Legaltech in Leeds
On January 19th, the LegalTech in Leeds community came together for the first Digital Transformation Forum at Open Innovations. Hosted in partnership with Jungle IT and rradar, the event aimed to provide valuable insights and actionable steps for firms across the legal, tech, and LegalTech sectors to implement digital transformation in their own operations.
The event began with a welcome and progress update from Julian Wells and Chloe Thompson of LegalTech in Leeds, followed by a presentation from Jonathan Asquith, Managing Director at Jungle IT. Jonathan Asquith provided attendees with the building blocks to create their own 2023 Digital Transformation Roadmap, highlighting the importance of clear goals, effective communication, and a willingness to embrace change.
Next, attendees heard from Gary Gallen, CEO at rradar, who shared his firm’s approach and experience in building his own digital transformation. Gallen emphasised the importance of an outcome-led mindset and the need for law firms to understand that some form will be digital transformation is required in a changing legal landscape.
The event also featured a presentation from Azeem Rashid, Director at Lawtech 365, providing a AML & client onboarding solution for law firms. Azeem Rashid discussed how his company is helping law firms streamline their operations and improve the client experience through innovative technology such as biometric identity verifications, open banking, global sanction checking and eSignatures. Azeem discussed how the increase in fining powers from SRA have already started taking effect with recent Oxford law firm being fined £20,000 earlier this week. Azeem also mentioned how important it was for technology to be built specifically for the legal sector, as opposed to a generic audience because the legal sector needs have to be addressed differently with more in-depth focus on AML compliance.
A panel discussion and Q&A session followed, featuring representatives from Jungle IT, rradar, Lawtech 365, and Addleshaw Goddard. The panelists shared their insights on the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation in the legal industry.
The event was a great success, with Azeem Rashid, Director of Lawtech 365, quoted as saying “It was amazing to see such a great turn out and it’s really good to get people together – lawyers and technologists – to discuss how we can work together to drive digital transformation in the legal sector.”
The event provided valuable insights and actionable steps for firms looking to implement digital transformation in their own operations. Future events as part of the Digital Transformation Forum is planned for dates in February and promises to be just as informative and engaging as the first.