Brian Sims
Editor

“Digital transformation” of legal sector boosted by funding upgrade

A NEW £4 million investment courtesy of central Government will deliver a second phase of the LawtechUK programme, supporting modernisation of the legal sector through the development of new technology such as machine learning and data analytics tools. This will help to ensure the UK retains its competitive global edge, create jobs and boost access to legal services for individuals and businesses through technology deployment.

LawtechUK is a Government-backed initiative that was launched in 2019 with an initial £2 million investment designed to “transform” the UK’s legal sector through technology, providing resources, programmes and courses to promote new ways of delivering and accessing legal services via digital solutions.

Justice Minister Lord Bellamy QC said: “A thriving lawtech sector will help ensure the UK continues as a world-leading legal services centre and attracts the very best talent. This investment will support the market to develop the technology it needs to drive modernisation and deliver first-class legal services.”

The LawtechUK programme has been delivered by growth platform Tech Nation in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and the LawtechUK Panel, itself a Board of industry experts.

The previous funding for Tech Nation has already delivered results like the launch of the Lawtech sandbox, an R&D programme for UK entrepreneurs and start-ups to test and develop products or services that seek to address the legal needs of businesses and society.

One start-up to benefit from the sandbox is Legal Utopia, an app designed to help people understand their legal issues and access lawyers.

Supporting legal professionals

Alexandra Lennox, director of LawtechUK, explained: “Technology has the potential to transform business’ and peoples’ experience of the law, meet unmet legal needs and support professionals in delivering the next generation of legal services. We have seen great progress towards this future since LawtechUK’s inception and the next phase of central Government funding will build on those important foundations, in turn helping to cement the UK’s position as a global hub for technology and law.”

Lawtech Amplified Global also participated in the sandbox. Minesh Patel, the founder of Amplified Global, noted: “Accelerators, incubators and sandboxes are a lifeline for start-ups, bringing novel solutions into the market. It’s fantastic to hear about the next series of Ministry of Justice-backed funding, which will enable pioneering solutions to push the boundaries within the legal space.”

Patel added: “Without the Lawtech sandbox, an organisation of our size and stage would have found it really difficult to be working, or even engaging with a telecoms giant and the cross-section of stakeholders and regulators that we have. The LawtechUK programme has rapidly accelerated our growth and helped us to bring the product to market quicker than we could have ever imagined.”

Online learning

LawtechUK aims to improve understanding and awareness of legal technology and has produced a free online learning and research hub as well as a website to allow the sharing of experiences of remote alternatives to traditional court hearings.

The latest Government investment will also continue to support and promote the work of the LawtechUK’s Jurisdiction Task Force to ensure English law keeps pace with technological developments, subsequently helping the UK to maintain its place as an international hub for emerging technologies.

Further, this builds on previous work to increase market understanding of smarter contracts and digital assets by showcasing real-life examples of where these technologies are being used.

Tech Nation will continue to deliver the LawtechUK programme until December next year. Details of a competitive process to award the next stage of funding will be announced in the autumn. The new provider will deliver the programme from January 2023 through until March 2025.

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