Guest post by Professor Mimi Zou, a member of the LawtechUK advisory panel
Zou: Lawtech needs more equality and diversity
The UK has the potential to be the leader in legal technology in the next 10 years but who will benefit from these emerging technologies?
While the US and China will continue to dominate in the AI frontier, it is our specific niche in legal tech which gives the UK its edge. We’re also serious players when it comes to fintech and medtech.
A decade ago, I set up the first lawtech innovation lab in the UK at Oxford University and grew a start-up. Revolutionary at the time and particularly difficult for female founders to get venture capitalists to invest.
My concern is that little has changed since then and the next decade doesn’t look like getting any better for women. Who will benefit is a rhetorical question.
While the legal profession is split fairly evenly between men and women, the tech sector is not. You don’t have to be a lawyer to set up a lawtech. A tech expert can do the same and with only a fifth of teams being female, it’s more likely to be a male-led start-up.
Tech has the equivalent of an old boy’s network. That makes it harder for women to break in. It also makes it harder when it comes to networking, finding backers and ultimately clients.
Women tend to go into the ‘softer’ side of the law, such as family, consumer and employment law, which are not seen the same way by venture capitalists looking for the six-figure piece of software for big law firms wanting to save time and money on things such as mergers and acquisitions.
Research by Harvard University has shown the sort of questions asked by investors to female founders lead to more defensive answers. Meanwhile, men get asked about how they plan to grow the business i.e. allowing them to give more positive answers.
I am a member of LawtechUK’s advisory panel and we support initiatives to modernise legal services, promote responsible adoption of AI and strengthen access to justice. But for justice to be done, it needs to be seen to be done. That means more equality and diversity, including cultural and neuro-diversity.
I believe the UK will lead the way in lawtech because we have the advantage of English law. The Commercial Court remains the leading centre for the resolution of international commercial litigation. It has a reputation for fast and fair dispute resolution. Litigants want their cases to be held here.
Add AI and all it can bring to the party, and it is no wonder the UK has the fastest growing lawtech eco-system with more than 90% growth since 2020.
Emerging technologies are developing at a pace unrecognisable a decade ago. Bottom up came ChatGPT. Now an everyday tool for the public. Top down, the big law firms adopted large language learning models such as Harvey.
Within a decade, I expect every law firm, including sole practitioners, to be using some form of artificial intelligence. That will range from client onboarding to AI courtroom advocacy.
Technology experts, business people and lawyers are seizing the opportunity AI brings by setting up lawtech firms offering everything from divorce and conveyancing to employment and wills. Each of these new lawtech firms has its own business model. This could be subscriptions, transaction fees and efficiencies such as using AI to cutdown the time spent on routine tasks.
Lawyers are creating their own AI tools too and they don’t need to know how to code. Vibe is one such latest piece of software. You explain what you want it to create – such as produce a template, organise a workflow – and ask AI to generate the code for you.
So, with all these options, why are female founders still struggling? Is there a systematic bias in the way start-ups work which prevent women getting funding? Will it be different in 10 years’ time?
I hope so, because studies have shown, when it comes to return on investment, mixed-gender or female-led businesses do better.
For female founders, with the right government support, the UK has a lot of promise to remain a global leader. There is more AI used now in international arbitration. This means England and Wales can leverage it to ensure we have the best and most innovative legal tech companies going forward.
As the UK continues to lead the way in lawtech, the opportunities for female led start-ups must surely increase. We can’t let another decade go by and still be wringing our hands.
It doesn’t just apply to lawtech but to emerging technologies too. Women need to be with the front runners in the race and not at the back if everyone is to benefit equally.
Professor Mimi Zou is also the head of the School of Private and Commercial Law at the University of New South Wales and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. She founded the first lawtech innovation lab at Oxford University (Oxford Deep Tech Dispute Resolution Lab) and a legal tech spinout. She has been called to the Bar of England and Wales as well as admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and New South Wales, Australia.
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