The Legalpreneurs Sandbox

Robots are going to replace lawyers! That’s the headline that often comes to mind when we think about AI in the legal world. But, it’s not realistic for a bunch of different reasons and in this session, we discussed why with Uwais Iqbal, the Founder of simplexico, a legal AI consultancy based in the UK and dedicated to serving the AI, ML and NLP needs of the legal sector. You’ll also find Uwais on Twitter here. Uwais’ background as a machine learning engineer and data scientist and, the emerging need for those skills in the legal world, is what connected him to it. From that lived experience, he identified an opportunity to make AI understandable, user-friendly, and an integral part of the legal marketplace. It’s an amazing story and where we started this conversation. We then jumped into some myth-busting and discussed where AI in legal lies today on the Gartner Hype Cycle and where we can expect that to go. We did a deep dive into the practical benefits of AI. We also discussed the challenges, especially those that relate to and have already pointed to the need for careful review, consideration, and determination in areas like ethics and bias. We ended with a discussion about ChatGPT. Having been launched in November 2022, it was a hot topic in the media when we spoke and, subject to mixed reactions. We discussed how the real opportunity of this AI, and AI in general, was yet to be fully realised and we’ll likely get closest to seeing it when the data sets used to train AI to move from the public to private arenas.   This is a conversation everyone in the legal ecosystem should watch/listen to. AI is going to influence decisions and impact every part of the legal world. It won’t all happen at the same time but, one thing is for sure, it’s going to be harder and harder to catch up if we don’t get on board and at least follow the trajectory. If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this podcast, you’ll find the video here. About the Future 50 Series In the Future 50 Series, we’re chatting with legalpreneurs who, through their ideas and actions, are challenging and transforming legal BAU all around the world. If you would like to recommend people for this Series, please contact us at: CLI@collaw.edu.au.

In this podcast, the third episode of eight in the CLI’s Women Legal Business Founders and Leaders Series offered through our Legalpreneurs Lab Women Legalpreneurs Special Interest Group, Terri Mottershead, Executive Director, Centre for Legal Innovation, facilitated a discussion about the when, how, why and what of funding for women-led businesses with two outstanding women founders and leaders from Australia and the USA: Jannaya James, Partner - Financial Advisory, Grant Thornton Australia Basha Rubin, CEO & Co-Founder, Priori Legal Topics covered in this session included: How to think about and make fundamental choices for business funding Key sources of funding for legal businesses Whether or not legal businesses need to be more creative and cast the net widely/differently when it comes to funding What funders look for in a legal business and why When it’s desirable/undesirable for a funder to take a stake in the business The profile of and your checklist for a fabulous investor Why women-led businesses don’t fare as well in the funding stakes and what can be done about it If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this episode, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free Resource Hub here.

Everywhere you look there's another launch, announcement, and even more discussion about legaltech! While there is DEFINITELY more tech to choose from today, the SAME critical question remains for you to ask and answer...what's the right tech for you and your law firm? In this podcast,  Fiona McLay, Principal Lawyer & Consultant at McLay Legal answered that question, revisited her popular original video from May 2020, and provided a practical framework for getting started and implementing your legaltech projects. Topics covered in this session included: What’s changed since 2019 in the legaltech marketplace Common legaltech adoption challenges and how to solve them A five-step practical process for choosing the right legaltech How to kick start your legaltech projects today If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this episode, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free Resource Hub here. If you would like to revisit Fiona’s earlier video on Getting Started with Legal Tech Projects, you’ll find it here.

In this podcast, in the second episode of eight in the  CLI’s Women Legal Business Founders and Leaders Series offered through our Legalpreneurs Lab, Women Legalpreneurs Special Interest Group, Courtney Blackman, Head of Partnerships, Lander & Rogers, facilitated a discussion about the journey from Start Up to Scale Up with three outstanding women founders and leaders from Australia: Riz Amin, CEO, Foundd Legal Renee Coman, Mergers and Acquisitions Relationship Manager, Jonas Software Kate McAlister, Lawyer & Co-Founder, Markster Topics covered in this session included: The difference between a start-up and scale-up How to identify, read the signs, and make the business transformation from start-up to scale-up at the right time Determining, understanding, and prioritising your product market The importance of client relationships and client-based business growth How to sustain a scaled business – what it takes, what to do, and what it looks like Developing, managing and choosing the right talent for a growing business – capabilities; FT/PT/casual; insourcing/outsourcing Funding options – bootstrap/client investment/external funding The role, challenges and opportunities of tech Helpful tools and resources for growing start-ups If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this episode, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free Resource Hub here.

In this podcast, the final session in CLI’s Legaltech Around the World Series, Terri Mottershead, Executive Director, CLI facilitated a panel discussion focussing on what we have learnt this year – the big themes, the big changes and what that’s telling us about where legaltech is heading. Terri was joined by amazing guest panellists: David Bushby, Managing Director, InCounsel Nikki Shaver, CEO & Co-Founder, Legaltech Hub Clinton Swan, International Operations/Co-Founder, Codelex Legaltech Topics covered in this session included: What defines a legaltech ecosystem Whether or not the global legaltech market is in start-up or scale-up mode, or something entirely different, and why it matters What’s hot in legaltech right now Where the legaltech money is being spent and why The biggest challenges for legaltech development around the world The biggest opportunities arising from taking a global view of legaltech The impact of digital literacy on legaltech uptake The impact of and the difference between regulation of the legal profession vs regulation of tech What’s next for legaltech in 2023 You’ll find information about the other episodes in this series here. The series is presented in association with InCounsel. If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this episode, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free Resource Hub here. Don’t forget to subscribe to: InCounsel’s Weekly Newsletter CLI’s Newsletter

So much has changed in the legal workplace. We’ve heard about the gig economy. We know people are working differently and from different places now. We also know that no matter what your profession, the digital ecosystem has disrupted it and will continue to do that for a long time to come. So, have these changes opened the door to a new way to conceive work for a different workforce? Is it possible to access the right amount of expertise (not all of it), at the right time, remotely, and at the right price? Debra Andrews has answered this question with an emphatic “yes” for the marketing world and calls it fractional marketing! Debra is the President and Owner of Marketri LLC in the USA and, a marketing guru! She has worked in senior marketing roles in 3 of the 4 big global consulting firms and as a Fractional CMO, all before launching Marketri. Marketri is a strategic marketing consultancy that provides a slice (fraction) of expertise from a whole bunch of marketing specialists in strategy, execution, and analytics to B2B companies including law firms. So, what exactly is fractional marketing? It means instead of expanding your internal marketing team (Chief Marketing Officer, Managers, creative directors, data analysts, PR professionals, project managers, writers, graphic designers, MarTech specialists) you outsource your marketing work to a team of these specialists who provide the slice (fraction) of expertise you need from them, when you need it. For a company like Marketri, that could mean providing one person to act as a fractional (not full-time) Chief Marketing Officer. At other times, it might mean selecting a team of experts in areas relevant to the engagement. And, because the fractional specialist/teams don’t work in just one industry, it also means they bring the best of all ideas, approaches, and initiatives from all industries to the engagement.  It’s customised. It’s grounded in efficiency. Being able to access this depth of expertise allows mid-sized businesses to compete with those that are much larger. We’ve seen the rise of fractional CEOs, now fractional CMOs and other specialists, it will be interesting to see if this idea evolves into a fractional C-suite and beyond! If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this podcast, you’ll find the video here. About the Future 50 Series In the Future 50 Series we’re chatting with legalpreneurs who, through their ideas and actions, are challenging and transforming legal BAU all around the world. If you would like to recommend people for this Series, please contact us at: CLI@collaw.edu.au.

With this podcast, we launched CLI’s Women Legal Business Founders and Leaders Series offered through our Legalpreneurs Lab, Women Legalpreneurs Special Interest Group. In this, the first of eight sessions in the series, we chatted with three outstanding women founders and leaders from Australia, Singapore and the USA who have taken the journey from Founder to CEO and candidly shared that experience: Sonja Ebron, Co-Founder, & CEO, Courtroom5 Sacha Kirk (Facilitator), Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Lawcadia Cherilyn Tan, CEO & Founder, AsiaLawNetwork.com & Tessaract Technologies Topics covered in this session included: What changes when you move from the role of founder to CEO The benefits of having a founder vs co-founder; how this evolves; and how/why roles and responsibilities are distributed How to build an effective team: in-sourcing vs outsourcing; what you continue to do vs what the team does; the challenges of scaling, hiring the right people, contractors, retaining mindset and culture The pros and cons of international expansion The relationship between investors and founders – who wants what and how to ensure interests are aligned If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this episode, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free Resource Hub here.

In this podcast, a session in our ReinventED Legal Business: The Case Studies series, Terri Mottershead, Executive Director, Centre for Legal Innovation (Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific) chatted with Sarah Stoddart, Founder and Director and Michele Davis, Special Counsel at Vitality Law Australia. Vitality Law Australia (VLA) was born from a desire to do law differently and to achieve true work-life integration.  It’s a non-traditional law firm specialising in healthcare, small business, property and wills and estates matters.   The small and nimble VLA team works remotely and flexibly, demonstrating the firm’s strong commitment to its clients, its business AND life outside of business too.  Client convenience, comfort, and customisation of services are at the core of VLA’s business. This includes things like meeting online rather than in person and giving advice via slide decks and images rather than long letters.  VLA has done away with legal jargon, daunting meeting rooms and dark suits – they are all about helping their clients grow, in business and in life.   Topics discussed in the session included: Why VLA is a “non-traditional legal practice” The importance of values, goals and how these shape and inform firm culture How client needs and expectations are changing and, consequently, how and why customisation is redefining legal practice How a mix of legal services and products supports and enhances the client and lawyer experience   The pros and cons of flexible, remote and hybrid working for legal business owners and employees What NewLaw legal business founders need to focus on before and after they launch    If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this episode, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free Resource Hub here.

In this podcast, the seventh session in CLI’s Legaltech Around the World Series, David Bushby, Managing Director, InCounsel facilitated a discussion about the local legaltech market in Latin America. David was joined by amazing guest panellists: Andrés Jara, Co-Founder & CEO, Kea Technology Inc (Chile) Bibiana Martinez Camelo, Head of Legal Operations, Bancolombia (Colombia) Silvana Stochetti, Founder & CEO, Legalify Latam (Argentina) Maxime Troubat, CEO, Juridoc (Brazil) Agustin Velazquez G.L, Managing Partner, AVA Firm (Mexico) Topics covered in this session included: An overview of the legaltech market in Latin America The drivers/agents of change and impact of legaltech in the B2B and B2C markets (and how they are connected) The challenges and opportunities for legaltech   The impact of COVID on the legaltech market The importance of legaltech communities Who is funding legaltech development in Latin America and are tech developers staying, going, or returning What legaltech adoption REALLY looks like (separating the hype and hope from reality) The growing importance of digital literacy and the role of law schools in that education You’ll find information about the other episodes in this series here. The series is presented in association with InCounsel. If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this episode, you’ll find the video in our CLI-Collaborate (CLIC) free Resource Hub here. Additional Resources referred to in this session You’ll find the Legal Hackers website here Don’t forget to subscribe to: InCounsel’s Weekly Newsletter CLI’s Newsletter

Neural nets…sounds exciting, perhaps a little scary, and a long way from anything to do with legal practice, right? Wrong! It has everything to do with how the legal ecosystem is being challenged to reconceive and deliver legal work differently from start to finish and…beyond! It’s easy to get caught up in jargon in all of this stuff – AI, machine learning, natural language processing, and so the list goes on – that’s why we spoke with Pablo Arredondo, a Co-Founder & the Chief Innovation Officer at Casetext. Pablo works in this world every day, he really knows this stuff, understands legal practice, and seamlessly translates what he knows into the work he does with legal practitioners. That’s no doubt a big part of why Casetext is leading the way in this area with its outstanding, user-friendly products. Our conversation in this session was a journey. We discussed what neural nets are and are not; how they apply to the legal ecosystem, especially when it comes to legal search; the difference between keyword searches, neural nets, and how you choose between them; some great practical applications of these tools in legal practice like e.g. Casetext’s product AllSearch; how neural nets promise to change everything in the legal world (and other worlds too); and, the benefits that have already emerged from implementing this AI for legal practitioners and, their clients too! If you would prefer to watch rather than listen to this podcast, you’ll find the video here.  About the Future 50 Series In the Future 50 Series we’re chatting with legalpreneurs who, through their ideas and actions, are challenging and transforming legal BAU all around the world. If you would like to recommend people for this Series, please contact us at: CLI@collaw.edu.au.