COMMITTEE NEWS WHAT IS POSSIBLE USING LEGAL TECH AND WHO NEEDS TO KNOW? Birmingham Law Society Legal Technology Committee is collaborating with LawTech London to provide a series of Legal Tech Meet Ups on the topic of “The Art of the Possible: Deploying Technology in Legal Services”. Held monthly online, the sessions will involve law firm practitioners, their clients and service providers offering their stories of collaboration to create new ways of working. These sessions are for everyone, whether engaging for the first time, fine-tuning thinking or looking for inspiration. During the pandemic courts and service providers have experienced change in the ways they operate. “Consumer” expectation has shifted too and that touches provision for every firm: ABS, private practice, free-lancer or in-house lawyer. Sustaining the momentum for change is the biggest challenge facing many. This is a great time to re-calibrate and learn from what others have already attempted. Birmingham Law Society and LawTech London’s shared intention is to create a sense of community in which everyone is able to participate and learn. We want people to feel that legal technology is accessible so that they can sustain and deepen relationships with clients, and, at the same time, maintain the highest standards of quality and service. Big firms and their corporate clients embarked on the journey to “digital transformation” some years ago. “Innovation” was a buzz word before the pandemic and they have been able to capitalize on their early adoption. There is much to learn from their experience. 14 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk
In these sessions we will share examples of just such stories of success. None of them were achieved without set-backs along the way. The hope is that, by hearing first hand from key players, people can be inspired to explore possibilities for themselves and their clients. No matter what size the enterprise, the same ingredients are required to create change; an ability to look up from the day today and let go of approaches which may be time-served; to collaborate deeply to discover what the problem really is; to be creative; to risk failure in the hope of success. These features are all characterised by higher-order human skills. No matter how wary we may feel about the impact of the shift to digitally-enabled services in law, the one thing in which we can all believe is that fundamentally this is a story about human need and human endeavour. You do not have to be a technologist in order to engage in change. Human skills are at a premium and will distinguish any service provider. People with the right skills, experience and expertise are crucial to high quality provision and cannot be replicated by algorithms. The Birmingham Law Society Legal Technology Committee was established in January 2021 with the intention to inspire, engage and educate lawyers and allied professionals at all levels in all kinds of legal service providers. We volunteer our time because we are passionate about the value of law in our communities, our economy and our society. We share a values-led, human-centered approach with the LawTech London community. We hope you will join us.
