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  • Andrés Jara about business model: “If your main concern is productivity, adopting technologies that reduce costs is key”

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH Andrés knows both sides very well. He began his professional career as a lawyer in traditional law firms. Then, he turned into internal legal positions as in-house counsel in legal departments, assuming the task of purchasing legal services that used to bring him many visities of law firms that were trying to get him as a client. “They told me what great they were, the kind of experience they had and the kind of specific technical knowledge they could have”, says Andrés, “but usually the final outcome was that I was deciding on which law firm to outsource mainly because of the relationship I had or not with that specific partner, is a matter of trust.” That was almost 15 years ago when he decided to “build something different,” a new business model closely tied to legal tech. “The model was based on freelance lawyers working remotely, and in order to coordinate that work and ensure the quality of the outcomes and services meet our standards, we needed technology.” So, once they took notice of where the gaps were, they started to build, also, their own tools.  His experience in the legal and technology sector has provided him a very deepful vision of business in Latam , a vision that he is, nowadays, diving into the pages of what will become his next published book, the first book on legal innovation built and written in Latin America for the Latin American market! What a better source of knowledge than an exceptional Latam Legal Advisor? He is sharing with us some interesting facts. Don´t miss it! Which is the state of legaltech adoption in Latam? Andrés starts answering this question by erasing a very typical perception on how lawyers adopt technology in general: they are less reluctant than it is usually said. First of all, “lawyers have used technology for their productivity and efficiency since the beginning of the times where technology was available”, notes Andrés. “Probably not with the kind of depth that we would like to have”, he follows. “At the end, lawyers usually are the late majority in the traditional Garner adoption curve”, which means that lawyers “get into tech” but get “slower into tech”. In the specific case of Latam the adoption is slower, since Andrés believes that “usually Latin America follows the steps that are developing other more developed markets, like the US or UK markets. And that's much more developed and where you find the bigger law firms too and most successful law firms in the world .” So, if there would be a comparison among other jurisdictions in terms of adoption of, for example, GenAI, we would see, says Andrés, that “Latin America gets more an observer rather than basically leader in the curve or the adoption curve.” “But we are going to adopt it”, follows Andrés. “And that's the important thing. The main discussion is how fast we are going to adopt it.” The adoption of technology brings an interesting discussion to the table, a discussion that affects all markets and all jurisdictions: the model of business in law.  The dilemma between differentiation and productivity Andrés approaches the discussion of model business by phrasing Peter Drucker , who talked about efficiency and differentiation. Two different strategies that have taken divergent, yet sometimes complementary, paths, according to Andrés. “If your main concern is productivity, adopting technologies that reduce costs is key,” he explains, referring to tools like advanced databases and automation software that enable lawyers to work faster and at a lower cost. He notes that this approach is particularly useful for lawyers handling large volumes of routine tasks, where competing on cost is the priority. However, he points out that another group of lawyers focuses on differentiation, offering highly specialized and exclusive services, which allows them to charge premium rates. “Those competing through differentiation are less concerned with productivity because their added value lies in their expertise or providing a highly personalized service,” he adds. Despite this distinction, Andrés warns that even lawyers focused on differentiation need to pay attention to their costs . “I can be a top-tier lawyer with only a few clients and charge very high fees, but if I don't manage my production costs, I’ll eventually face problems,” he explains, highlighting the importance of balancing both models. Ultimately, the decision on which approach to follow depends on the strategic pillar of each law firm. “It doesn't mean you completely disregard one aspect,” he concludes, “but it’s crucial to define whether your main value comes from efficiency or differentiation.” Having this clarity will help law firms better navigate an increasingly competitive and technology-driven market. And having this clarity depends on data, which opens another controversial discussion: if we do not have data, which sometimes is the case of Latam, how can we make good decisions? “We have a lot of asymmetries of information that don't help for a good analysis in this regard,” he explains. The main core issue remains: many law firms in the region still rely on outdated business models that take advantage of an immature and under-informed market. This reliance on market immaturity creates a cycle where firms offer low-cost services with limited differentiation. As Andrés puts it, “If we have asymmetries of information, you can try to differentiate, but in the end, your products or services are low-hanging fruits in a low-cost model.” Essentially, the value proposition in these cases becomes more about providing routine, business-as-usual support rather than engaging in more sophisticated legal work. Andrés notes that many law firms prioritize these types of commodity services , where the legal work is not highly technical or specialized. For many firms, “a relevant part of their business is business-as-usual support,” he recalls partners stating in previous conversations. This dependency on routine services means that higher margins and profitability often come from areas where firms can manage to differentiate themselves, typically outside of the low-cost, standardized work.  A recent trend in Latin America is that in-house legal departments have begun to take over a large portion of these routine tasks by using technology and developing their own teams. This has led many law firms to lose part of their core business, as companies seek internal efficiency to handle repetitive legal tasks. “In-house teams have become much more sophisticated because they have a deeper understanding of the business,” Andrés points out, which means that firms now only receive more complex or specialized work. This trend has put pressure on the Latin American market, which has historically been less developed in terms of technological adoption and sophisticated segmentation. Nevertheless, Andrés highlights that this phenomenon is driving change. The future of law in Latin America, according to Andrés, will depend on addressing these asymmetries and evolving beyond simple business models.  A little bit about Andrés' background At 44 years old, Andrés has dedicated his career to pushing the boundaries of the legal industry, driven by a passion to challenge the traditional norms of law practice. His mission is clear: to transform the legal ecosystem in his region and beyond. “My purpose, what motivates me every morning, where I put my passion, is to try to contribute in some way to the market to change things,” he says. Disillusioned by the conventional ways of law, he strives to create a more innovative, sustainable, and forward-thinking legal environment. Andrés’ journey into law started with a genuine love for the subject. “I really enjoyed studying law. I was a good student, I got good grades, so I was happy studying my degree,” he recalls. However, once he entered the professional world, he quickly noticed the pressures and challenges faced by lawyers, including the overwhelming stress of the profession. Rather than accepting this as the norm, he saw an opportunity for change. “It's very stressful. I don't like it. So I probably tried to make changes in that as well.” His work now focuses on the broader impact that lawyers can have on their communities and society as a whole. “I came to the conviction that lawyers can impact their communities, society in general, from a much broader perspective than we are used to,” he explains. Through his leadership in legal technology groups, writing a book, and participating in global conferences, he has become a vocal advocate for innovation within the legal field. For Andrés, the future of law is not just about legal expertise but about shaping a healthier, more adaptable, and impactful profession. He continues to challenge the status quo, driven by a deep belief in the power of legal professionals to create lasting societal change. “That's my dream,” he says simply, embodying a vision of law that is as forward-thinking as it is transformative. - Andrés Jara Founder, Alster Legal #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

  • Juan Carlos Luna about the link between ESG and technology: “Is not only necessary, but it's almost natural.”

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH Talking about ESG and assuming the responsibility to act upon new regulations, trends, and expectations, has become of increasing importance over the years. The person we are getting to know better today has acquired a lot of knowledge in the areas of ESG and digital transformation , through the organization of high-impact summits where “expert advice and experience on these fields are shared in order to generate positive changes. Let's meet him better! Juan Carlos Luna began his career as a lawyer in Mexico before transitioning to the U.S., where he now resides. He worked with major law firms in both countries before moving into the corporate world, where he spent 15 years in various roles, including as head of the legal department for Latin America and later overseeing a global transformation of the legal department at Hewlett Packard. This shift exposed him to disruptive trends in legal operations and legal technology over a decade ago. After his corporate experience, Luna founded Lawgistic , an alternative legal service provider focused on international projects. Six years ago, he co-founded a sister company, Lawit Group, which specializes in consulting. Lawit Group helps organizations integrate legal technology and improve operational efficiency, blending legal and tech expertise to support businesses in their digital transformation. He is also a partner in Opslink, a leading  LegalOps consultancy, and NORTH, a US-based investment consultancy. In his work, Luna collaborates with multidisciplinary teams that bring diverse perspectives to the challenges companies face during digital transformation strategies. For over a decade, he has balanced his focus between legal consulting, and legal operations and technological aspects, consistently working to enhance efficiency and innovation in legal departments, including expertise in ESG, and its intricate relationship with digital transformations. Why is it so important to talk about ESG in legal tech? ESG is a transversal, inclusive dimension of several aspects that touches many angles of business operations and financial aspects.” One of the most challenging aspects of ESG is “reporting.” and analysis of data. Why? “Organizations need to be more transparent in order to avoid issues like greenwashing, fraud, lack of compliance, or certain activities that are not aligned with the financial, legal, and sustainable goals,” claims Juan Carlos. “And reporting cannot be done without technological tools.” “So, the link between ESG and digital transformation is not only necessary, it's almost natural,” adds Juan Carlos. “So technology allows most of this to happen. And at the same time, it also allows many industries to transform and be able to react and be more effective in climate change strategies, corporate governance controls, and other compliance requeriments.” A technology tool that plays a “critical” role in these scenarios is Artificial Intelligence . Its ability to improve data analysis, which is a “golden component of any operation,” allows it to track and measure information that, otherwise, would be disconnected, incomplete, or imprecise, “It's really a tool that companies that do not embrace it, will be facing a very difficult challenge, they will be losing competitiveness.” And they have to do it fast. “The speed of change is so relevant that no one can just take the risk of sitting on the sidelines watching what happens and not taking an active role,” claims Juan Carlos. “The capabilities of technology, if properly selected and well implemented, certainly provide a winning formula: be more intelligent, more predictive, be able to act faster, and more effectively.” The power of information, enhanced by AI: “if you put trash into the system, you will get trash” Hallucinations, false references, incomplete or erroneous data, and lack of privacy, inter alia, have pushed organizations to build their own ChatGPTs, as a “self-made chat,” that allows them to “build the same ecosystem or the same operational system, but with their own controlled information,” as Juan Carlos says. “Banks have been doing this extremely effectively. Healthcare and retail (in mature markets) are  doing this successfully.. but think of all the other industries and their huge opportunities…” Of course, this information, the data ,  is the key element to a good system. “If you put trash into the system, you will get trash.” “If you get clean information, correct information, complete information, the algorithm will learn from it, will benefit from all the components, and will be able to produce the right answers to the right questions.” And any in-house legal department or any law firm could greatly benefit from this  by using “all the amount of information that they produce internally and for the clients…” “The benefit is just gigantic because they can generate a lot of analysis, a lot of interpretation of that data, which can help expand the predictability opportunities..” Challenges for Digital Transformation: Juan Carlos' advice In the legal industry, the main threat is the amount of information that lawyers need to review, understand, and process. There is a “circle of items that need to be happening at the same time to really build a system of business intelligence or knowledge management that works”: for example, “the specific pain points that need to be fixed from an operational perspective, the culture of change that need to be developed to embrace disruptions and digital transformation, the proper understanding of available tools, the return on investment, how long the technology implementation takes, what type of training do I need to give to my team members to fully use the capabilities of that technology.” There is a “change of perspective” that disrupts “the typical operational model” and creates a new one that involves a complex preparation. Juan Carlos recommends asking oneself four questions : What are my challenges? What are my opportunities? What type of issues do I really need to transform? And what might be the best tools to do it? To the last question, Juan Carlos recommends two things: first, “start playing with some tools, like talking to ChatGPT and other LLMs, to get familiar with ithem.” The other one is “to analyze use cases”: “find out what other companies or other law firms have already done in terms of how they changed the mindset to be a more digital organization. And look for details and examples of what has happened in other countries, in other regions, in similar law firms and similar companies.” “Obviously, as much as you can narrow that type of analysis, you will get a lot of valuable information about what companies are leading the segment in terms of the solutions they have developed. And, how fast the implementation of such tools take, what is the necessary investment, how can the return on investment be meassured, and how easy it is to use such tools.” For every action in each area of law, you need to see what you're doing manually, costly, or  ineffectively that can be exponentially improved by the implementation  of certain software to get the benefits of automatization, or transformation.” “Obviously, the implementation takes a lot of planning, a lot of assistance in terms of allowing experts to guide you through the process and consult with you to see what the best alternatives might be for your firm or for your legal department and take it from there.  A good example of all of this is what is happening in the area of ESG and the required components in order to be able to track the metrics to implement the necessary technologies to access information and report on that information. That is something that is just booming right now.” Some backgrounds of Juan Carlos Juan Carlos is a firm believer in the power of creativity and innovation. To him, innovation is nothing more than “creativity, having fun.” He insists that creativity can be applied in every aspect of life. However, in today’s world, Juan Carlos sees a challenge: “Maybe we're too busy and consumed by information from every angle that you can imagine. That overload can sometimes stifle our creativity rather than fuel it. His advice? Keep a healthy balance between the digital and physical worlds to maintain clarity, focus and perspective. Sports and traveling help him disconnect from this constant flow of information and recharge mentally. He believes that stepping away from work is crucial for keeping the “mind fresh and open to new ideas.” For Juan Carlos, maintaining this balance isn’t just helpful; it’s a necessity. It allows him to stay grounded, and focus on what truly matters. And Juan Carlos has achieved it once more! He has had time and concentration to co-author and coordinate a book focused on ESG, published in August of last year. The book explores the challenges and opportunities in creating a sustainable world. “It's a collaboration of 22 experts in different fields,” explains Juan Carlos. “I had the pleasure of integrating, designing the book, and inviting these experts to join the effort of bringing together the analysis of ESG topics from different sectors and angles.” Juan Carlos is particularly proud that this is the first book of its kind in Mexico, and he hopes it will spark meaningful conversations on the critical topic of sustainability across industries. When asked what advice he would give his younger self, Juan Carlos emphasizes the importance of soft skills. “The cultural approach, the communication and analytical skills, the capacity to reinvent, to adapt and quickly relate and adjust to many different moving pieces in a constantly changing environment… Those types of skills are what companies are looking for right now, and from a social perspective, the capacity to escape from information overflow that brings no clear benefit.” - Juan Carlos Luna Founder, Lawit Group #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

  • Alejandro Sánchez del Campo: “We are in the best moment in history for lawyers”

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH He has been dedicated to topics related to law, technology, and innovation for almost 30 years. Alejandro's career is huge, as well as all the knowledge that he can share with us as an Innovation Advisor thanks to Albert Ferré and Francesc Muñoz. “I could not say no”, says Alejandro when telling us how he ended up taking part in the Association. From his role in the legal department of Telefónica in 1995, where he worked for over 20 years, to Garrigues . All his professional experiences have provided him valuable insights that shift his vision of legal tech, which he shares with us and, also, with all the fortunate audience of Aranzadi LA LEY, where he publishes articles about legal tech topics. A little bit about Alejandro's background His career as lawyer began since the moment he was born and he became the son of his parents. “There are many lawyers in my family, going back several generations, so that probably influenced my decision”, he claims. “I don't remember having to think much about it”. His favorite mantra is: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today." Apart from having a very beautiful and optimistic meaning, there is an interesting fact within this sentence. 20 years ago is the time that has happened since Alejandro had the best trip of his life. He went with his wife to Australia, to the eastern half, where they enjoyed the people, the landscapes and the city that is for Alejandro the most beautiful town in the world: Sydney. 20 years later, Alejandro keeps thinking of coming back to Australia, this time to the western part of the country, that is still a mystery for many people and is kind of a deal due to its difficult access. But, as a wise person once said,  "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today." I hope he comes back and he plants new amazing memories to grow over time. Of course, traveling to Australia takes a little bit of time -1 day and a half- 36 hours that Alejandro would probably dedicate to his favorite legal dramas, The Good Wife , The Good Fight , and Suit, or his favorite non drama but legal for sure , Successful innovation , an outcomes in law book written by Dennis Kennedy. Alejandro gives us some advices about tech and legal tech When talking about legal tech, Alejandro is very aware of the benefits that can help to rethink the legal sector, providing “automation” in tasks that gain efficiency. Of course, we all know the theory, but the practice is still mysterious in many cases, and we have to face the big question: what technologies do we have to use? Well, first, we could answer what technologies we already have and, if not, then go and manage the way of having them. For Alejandro, the technology that you use “depends on whether you look at large or small firms, whether they’re based in a big or smaller city” and other interesting criteria. According to the latest Break the Limits report, done by Aranzadi LA LEY, the most common technologies within departments, the usually known as tech tech, are the following ones: Basic office tools (email, Word, PowerPoint, or similar) (98%) Tools for connecting with the Administration of Justice (LexNet or similar) (82%) Legal subject databases (81%) Video Conferencing tools (75%) Cloud storage (72%) Digital contract signature tools (54%) Now, if we have to talk about legal tech , Alejandro´s advice would be “to start with the basics: a good knowledge management system”. This is a completely necessary tool since “knowledge is the main asset of the firm or legal department”. It might seem obvious, right? But, as Alejandro says, “many organizations do not have it properly sorted out.” Another tool that is obvious but is still away from several firms or departments is… “A contract management tool.” This “essential” tool shines always, but “especially if a high volume of contracts is handled, as it is the case in many companies”, claims Alejandro. “From there, you can think about implementing some AI tools.” Although these advices can be very useful for those companies that are still thinking of implementing legal tech or rethinking their day to day tech tech, we can´t ignore that there are companies that are very advanced within these terms. Alejandro does not point to any of them, but he highlights the whole of the enterprises that are running in Spain, where “very interesting companies and products are being created”, he says. “Furthermore, Spanish law firms have nothing to envy from their European peers, as demonstrated annually in the Innovative Lawyers Financial Times Awards ”.  Legal tech is for Alejandro an opportunity that, probably, has something to do with the vision that Alejandro shares about the legal sector nowadays:   “We are in the best moment in history for lawyers, full of challenges and opportunities. Those who understand this and are brave enough will have a great future ahead.” The future belongs to the braves , as well as for all those who are curious and are looking forward to learning more and more. That is why Alejandro, not only as an Innovation Advisor, but as a member of our board, encourages you to join us: “Just do it”, he says. “Global LegalTech Hub is the place to be if you work at the intersection of law and technology. All the relevant people and companies are members of the association. It is a no brainer.” - Alejandro Sánchez del Campo Innovation and Legaltech Counsel, LA LEY #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

  • Viky Manaila: “Trust is fundamental in every aspect of our lives”

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH Viky Manaila is bound to build trust over the Internet in digital transactions. This goal is kind of a background that is present in the current point of her professional career: nowadays, she is Trust Services Director within Intesi Group, an Italian private company in the field of trust services around eIDAS regulation. She also holds the position of President for Cloud Signature Consortium, a global organization covering aspects related to digital signatures, providing standards with an open-source license covering all geographical regions. “Trust” is much more than a word for Viky. It is a door for many possibilities as it allows us to explore new technologies without fear. “We are living in a tremendous time when there are a lot of possibilities, but we don't take the most advantages from them,” she expresses. Viky sees this within the legal sector, where lawyers, when dealing with compliance or managing relevant information, need to be “a thousand percent sure that something that is new is working extremely well and is compliant with legal requirements.” These words make even greater sense for Manaila in terms of being an Advisor at the GLTH, where she can participate in the creation of this trust around legal tech. A little bit about Viky's background Viky's everyday mantra has something to do with everything we saw of her previously: “Do whatever you can to make the world we live in a better one, piece by piece, and day by day.” The future can be built, but the past is already done, and under the scope of Viky, “it was perfect as it was.” The future, however, could help her and others to get some ideas. After all, it would be traveling—something that Viky loves particularly—and gaining new knowledge about different cultures and people. “There are many amazing places,” says Viky. The most recent countries she visited and enjoyed a lot were Japan, Georgia, and Armenia. About Georgia, she would remark on the people and their spirit to “work together, to collaborate, to make their country a better place for them.” It seems like Viky has many sources of inspiration to follow her everyday mantra. She also knows where to go when she needs to create a new outfit: Seinfeld  and Sex and the City . What is legal tech for Viky? “Legal tech should be looked at from different angles,” begins Viky.   What is her angle? Viky's main angle is Identity and how to address different geographical regions with different types of identities. This is something truly significant when signing legal documents. How can that be used or how can that be implemented? “We must be sure that in 20 years from now, we will be able to open the document, read the document, and validate the signatures,” claims Viky. Besides, the properties of the document, such as all the parts, have to be preserved over a long period of time. Legal tech has many angles, and so does Identity. Digital Identity , for instance: how can companies ensure the privacy and security of users? What is the first step? “Assess the need for identity verification,” responds Viky. “At what level, at which point do you need to know who is behind the Internet? Because not all transactions have the same legal value, and not for all transactions you need to know the identity. There should be a balance between what you need to know and for what purpose.” There are many ways of identity verification you can implement, and the common factor is that “you should assure privacy and security,” remarks Viky. An innovation that is taking place right now in Europe and has come to disrupt the process of Digital Identity verification is the European Digital Identity Wallet . This allows individuals to  show their identity when, for example, buying a flight ticket. “When I go to the airport with the boarding pass, the airport and the airline should know exactly my identity. Thanks to the European Digital Identity Wallet, all those verifications can happen very easily,” claims Viky. This implementation enables shortening identity processes , from “the highest level of identity verification based on your personal identity data” to a simple verification that I am the person who claimed to be based on email or phone number. The European Digital Identity Wallet not only enhances the whole process but also improves privacy as “for the first time, citizens will have the opportunity to decide what pieces of their personal information they will share with whom and for what purpose.” Besides, “people will have a dashboard where they will have the records of all their transactions, and they will be able to withdraw their consent after a certain point in time when they no longer need to have interactions with that provider or relying party giving them a service.” “This is huge, it's immense,” claims Viky, full of excitement. “It will change the digital world for the better.” Apart from enhancing privacy, it also improves security , as we will see in some disruptive applications that will take place, probably, in a short time. For instance, the next Olympic Games, which will happen in 2028, from Viky’s point of view, will have a digital identity wallet “to prove their right to access certain areas of the venues, or they will have to show their tickets and their identities, allowing the organizer to verify them.” “Signature will never die, and people will always need to sign something,” continues Viky. It seems the wallet also regards the process of signing, and it will allow European citizens to sign contracts through the wallet. “This will be much more simplified because you won’t need to walk through complex processes to verify your identity, obtain a digital certificate for an electronic signature, and then be able to sign a document with legal value.” This will be a total game changer , accelerating everything in a huge way, especially if we look back at where we came from: “We used tokens or smart cards connected to computers to digitally sign a document, installing drivers, updating drivers, installing applications. And now magically, everything will happen like that!” Viky is looking forward to seeing this happen. And she reveals that this is one of the reasons why she would like “to go to the future a little bit.” Looking forward to the future, Viky suggests creating more “user-friendly services within digital transactions,” as well as implementing “more collaboration between legal teams, legal people, and technology teams.” Besides, in terms of Digital Identity, there are some divergences among countries since “there are different cultures.” Viky explains: “Even if they are able to implement a technology solution, people are not always happy to change their habits, or there are others who are not capable from a technological or financial point of view, but they will be willing to jump on something new. But for sure, all of them will have an evolution somehow at a certain point in time.” Finally, Viky remarks that interactions are human-based and trust is between people. Also, “it is something that you build over time and you can lose instantly.” Viky encourages all those who want to offer something to others and collaborate for a greater good, to join the GLTH. “Trust technology, trust people, build that trust together, be part of the trust and work to keep that trust, to not lose it, because it's fundamental in every aspect: in legal, in technology, in everyday life, in your family. So trust is the key.” - Viky Manaila eIDAS, Digital Identity, Digital Signatures & PKI expert #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

  • GLTH announces new additions to the Board, strengthening international vision and leadership in the legaltech sector

    The Global LegalTech Hub (GLTH) proudly announces new additions to its Board of Directors, reaffirming its commitment to excellence, innovation, and sustainability. These appointments enhance the hub's international reach and solidify its position as a global leader in the LegalTech ecosystem. Simonetta Buccellato has been appointed as the organization's Treasurer, bringing a distinguished career as a lawyer and entrepreneur with extensive experience in the European corporate world. Her expertise in the legal translation sector at Lextranslate, coupled with her deep understanding of international legal dynamics, will enrich GLTH's financial management and global connections. María de la O Martínez joins as the new Vice President of Innovation and Projects, a pivotal role in driving transformative initiatives within the hub. With a strong background in managing innovative projects at Lefebvre, María de la O will lead GLTH's efforts to act as a catalyst for change in the global LegalTech sector, expand the Advisory Board, and coordinate further initiatives with the hub’s ecosystem. The organization also wishes to express its deepest gratitude to Sergio Esteve de Miguel, the outgoing Treasurer, for his outstanding management over the past five years. His leadership and financial oversight have been instrumental in establishing GLTH as a benchmark not only for its connections, content, and events but also for its financial rigor and sustainability. With these updates, the GLTH Board is now composed as follows: President:  Ferran Sala Vice Presidents:  Francesc Muñoz, Albert Ferré, María de la O Martínez Treasurer:  Simonetta Buccellato Secretary:  Joaquim Matinero Board Members:  Laura Urquizu and Sergio Esteve de Miguel These appointments underscore GLTH's mission to connect, innovate, and co-create on a global scale, reinforcing its commitment to fostering a vibrant and sustainable LegalTech ecosystem. #legaltech #growth #board #GlobalLegaltechHub

  • Carlos García-Egocheaga: “Legaltech is not about rethinking, but improving”

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH Carlos is one of those Advisors who knows legal tech even from before it was known as that. Indeed, he has dedicated his life to one of the first legal tech solutions, which appeared in the 90s. He defines himself as a hardware designer at heart , since he studied two engineering degrees many years ago, and he dedicates part of his life to research and investigation within this field. Despite that, he started to move into software in the very late 90s. He was definitely turned into a software designer when he was working at SAP. It was after SAP that he joined a company called Tikit, highly specialized in legal tech (when it was not called legal tech). At that time, they were just a “consulting services company specialized in the legal sector.” What did they do? “We helped law firms define the different processes that they had internally, and then we applied technology.” That was 2005, and the importance of Knowledge Management within law firms was increasing. Dive into some Carlos' insights Carlos’s vision of businesses gets inspiration from the early seasons of The Office . “Duralex Celdex,” he claims as a mantra which translated means: “The law is harsh, but it is the law.” More accurately, “you have to play by the rules,” even though they are difficult to follow. This thought does not have much to do with The Office , since Michael Scott is not precisely a lover of rules and order. But, as Carlos says, “I just have a blast seeing how bad you can run a company.” He has always said no to shortcuts . In his opinion, it is not synonymous with “trying to do things well.” And, after 30 years of experience, he can tell that this manner has “paid off,” even though he has had to deal with “long roads.” He has flown over the Atlantic more than 200 times, so he has a lot of expertise in terms of long roads. During these journeys, he has time to think about the future , an aspect that attracts him a lot and has much to do with his passion for computer science. “You're always trying to figure out what you have to do and how you can help.” For Carlos, what awaits us in the future is better than today's reality, the same as today's reality is better than yesterday's. Due to his job and his passion for travel, Carlos has been to many places. What do they have in common? Buildings . “Nature is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but I always like what humanity can actually build,” says Carlos. His favorite places have been, to date, Amsterdam and Denver. The power of good Knowledge Management Good Knowledge Management needs computer science software to be much more efficient and faster by improving the research, production, and storage of information. “You're going to start a matter from 50%, from 60%, from 70%,” claims Carlos. This has two main effects: “The first one, of course, is the margin. If you are going to put in fewer hours, you are going to get more benefits out of that. The second one, and we tend to forget this one, is what we call time to market. How long does it take for your law firm to provide a full answer to your client? So if you already have 50% of your matter done, you're going to be able to produce a really quick answer to your client. And also, you are going to be able to handle that answer to your client much faster.” Why did Carlos refer to the fact of speed twice? Indeed, it was just twice in appearance: “First, you're going to be able to give an early assessment because very quickly you're going to be able to tell your client, hey, this is how we're going to solve this matter. But your client could say I'm not okay with that. And then you can produce those documents that you give to your client.” Okay, it sounds very interesting, but how can we reuse that information? So, just imagine that you need a Service Provider Agreement (SPA) between a Chinese telecommunications company (not named in the article) and a European telecommunications company (not named in the article). And it has to be written in Portuguese! Well, you could not find it if it had not been because, before that, a lawyer had found the document and classified it precisely as “Service Provider Agreement (SPA) between a Chinese telecommunications company and a European telecommunications company written in Portuguese.” Notice that it is in Portuguese, but it could have been in other languages, depending on the company and their requirements. For that classification, the lawyer used computer science software which allows classification of those pieces of knowledge really well by using legal taxonomies of the salaries, by using keywords, and by extracting different clauses that you are going to handle in different ways. This process of classification has been enhanced by GenAI in the last 18 months: “What we're seeing is that it helps us, suggesting some specific classifications, making some summaries, helping us out with anonymization, with redaction, etc.” “Now, instead of doing all of the manual work, what we're going to be doing is reviewing.” “GenAI is going to tell you, this document talks about this particular topic, or I can make an abstract of this particular document. But it's not going to tell you, you know what, compared to the rest of the documents, this is a good one. That's what actually the knowledge professionals, that's the added value that they bring into it, which is all of the experience.” There has always been interest in improving knowledge management within law firms as it is a very profitable aspect. “No matter how much money you put into knowledge management, you're always going to get a super large return.” Since the 2000s, many enterprises emerged with the purpose of covering this need, and they will keep appearing and changing as technology does, as we have seen with GenAI. But, above technology, it is more important to know the need we want to cover . That is why, before saying goodbye, Carlos recommends: “Try to understand really well, you know, the legal process behind it and then apply technology. Never do it the other way around.” He knows what he is saying, as he has come across clients who just wanted to buy a solution. “What do you want it for?” he asked. “Sometimes you realize that he's not referring to that particular product he wants to buy, he's referring to a different type of solution,” Carlos claims. “So yeah, it's very, very important to listen to your clients, to analyze their needs, and not to take them for granted.” - Carlos García-Egocheaga CEO, Lexsoft Systems #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

  • Cai Felip about Blockchain: “Implementing blockchain in different sectors is getting easier”

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH Cai is an Advisor in the technology sector, specifically focused on blockchain . This technology is closely related to one of his biggest obsessions: digital identities . In 2019, he began developing the concept for a company that could create 3D avatars from 2D photos using 3D reconstruction techniques and machine learning, an idea that combines both blockchain and digital identities. This concept eventually became Union Avatars. This is not his first company. In fact, Cai has a long career that began when he was 10 years old and started coding. To be more accurate, it began even earlier, when his father sparked his deep interest in technology. Startups came later, with the definitive step being a cashback application that handled both fiat and cryptocurrencies, which introduced him to the world of crypto regulation; a field that, in 2016, was still largely uncharted in terms of regulatory frameworks. The power of blockchain in law firms: an enabling technology that improves transparency, accountability, and trustability Cai clarifies it: Blockchain is much more than cryptocurrencies or a “monetary system that is not depending on central institutions.” It is a very relevant technology within all types of organizations, and it has some specific advantages for use inside the legal sector. As Cai says, blockchain can provide “a lot of transparency, accountability, and trustability,” which are some of the keys that all lawyers would desire for their everyday life. “It gives us a new way of understanding things, of following product services,” he adds. As a person obsessed with digital identities, Cai is very aware of anonymity . Blockchain “allows you to identify yourself without saying who you are,” a feature that aligns with the ZK concept (Zero-Knowledge Identity). Also, one of the main points regarding blockchain is “the possibility to trace something until its origins.” Of course, we need to be warned about expectations . “We don't have to be blind and think that blockchain works for everything,” says Cai. “There are still a lot of solutions that can work with regular databases, so you don't need a central open database that you share among users.” This is why there is one challenge we must face before using blockchain: “Understanding how to apply blockchain in a specific industry, understanding what are the key points that can work, what are the key points that don't work, what can be on-chain, what has to be off-chain for privacy reasons.” There are also technological challenges , but, against all odds, Cai claims that “implementing blockchain in different sectors is getting easier.” It seems that you don't need to be an expert, or understand the grounds in the same way as in using AI. “It's more about understanding what the architecture is that we need for it and what can be useful and what not.” “There are many more topics that can be affected day by day by people on AI than on blockchain.” So, how much should we know about blockchain? “Well, when you go to the bank and take out some cash from the ATM, at the end of the day, you don't know what is happening behind the machine. You don't know everything that the machine or the system is doing to give you this cash.” What Cai means by this is that “not everybody needs to know about it, like how to explain it.” “We have been pushing a lot for people to understand everything from blockchain, and people are also not fully confident in it until they understand it,” claims Cai. For Cai, “blockchain technology has to be a medium and not an objective itself. So it's more of an enabling technology. So as long as it works, and somebody can review it and can see what's happening.” And what about Cai’s identity? Well, Cai provided us with very valuable information about how to protect our identities. If that was not enough, he also shared with us some interesting information about himself. He likes the present so much that he would refuse to travel to the past or to the future. Maybe it was because in the past he would not have his favorite TV shows - Mr. Robot  and Peaky Blinders - and in the future he could be a step back from his biggest passion , which is technology. “I think most of the people who are in technology are because they are really curious to know how these systems work.” Apart from being a very passionate technologist, he is a deep-thinker who defends the cycle of permanent change that surrounds us: “You can't assume anything, so don't take anything for granted,” he says. “Everything changes so fast that what is true or what is valid one day can be invalid the next day. The only thing that we know for sure is that change is the only permanent thing.” Change is permanent and the only answer for it is willingness: “Push yourself, every day you have to try to be a little bit better than yesterday. Not trying to do a ‘big gap,’ but if every day you try to do a little bit better than the previous day, at the end of the day, in the long term, you will have a much better version of yourself.” The most interesting advice came later, as it was very paradoxical and unpredictable. Cai, as an Advisor, encourages you to “break the rules and fight the law.” “A lot of the improvements, especially when we talk about technology, have been because somebody challenged the status quo and tried to modify it. And then we saw new laws created after that.” Breaking the law creates new law? What is the point of it? “We always need to try to break some rules and find a way of doing it without affecting people. That doesn't mean that you have to do something illegal. I'm not talking about this, but just like playing on the limits and understanding, and especially with lawyers, I think they have a big chance of understanding things in a new way and trying to adapt their life to it.” To say goodbye, Cai wanted to share a reflection about something very important for him as a Legal Advisor, entrepreneur, and person who loves technology: privacy. “I think over time with technology, we started having quite a lot of privacy. Then we kind of lost it with social networks and everything, and we have to reach a point where we regain privacy. Privacy doesn't mean that people will do bad things, but I think without privacy, we are kind of too exposed.” “Our data is being sold day by day. We lose control of our data. So I think it's important to be able to keep track of your data, knowing who has your data, who is monetizing your data. I think that's really important.” - Cai Felip CEO, Union Avatars #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

  • Jon Bartman: “Nothing is a straight path within legal technology”

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH We are inaugurating the Behind Legaltech space at GLTH! We have been several months getting to know all of our Advisors better: what do they do? What do they watch? What do they think? Today, we will start answering these questions with a very interesting Legal Advisor, Jon Bartman , who belongs to the Innovation Area of our Advisory and is the Co-founder of The Law Tech Consultancy . Let's start! Jon Bartman has always “wanted to do something in sports.” He loves football, rugby, golf and, in general, any sport. When he got a little older, he realized that he probably wasn't good enough for that. “So I'd like to be a sports agent,” he declares. Now, he is the founder of The Law Tech Consultancy, where he works with a huge number of the top 200 law firms in the UK, as well as 200 Amlaw’s firms. According to Jon, his success in the legal and technology world stems from a very “round way.” He had been “in and around the legal world for the last 10 years and in and around legal technology for the last 6 years.” Then he noticed that lawyers had “a very difficult job” consisting of good business skills, good sales skills, and a good understanding of technology. So one year ago, he decided to dedicate his life to helping law firms in terms of consultancy and technology. Get to know Jon Better Jon might not have become the sportsperson he wanted to be when he was a child, but he has the attitude, as his everyday mantra is the next one: “I can get hit, it's how many times you get up and what you do when you get up.” A powerful thought that also aligns with one of his favorite philosophers’ point of view: Friedrich Nietzsche. This German thinker’s famous quote, “He who has a reason to live can bear almost any how,” invokes in Jon the power of positive thoughts and resilience . If Jon could talk to his younger self, he would tell him that “everything has a purpose and everything has a reason. He works hard and understands that there are always curves on the road.” Apart from Nietzsche, we cannot ignore, also, the influence of The Sopranos  and other TV Series in Jon’s life. “I don't know, you can still watch The Sopranos  again, and again, and again, and it's layered.” So are the comedies, such as the original version of The Office , with Ricky Gervais. “The UK version, not the American version,” he highlights. Jon is very clear that he would prefer to travel back in time than travel to the future. “I think having the knowledge that you have now makes you so valuable in the past. Obviously, there's so much innovation happening in our lives, the future is going to look completely different, while the past is going to look the same, and you can impart wisdom that's going to make a difference.” Of course, Jon expresses this concern as a person who dedicates his life to legal innovation , which, in his opinion, is still “behind the curve.” “Nothing is a straight path within legal technology” To Jon, legaltech “is anything that makes lawyers' lives easier.” It helps to shorten the time “to review a contract, to choose a contract, to look at a piece of evidence, to execute a litigation case, whatever it is within that legal process, etc.” “It is always going to be the same, dealing with documentation,” he assures. The differences take root in the processes, where innovation is crucial. And where technology is inherent, as “it changes the processes.” Although there are many tools that Jon highlights, such as AI and CLM, he thinks that innovation within the legal world is still “behind the curve.” “Procurement teams and sales teams, for instance, have embraced technology in a much bigger way than legal teams,” he says. Jon dedicates his everyday work to law firms, consulting on their technologies and creating, for instance, AI solutions. “You don't have to buy off the table,” says Jon. “There are cheaper ways to create something yourself, using the right technology and the right people.” Jon also works with startups , helping them to turn from “acorns” to “unicorns.” For him, startups have to understand that “a law firm or an in-house team are going to have a lot to do with product development,” as “nothing is a straight path within legal technology.” Of course, Jon clarifies that “innovation does not necessarily mean creating something new: there is a piece of legal technology that we have used for 10 years. How can I do it a little better?” To Jon, AI is an example of technology which is 100% necessary “in terms of profitability and in terms of being able to take on work that they possibly couldn't have taken.” Stepping back, using AI Gen is very innovative, but the way we use it has to be innovative too. “You can have a PDF that now has a generative AI box built in, so that when I'm editing content I can ask questions. That's really super innovative and really cool.” Legal technologies keep getting easier Legal innovation can still be behind the curve, but legaltech solutions keep growing . As a court for the Legal Tech Foundation which runs the Miami Summit every year, Jon assures that legal tech is taking big steps in recent years. “Even in the last 12 months,” he points out. In this Foundation, they have to select four legal tech startups among three hundred or more. “You see enormous amounts of innovation. And the evolution from two years ago to this year is spectacular,” Jon claims. Thanks to this fact, Jon believes that technology is getting easier for others to use , such as judges. “It doesn't matter where you are from,” he says. “A Spanish lawyer and a lawyer from the United Kingdom have to sign a contract. It doesn't matter where the technology comes from, you just have to make sure it's in the right place.” Jon underlines that global fact and he encourages others to join the Advisory Board of the GLTH. “It's a great place to meet people on the border. If you look at the list of lawyers, there are some incredible names of people who are exceptional thought leaders within legal technology.” He does not only encourage you to join our community but to him as well. “I'd like to talk to anyone who is a little scared or looking for the next innovation within legal technology. I would like to talk to you. My door is always open.” - Jon Bartman Co-founder, The Law Tech Consultancy #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

  • Pascale Dahrouj: “Some employees think that their jobs will be lost when things are automated”

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH You can see Pascale Dahrouj anywhere where there is a conference or a workshop. As a professional with a background in international, energy and gas law, she is very concerned about the importance of what she calls the “global connection”, and she is always keeping herself informed of what is the current trend. So it goes without saying why she joined the Innovation Area of our Advisory Board… During the pandemic she was working in dispute resolution and she took notice of the “pain points and inefficiency in the legal sector”. As the founder and CEO of Willminds, an enterprise specialized in dispute resolution, consulting services and professional development, she was able to start the “journey” of implementing innovative technological products that have driven them to win many awards. More about Pascale’s background  She has always been driven by a passion for diplomacy and a desire to make a global impact. From a young age, her dream was very clear: "My goal was to make an impact on the international political scene, to represent my country, Lebanon, in an official capacity," she recalls. With a degree in International Relations and Diplomacy and later a transition into law, she found her way to a career that still aligned closely with those ambitions. Reflecting on her move into law , Pascale says that “is not far from where I wanted to be because I have been  an advisor for a long time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants. Diplomacy is very much about law, technology, and everything.”  The name of Pascale's company, Willminds, reminds her every day of one of her core principles : "When Will and Mind come together, nothing is impossible."  Pascale holds a special place in her heart for Washington, D.C. , a city where she lived during her college years while pursuing her MPS at George Washington University and later specialized studies at Harvard. “I love D.C. because it's a small city, but at the same time, it's the most international city in the world,” she says. For Pascale, the city’s blend of quiet neighborhoods and vibrant international life was the perfect backdrop for never “stop learning”. When it comes to unwinding, Pascale's favorite TV series is Suits -the same as other advisors with a very good taste for TVshows-. In the case of Pascale, her taste never misses its flavor: “I have actually watched the series three times," she admits. "It’s not just about legal cases; it’s also about personal drama, corporate politics, and how complex problems are solved. Every time I watch it, I discover something new." One of Pascale's guiding quotes comes from the epic Theodore Roosevelt : “Believe you can and you're halfway there.” “The next steps you need to take, you need to take them. But to believe is the foundation”, she concludes. Pascale´s favorites legaltech applications Pascale has a very holistic vision of legal tech , appreciated in the fact that she could spend all the day talking about all its applications -which is why, perhaps, you can see her in many conferences as speaker-: “case management, legal processing, customer services, customized services for clients, feedback and advice from clients, sustainability”, are only some of them. For Pascale, legal tech is rethinking the legal sector , but not its function, whose purpose is, in the end, the access and delivery of justice. Among all the benefits around legal tech that help to rethink the sector, we can find, inter alia, the increasing of operational efficiency, security and complexity. Regarding this last fact, she says that legal tech allows us to have better databases and, as a consequence, better “informed decisions”.  Within the enormous legal tech landscape there is a special region that Pascale adores: Artificial Intelligence . Repeating all its benefits would be redundant as many of them have been already said -which highlights the important part that it takes in legal tech-. For Pascale, the most important application of AI is “legal investigations”, which involves contract analysis, management and predictive analytics. Indeed, she likes how AI can be applied in the field that she calls “predictive justice”, providing help not only at “the outcome of cases and what the decision could be, but also giving some preventive measures.” This aspect is very interesting, especially for law firms. Why? AI can help provide monitoring about new regulations around the world, something critical since “jurisdictions are changing everywhere”, as Pascale claims. “If you are not compliant, there is a big problem, especially in the legal sector since there are no longer transactions on the border with globalization.” What do we need when implementing AI in a legal company? The first thing that has to be done is a “digital transformation strategy”, a process that changes depending on many facts that are all connected. Of course, we cannot provide a personalized strategy for each reader -in that case, call Pascale, please-. By now, she has shared with us what would be a general strategy for an average legal company,  which involves the following tasks: “understanding the current situation of a company, identifying areas for improvement and putting a clear roadmap for this digital transformation, from timelines to objectives, to budget considerations, etc. And within that, within this strategy, there should be a change management plan for the employee. We need to make sure that the employee understands the benefits and is trained for this transition.” Secondly,  there are essential tools that need to be included: “Cloud-based solutions for document management systems, legal practice management software, project management tools, customer engagement tools”. And, of course, do not forget about cyber ​​security measures!  Finally, Pascale would suggest trying to bring innovation labs in order to create an own solution for the company. This step is not essential, but probably is a very disruptive way of making the difference. Maybe many readers are thinking that the most difficult part is the second one or the third one, but Pascale considers that it is the first one, specifically the change management plan: “some employees think that their jobs will be lost when things are automated”, she claims. “There is a gap in knowledge and expertise in particular. Some employees do not know how to operate or work with technology well. Even if they are trained, there is an existing skills gap.” The profound global and human impact of legaltech When we are talking about justice, we are talking about the whole society. “No matter what sector you are in”, says Pascale, “you are affected by judicial reform, by how justice is carried out, because the impact is on you in the end, on the individual, the business, the community, etc.” That's why, in Pascale´s opinion, legal tech has a huge global and human impact . “It's transforming education. It's also transforming in terms of sustainability. It's helping to make things paperless. It's improving the user experience. When you know that you have an easier and cheaper platform to access justice, you'll be more willing to go to justice.This will create an equitable society. So yes, for sure. I would focus a lot on the human impact.” Following this line, she encourages everyone to contribute : “no matter what field, whether you're a legal professional, whether you're a technologist, whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're just curious about legal technology, there's always a way you can contribute and make a difference. Legal technology is an exciting field full of possibilities”. “It has great potential for the future”, she follows, “and is driving change in the legal industry and society at large, as we already mentioned, about the human impact and how it is creating an equitable and more efficient system. Can any contribution from you in this, be it big or small, shape the future?” If the answer is yes, then, Pascale has something to tell you: “Let’s work together to explore new ideas and make a positive impact!” - Pascale Dahrouj Founder & CEO, Willminds #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

  • Damien Riehl: “Everything will have legal tech”

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH When Damien grew up, he wanted to be Harry Connick Jr. and follow his musician career . It was when he was playing a Brahms piece that suddenly two of his tenors started punching each other in the face. And he thought: “Do I really want to be a teacher? What if I go to law school?” Well, he did so. And now he has a long professional trajectory combining law and technology . He spent about 15 years litigating with the major firm Robins Kaplan , worked at Thomson Reuters and Facebook , and, for the past five years, he’s been with vLex , where he runs billions of legal documents from many countries across LLMs . All these experiences have provided him a very interesting insight into the legal technology sector. Do you want to know more? Against all odds, there is 1% of innovation within the processes of law firms Damien has a very reflective attitude when it comes to defining legaltech: “I would say that it's hard to say that it's one thing because legal technology is going to be used for every single aspect of legal work.” He focuses a lot on LLM , as this technology can do “every single thing that we as lawyers do”: ingest words, think about words, and output words. And so what is legaltech? “It's everything we do, because everything that we do is going to be, going forward, using these Large Language Models.” Of course, Damien is talking about the future, as right now it could be said that there is still a lower implementation of AI. According to him, one reason is that lawyers always look to precedent: “We look to what's been done before. And if it's precedential, whether it's a case or something else, then it's probably going to apply to this.” Regarding this, Damien considers that the most common technologies nowadays are yesterday's technologies, such as Microsoft Word. “If you're lucky, people know Microsoft Excel,” Damien says. “There was a joke when I worked for the courts that they said the courts have yesterday's technology tomorrow. So in the same way, I think law firms often have yesterday's technology, and maybe they'll get it tomorrow. And there are already many skills related to those technologies that have to be learned.” Although it is believed that many law firms are being innovative , there is just a “1% of innovation within their processes,” and the rest just respond to an intention of “making their clients think that they're being innovative.” “Yes, there is innovation going on within law firms,” claims Damien. “But if you get in the hush tones and get people one on one, often there is a very different view of what's innovative.” So, for those who have already managed yesterday’s skills, what technologies should they have inside their work? Damien is very clear about it: Large Language Models . “They are transformative, they've ingested every single book that has ever been written and the entirety of the internet.” And, in terms of law, LLM also has access to “the entirety of the legal sphere.” Despite his previous point of view about innovation, Damien thinks that law firms are doing better with LLM . But maybe not better enough… “They are just dipping toes into the water, when they should be jumping in with both hands and feet”, he claims. The odyssey of the benchmarks All companies are reporting which AI tool fits better with them, a hasty race that involves GPT-4.0,  “which is the current state of the art,” Anthropics' Claude, and Google's Gemini. A fourth tool is Meta's Llama. It used to be less competitive until it became open source “and is now also neck and neck”, assures Damien. Of course, if there is a war within benchmarks , it is because law firms want to make a decision on only one, which, for Damien, is a huge mistake: “The models will continue getting better, and they will continue being a horse race. The best and smartest companies are doing an ensemble of models.” But depending on what? On tasks? Actually, for Damien, it depends on how much reasoning that task requires . “Do you require a senior lawyer's kind of thinking about the case, or does it require just a junior analyst or a secretary's kind of work? So if it requires a senior lawyer, use the best model. If it only requires a secretary's work, then you could be able to save the money and use a lower model, which will then get the job done.” Damien talks about companies that are not doing very well, but he has gone to many conferences worldwide where he could get to know others who are being successful in terms of LLM applications: Joe Green and John Scrudato, CIO at Gunderson Dettmer and Director of AI and Innovation at Latham & Watkins, who “are doing really cool things.” “Every time I hear Joe and John speak”, Damien says, “it's clear that they talk the talk and walk the walk, where others just kind of talk the talk. It's clear that Joe and John are really doing the right things with their firms.” A little storytime about LLM Damien was asked about his perception of the evolution of the legaltech ecosystem . He took “the long arc of that” and drew an interesting metaphor related to the current LLM applications: “In 1999, as a lawyer, I used email to transmit legal advice to my client, which could breach my duty of confidentiality. If somebody hacks one of those servers, they could be able to eavesdrop on what's being said. And email is not encrypted. And the thing is, everybody used it, and now it's not an ethical bar.” To Damien, in the context of LLM, everybody's saying: “Oh, you're breaching your duty of confidentiality. And do you trust OpenAI? Are they going to be training the system? I'm not using a large language model because of that.” And, to Damien, this is as silly as saying: “I don't email my clients because of the duty of confidentiality.” The same has happened with eDiscovery, Cloud computing, etc. “We've seen this movie before.” So, using LLM is almost mandatory for each law firm . Above all, when we take into account its several benefits. Damien shares this interesting piece of information: “92% of legal needs are unmet because we lawyers are too expensive.” To Damien, AI can help to provide Access to Justice to “each person in our countries.” Damien also thinks that LLM could help to enhance the profession and salary of specific lawyers, like the following example shows: “The case of a defense lawyer in the past would just be dismissed because the person being discriminated against would do such a poor job representing themselves. But instead of the case being dismissed after a week, maybe the case stays in the pipeline for longer.” The wave of LLM is a game changer, and Damien is bound to ride it as well as possible. The best recommendation that he can give you as a Legal Advisor is reflected here: “People often say, what do I need to be reading to be able to figure out how to use large language models? And that question is kind of like, what should I be reading to learn how to swim? And the answer is, nothing that you're reading is going to help you swim.” Are you riding the legal tech wave like you should? Lawyer, coder, singer, and writer Damien leads a very dynamic life, but he has not left one of his biggest passions : music. He is still playing guitar and singing. Indeed, he has a virtual choir that has members in six continents worldwide! “So I will sing the soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and then send out the recording,” he says. He has run it since the pandemic, encouraging many people to sing along with him and his music. This could be aligned with his everyday mantra: “To make the world a bit better each day.” He is a person who prefers producing rather than consuming. When he reached about age 35, he could not watch a TV series without thinking about producing things. So he made the decision to watch a documentary instead: “At least, even though I'd be consuming things, it'd be consuming real-life things that I could use in being more productive.” He leads all this passion also to writing . In fact, he writes all the time. He spent his last vacation producing different taxonomic items that are being used by Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis, iManage, and NetDocuments, and that have been translated into more than five languages! He is very excited about legal technology as he thinks that “we are really entering the golden age” and he is looking forward to reaching out to more people. People who want to ride the wave of technology and generate knowledge around it. That is why he encourages you to join the Global LegalTech Hub and not miss any opportunity. - Damien Riehl VP, Solutions Champion, vLex #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

  • Alejandro Esteve about CLM: It helps lawyers to have a good balance between work and life

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH Alejandro is someone very special at the GLTH. He was a co-founder in 2018, he is an Advisor within the Technology area, and he also belongs to the “proud father’s area” of the Association since he had a child 3 years ago. And now he is waiting for another one! A lawyer with 15 years of experience in Corporate and M&A, nowadays he is CEO and co-founder of Bigle , a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) software. Usually, I ask Advisors “what motivated them to join the GLTH,” but, in this case, it seemed more appropriate to ask, “what motivated you, Alejandro, to co-create the GLTH?” “There was a group of people who were talking, I think it was Francesc”, he says. “Legaltech was starting to take off, and we wanted to speed up the adoption of legal technology. So by creating the GLTH and setting up a group of advisors, we thought that this would help lawyers, because we know they are sometimes a little bit lost.” Thinking about his career By studying law, Alejandro acquired some skills that were very useful for his current role as an entrepreneur, a role that makes him feel very happy. Although it is not always easy… “When you are the CEO of a tech company”, Alejandro says, “it feels like you're eating glass and staring at the abyss most of the time, because usually the bad things in a company tend to go up.” This phrase of Elon Musk reflects that when you are a CEO, “you have to solve a lot of problems.” Alejandro has an interesting trick for that: “I try to remember that I have to behave or I have to be like a thermostat, not the thermometer, meaning that I have to put rhythm in the company in order not to be affected by the problems that surround me or the economic context or whatever. And on the contrary, to motivate and to establish what temperature the rest of the organization needs to be.” Alejandro loves talking about work, but he has a lot of hobbies , such as traveling to Asia, one of his favorite parts of the world; watching Sherlock , and participating in the never-ending discussion: Friends  or How I Met Your Mother?  We were diplomatic and focused on another less controversial topic: legaltech. Benefits of using a CLM “CLM shines at helping lawyers to be efficient and saving time in those tasks that are mundane, that are low value,” claims Alejandro. “I've seen many lawyers suffer because they spend so many hours at the office. But they have a family. So it helps lawyers to have a good balance between work and life.” CLM also helps to increase security and regulatory compliance. Why? “When you have a company, you can start drawing the procedures that they have to run. And with the CLM, you can really take some of these procedures out of the hands of people. And it's usually the case that the problems or the mistakes are made by humans”. “So, by having a process that is standardized, that is transparent, that is going to work always the same, you are going to mitigate risks for the company. One example would be not so much on the risk side, but it's costing companies a lot of money: renewals.” “Most companies sign contracts where the contract is going to be renewed every year. But, once they sign, they have no control over the contract. So next year it's going to be renewed and the company is going to have to pay again and again.” “If you're not early in order to terminate the contract, it's going to have to be renewed. And this, again, is going to be costing the companies thousands, if not millions of euros.” And here comes one powerful solution: by having a CLM, explains Alejandro, you can have notifications that prevent the company from renewing unnecessary contracts, and you can have a conversation with the responsible person to at least analyze the case… To renew or not to renew? - that's the matter.  The adoption of legal tech in recent years “Since COVID, we have been forced to adopt technology”, says Alejandro. “And since AI, we have had the tool to incentivize even more that adoption.” “So both AI and COVID have helped a lot.” “Whereas some years ago”, he follows, “some lawyers would be afraid because they thought that technology would take their place, now you see the world is still there, the same lawyers and the same problems. However, now we are being more efficient at solving them.” As an Advisor, Alejandro recommends that if you want to have an interesting conversation, just join the GLTH. It is a good opportunity to hear and change perspectives about legaltech: “Sometimes it's very important to stop what you're doing and to analyze if there is any way that I can do this better” says Alejandro. “So, I would encourage everyone to just stop for a bit, listen to what's out there, and implement it bit by bit. There's no need to change dramatically, at least to a small change. The thing that we encounter, the biggest problem, is culture. People are afraid of change. And they shouldn't be. They should be embracing change. Because if they do so, they would be two steps ahead of their competition.” - Alejandro Esteve De Miguel CEO & Co-founder, Bigle #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

  • Ezequiel Braun: “With the proper implementation of entity management software, legal teams can now access critical data”

    By Pablo Yannone Sancho , Journalist at GLTH Ezequiel's journey into the world of law began at a young age. Initially, he dreamt of becoming a writer , but his interest shifted to law after being influenced by John Grisham novels and films, as well as watching his older sister embark on her legal studies. This early exposure to law solidified his passion for the field, which has grown over time.  He has become a very experienced   commercial lawyer who has worked with different types of enterprises, from big companies to SMEs. This cross-functional experience has provided him a very deep insight that inspired him to found, in 2020, Brevity, a SaaS platform. He considers himself a very recent person in the legaltech world, so he is always looking forward to learning from other advisors. “Communities are pivotal to navigate new technologies, stay up to date, and meet kindred spirits”, he notes.  So, just reach out to him and learn from each other´s spirit. A little bit about Ezequiel´s background Beyond his professional life, Ezequiel is guided by a mantra inspired by Winston Churchill's famous WWII speech: "Fight on the beaches." He has this phrase tattooed on his arm as a reminder to always persevere, no matter the challenges he faces. An avid traveler , Ezequiel describes his trip to Northern Norway and Svalbard as one of the most memorable experiences of his life. Witnessing the magical Northern Lights with his wife left a lasting impression, and he fondly recalls the simplicity and friendliness of the Norwegian people.  When it comes to relaxation, Ezequiel enjoys rewatching the popular series Stranger Things , appreciating how it captures the essence of the 1980s and its endearing, quirky characters. As a child of the '80s, the show brings back a sense of nostalgia for him. A self-described history enthusiast, Ezequiel is torn between traveling to the past or the future. While he would love to witness key historical events, his focus has shifted to preparing for the future, particularly for his two children. As he anticipates the challenges that the next 10 to 15 years might bring, Ezequiel is dedicated to equipping his family for the world ahead. With a combination of curiosity, resilience, and a deep love for learning, Ezequiel continues to navigate the evolving landscape of law and life with passion and purpose. Ezequiel's vision on legal tech Ezequiel distincts two different categories of legaltech. The first and the most general is the “B2C legaltech”, which empowers individuals to address their legal problems without the need for lawyers. “This is a fascinating area,” Ezequiel notes, “because it opens up opportunities for people to access justice who might otherwise be excluded.” Next, Ezequiel mentions B2B platforms, which focus on enhancing service delivery within legal firms or corporate environments. “In my case, I work with legal tech in companies, and it's exciting to see how these technologies help improve internal processes and client relations.” What kind of technologies does he work with? The relevance of managing information in law firms, legal departments and societies For Ezequiel, the most common ones are CLMs, as it takes a very “important part within companies”. They are “mainly present when I talk about legal departments”, he says. In  the case of law firms, there are more specific applications, such as the “case tracking” and “time billing.” As a  technology provider for departments and firms, he is very aware that the technologies that both sides need are the same. However, it is different when it comes to talk about legal tech that they should have and still don't. “I think legal departments should focus a lot on measuring where their resources are allocated”, says Ezequiel. Sometimes, this lack of information prevents them from deciding “whether to implement a CLM or an entity management or a practice management or any other software.” And there still a lack of “commitment” to having that information. If managing information is such a challenge within law firms or legal departments, just imagine in the case of corporate entities, which is, indeed, the specialization of Ezequiel since he is a technology provider. He explains, “Managing entities basically allows you to see information and know what you need to know in terms of corporate data in two clicks.” This efficiency is crucial for organizations handling multiple companies, where quick access to legal information is essential. “Before adopting these technologies, many companies relied on outdated methods, such as Excel spreadsheets or even unstructured documents. However, with the proper implementation of entity management software, legal teams can now access critical data, such as attorneys or powers of attorney, within seconds.” One key to their success has been sharing this information beyond the legal department. Ezequiel highlights that “a very successful implementation is not only to use the software for your legal team, but, actually, share that information in a single portal very easily understood by other professionals in the organization.” This approach fosters better communication between the legal department and the rest of the organization, enhancing collaboration and efficiency. Ezequiel shares that some of his clients in Latin America and beyond have embraced this technology so effectively that they no longer need to request routine information from their legal departments. “They don't ask their corporate departments for more powers of attorney, financial disclosures, or clauses in their amendments. They just go into Brevity and get the information.” Looking to the future of legaltech , Ezequiel would like to see more cases of B2C legal companies being successful. He does not forget about the progress of B2B tools, too, which is proof that lawyers are not that “adverse innovation”, says Ezequiel. “Since I started 20 years ago my practice”, he follows, “practicing law was very different.” It does not mean that those who have not implement technology are outdated. Indeed, Ezequiel has two very good pieces of advice that blend everything he talked about: First, “ It's not too late to get into legaltech, even if it seems you are far behind on technology understanding.” And, secondly, and maybe even more important, “Relax more and enjoy the present”. - Ezequiel Braun Pellegrini Founder & CEO, Brevity #legaltech #people #behindlegaltech

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