Legally Speaking Podcast

Automating Justice: How Legal Engineering Transforms the Future of Law - Catherine Bamford - S9E18

5 snips
Jul 7, 2025
Catherine Bamford, Founder and CEO of BamLegal, is a trailblazer in legal technology. In this discussion, she highlights how document automation is revolutionizing the legal field without replacing lawyers. Catherine addresses common misconceptions about AI in law, emphasizing its role in efficiency and quality enhancement. The conversation also touches on the significance of marginal gains, shrinking the gap between legal services and access to justice, and the evolving pricing models in the industry, shifting from billable hours to value-based strategies.
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INSIGHT

Legal Engineering Is Revolutionizing Law One Small Improvement at a Time

Catherine Bamford introduces the concept of legal engineering as a continuous improvement process, focusing on marginal gains rather than radical innovations.

She explains how automating repetitive tasks, such as putting an "S" at the end of the word "seller" or changing grammar, can save lawyers significant time, allowing them to focus on more nuanced, bespoke details.

Legal engineering combines people, process, and technology to streamline legal services, making the profession more efficient without losing the personalized elements that define legal work.

This approach debunks the misconception that legal work is too bespoke to automate, emphasizing that the heavy lifting in drafting can be systematized while preserving the unique client-specific nuances.

This insight is best explored early in the episode where Catherine first elaborates on the marginal gains philosophy and the foundational principles of legal engineering.

ANECDOTE

From Early Quitter to Lawyer

  • Catherine Bamford quit school early but found inspiration in a brief law module that changed her career path.
  • She secured work experience by writing to many law firms and eventually qualified as a real estate finance lawyer.
ANECDOTE

Recession Sparks Legal Tech Career

  • Catherine transitioned to legal tech during a recession when put on a secondment to improve efficiency using document automation.
  • A three-month project turned into 15 years, leading to her becoming a pioneer legal engineer.
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