (BL), CEO, Overture Law
Isabel Parker (IP), Partner at Deloitte Legal
Katie Atkinson (KA), Dean of Electrical Engineering, Electronics, and Computer Science, University of Liverpool
Chris Grant (CG), Head of Legal Market Engagement, HSBC
Jimmy Vestbirk (JV), Founder, Legal Geek
Beth Fellner (BF), Director, Legal Geek
Sarah Chidlow (SC), Project Manager, Legal Geek
Aleksandra Wawrzyszczuk (AW), LawtechUK, Codebase
Jon Hope (JH), SVP Ecosystems, CodeBase
Martin Boyle (MB), VP Transformation, CodeBase
Kath Warren (KW), Head of Lawtech Programme, Codebase
Rachel Tocknell (RT), Head of Legal Services Innovation, MoJ
Natalya Sharp (NS), Policy Advisor, Legal Services Innovation, MoJ
Daniel Simpson (DS), Senior Policy Advisor, Legal Services Innovation, MoJ
Alicia Love (AL), Senior Policy Advisor, Legal Services Innovation, MoJ
Katie Donnellan (KD), Policy Advisor, Legal Services Innovation, MoJ
Apologies:
Sophia Adams Bhatti (SAB), Head of Purpose and Impact, Simmons and Simmons
Maya Markovich (MM), Founder of the Justice Technology Association
Professor Sarah Green (SG), Law Commissioner for Commercial and Common Law
Mimi Zou (MZ), Founder of Deriskly and Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Exeter
Chair introduction
- CB welcomed attendees and opened the meeting.
- CB, and attendees, thanked John Heavens for his role in LTUK and wished him luck in new role.
- Attendees agreed the minutes from the previous panel meeting with no amendments.
MoJ Update - RT reassured panel MoJ will appoint new Deputy Director for Legal Services Policy soon. In the interim MoJ colleagues will continue to support LTUK.
- RT noted that Megan Waring has been appointed as the new Head of Domestic Legal Services Policy.
Year 1 LawtechUK Preliminary Evaluation - MB reiterated the request for panel members to help with LTUK events and programmes, including mentoring and connections, specifically in the A2J space.
- MB provided an overview of LTUK Year 1. MB discussed focus on Access to Legal for Year 2 education programmes, notably Bridge.
- CB suggested LTUK work with SB on Y2 evaluation. ACTION – LTUK to organise 1-1 with SB to discuss evaluation data points.
- CB reiterated question around filming LTUK events to upload to the LTUK website following the event, to allow those who cannot attend to watch later. ACTION – LTUK to investigate speaker permissions and costs to build into Y2 budget and report back.
- ACTION – LTUK to organise 1-1 with KA to greater understand the student audience and university courses.
- ACTION – LTUK to organise 1-1 with BL to discuss experienced founder journey.
Thought Leadership – UKJT - MR provided an update on the UKJT, including the legal statement on Insolvency and Digital Assets (which is nearing completion), and future opportunities.
- Concerns were raised over future resourcing of the UKJT secretariat. ACTION – MoJ and JO to discuss a way forward.
Community and Events - JV summarised the activity in Y1 and confirmed regional events will remain a focus for Y2. JV thanked the panel for their involvement and noted the success of the LTUK Ecosystem Tracker. JV requested attendees share potential themes for events.
- KA thanked LTUK for regional engagement and suggested ‘funding’ as a theme, noting InnovateUK and other funding streams for academia are largely unknown. ACTION – RS to speak with Turing Institute about a potential event/collaboration.
- JH suggested a Podcast, potentially around AI. Panel members agreed this was an idea worth pursuing. ACTION – AW to write a proposal for AI Podcast to include in Y2 plans.
Chair Conclusions - CB summed up that the programme had delivered a lot in the condensed year. CB expressed her thanks to the MR for the work of the UKJT.