YOUNG LAWYERS
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Coffee with Barbara – The Legal Forecast MATTHEW RISMONDO, SOLICITOR, SWAN FAMILY LAWYERS
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met with Barbara Vrettos on 14 November, 2019 for a coffee and a chat at BTS Café. At the time we met, Barbara was the SA President of The Legal Forecast (TLF), an organisation of early-career professionals who are looking to bridge the gap between the legal profession and technology and innovation. Barbara stepped into the role of Director in early 2020. Although TLF is structured as a company limited by guarantee, it is still a not-for profit. TLF have representatives in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra as well as their headquarters in Brisbane. Barbara is also a lawyer at Cowell Clarke and recent Flinders University Law and Legal Practice (Honours) and Justice and Society (Criminology) graduate. TLF’s work does not bring its members any financial gain but provides them with “intellectual and social satisfaction” that they are boosting everyday Australians’ access to justice. Each State operates differently and dependent on their establishment, sponsorship and profession support. Barbara admits that it has been difficult to get TLF off the ground in South Australia and notes some resistance from more traditional or conventional members of the profession. This is contrary to the general feeling towards innovation and technological advances in South Australia, given recent funding increases in these areas from the Government. Barbara emphatically believes that South Australia is now the innovation hub of Australia.
DISRUPTING LAW HACKATHON This is probably TLF’s biggest event in the calendar and following on from 2018’s success, was expanded to Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia for 2019. The 2019 event can proudly say that it was Australia’s biggest legal tech hackathon to date. Disrupting Law is a chance for
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forward thinking lawyers, technologists, students and innovators to join forces with the common goal of finding new opportunities in the legal industry. It is fast pace, creative and interdisciplinary problem solving with the dial turned all the way up to 12! Run over a weekend, Disrupting Law is 54-hours of “ideas men” (sorry for the Castle reference) from a range of faculties and universities coming together to search for the next best idea to advance the legal practice. All State-based winners headed to a national round where the winners were in February 2020. Law firms and universities are enlisted as Disrupting Law mentors who present a problem derived from their own processes, or a brief, to participants who are then tasked with searching for the best and most innovative solution. The participants and their mentors then spend 54 hours designing an idea that will work. Teams will then pitch that idea to a panel of experienced judges and the public in the hopes of winning gold. One success story Barbara speaks of, an idea out of Queensland’s hackathon event
last year, allows everyday Queenslanders the help needed to resolve disputes with their neighbour through a chatbot. The Queensland government have now funded the chatbot concept which can be accessed through their QCAT website and government website. There were humble beginnings in South Australia this year but we believe that this will only continue to grow as more law firms jump on board and realise the value of such intense and open-minded collaboration over one weekend. We speculate that it might have something to do with lawyer’s unfounded fear of artificial intelligence and automation taking their jobs. Barbara assures me that my job is safe and that lawyers have always adapted to new technologies and advances that are intended to make our lives easier. The only danger with the relationship between AI and lawyers is resistance. Barbara was optimistic for the year ahead, citing a plan of more refined and interactive events. The Young Lawyers’ Committee looks forward to seeing what TLF brings to 2020!
