Legislate attended the Legal Innovation & Tech Fest 2023

LONDON, UK, TUESDAY 23RD MAY, 2:00PM: London-based startup Legislate attended the Legal Innovation & Tech Fest in Sydney, Australia on the 1–2 May 2023. 

Amber Akhtar, the Chief Operating Officer, reflected on the Australia Lawtech mission she attended with Charles Brecque, CEO and Founder of Legislate, at the start of the month. 

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Q1. What did you learn from the Lawtech mission?

A: “I learnt how much is actually happening in the legal tech industry. There are so many businesses that are catering to different problems and finding different solutions for them. These include tech solutions for arbitration or generative AI drafting tools, as an example, they may have a solution that allows you to look at business structures in the context of legal work."

A: “It really opened my eyes how much is really going on. Although Legislate are very much entwined in the tech space in London, and aware of our competitors and other legal techs out there, it was really nice to see how much is going on in Australia & how innovative people are.”

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Q2. What was your favourite part/ was the highlight of the event?

A: “It was really nice meeting the other delegates that travelled from London to Sydney with us. It was interesting as everyone comes from different backgrounds. It was great to hear where they come from, why they’re doing what they’re doing and what their focus is.”

A: “Being at the legal tech conference was really good; it was buzzing, high energy, and there were a lot of really good speakers that really empower you and make you feel really excited for the future.”

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Q3. This takes me onto the next question, which attending delegates did you speak to? Any that stood out to you, and why?

A: “We had a roundtable discussion with Caryn Sandler who works at Gilbert + Tobin, a law firm based in Sydney. We had a really good discussion [with them] around the main legal tech industry updates, development and opportunities. They [Gilbert + Tobin] are known to be a very innovative and forward thinking firm, and the discussion definitely showed me that. They are constantly looking for what’s new, what’s out there, what are people doing, and how we can do better.”

A: “I thought the conversation was really interesting to hear how everybody feels about the legal tech industry both in the UK and Australia. [We discussed] what are the key challenges we all face in navigating legal tasks within our business; such as the complexity of regulations to ensure we stay compliant and issues surrounding intellectual property, and how we will overcome these hurdles.”

A: “There was a huge discussion on generative AI - both its benefits and potential obstacles. [It’s such a wide use case; it is really so exciting on an innovation and automation level, but there is definitely more to consider from a data protection angle].”

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Q4. What were your key takeaways from the event for Legislate?

A: “One of the key things is that: anything is possible and secondly, there is just so much scope. We are [currently] using a large language model (LLM), the knowledge graph technology at Legislate”. [This allows businesses to query contracts dynamically using a faceted search to help find relevant contract information or extract key data]. 

A: “We [Legislate] are just at the tip of the iceberg, there is so much more to uncover on how to utilise data in contracts. Our future plans will encompass how to expand on this.”

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Q5. Is there anything you would do differently attending future events?

A: “I would not have done anything differently, per se. Before travelling to Sydney, I would have contacted local businesses who fall under our ICP and had conversations with them; what are their current processes, how they feel about legal tech, what sort of solutions they’re looking for, and their key challenges. This way we could have better used our time, not only being at the conference with lawfirms and legaltechs but actually surrounding ourselves with companies as well.”

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Q6. This segues nicely into my next question: Will Legislate be expanding to Australia anytime soon?

A: “Never say never. Australia, and Sydney in particular, really incentivize businesses to come out there; they have a lot of benefits for people who want to set up. It is definitely part of our plan to expand out there, it is the question of how and when!”

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Q7. Will Legislate be attending any other events this year?

A: “Yes, so we will be at the SaaStr in London in June 2023, London Tech Week in June 2023, Websubmit in Portugal in November 2023 and Legal Tech Fund in Miami in December 2023.

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Q8. Based on what you learnt from the event, what do you think is the future of Legaltech?

A: “I think there is going to be a huge focus on generative AI. I think it will be both positive and also have its challenges, [relating to data privacy and copyright issues]. It is exciting to be at the doorstep of technological advancement watching things continue to unravel, grow and surprise us all!”