LawscotTech Strategy 2024-2028

Background context

The Law Society of Scotland established LawscotTech in 2018 to bring relevant people together to consider the challenges facing the legal profession and try to identify potential legaltech solutions. By bringing people together to share different experiences and expertise and work collaboratively, we sparked creative and innovative thinking. We put together a list of the challenges facing the legal sector that we believed legaltech may be able to solve.

On the back of the COVID pandemic, the LawscotTech aims were revised to meet the rapid adoption of legaltech as below:

  • Facilitate a thriving legal technology environment by bringing together solicitors and their employees with technologists.
  • Through technological advances, improve efficiencies and create competitive advantages for solicitors and clients.
  • Showcase a globally respected hub for legal technology innovation in Scotland.
  • Collaborate with partners in other business sectors throughout Scotland and globally.
  • Engage the Scottish business community’s interest in the legal sector.
  • Stimulate engagement from outwith the legal sector.

Who we are

LawscotTech has an advisory Board chaired by former Law Society of Scotland President, Murray Etherington who is a solicitor at Thorntons IT and represents Arbroath, Dundee, and Forfar on the Society’s Council. Murray is supported by Vice Chair, Sarah Blair. Sarah is Director of IT at Thorntons Law, and a founding member of the LawscotTech Advisory Board having joined in 2018.

Our other members include:

  • Beth Anderson, Head of Member Engagement, Law Society of Scotland
  • Nicola Anderson, CEO of Fintech Scotland (founder member)
  • Christopher Barnes, solicitor at Horwich Farrelly
  • Justin Henderson, Head of IT Solutions Architecture, Law Society of Scotland
  • Andrew Hinstridge, Head of Customer Legal, Virgin Money, and Council member
  • John McKinlay, Partner at DLA Piper and convener of the Society's Technology Law and Practice Committee (founder member)
  • Alan Moffat, Faculty of Advocates
  • Stephen Moore, Moore Legal Technology
  • Paul Mosson, Executive Director, Member Services and Engagement, Law Society of Scotland (founder member)
  • Andrew Mowlam, Head of legal technology, Innovation and Insight, Sky (Comcast)
  • Callum Murray, CEO of Amiqus (founder member)
  • Jack Rowberry, Business Development Manager, Law Society of Scotland
  • Danae Shell, Co-founder and CEO, Valla
  • Aleks Tomczyk, Founder and Managing Director, Exizent
  • Lynsey Walker, Partner at Addleshaw Goddard (founder member)
  • Ross Yuill, Solicitor Advocate and Director, The Glasgow Law Practice

Our strategic pillars

LawscotTech is driven by its strategic pillars, each of which sit alongside each other, and none are any less of a priority.

  • Work with our universities to embed legal technology and innovation into the syllabus.
  • Guide trainees and their supervisors on the use of technology as part of the traineeship.
  • Increase the breadth and depth of legal technology skills and experience within the profession.
  • Encourage upskilling and identify leadership within the sector.
  • Continually publish best practice guidance for procuring and successfully adopting technology in the legal sector.
  • Build confidence in decision makers to empower them to invest.

  • Facilitate collaborations with legaltech providers, public body organisations and law firms/employers.
  • Strengthen cross-sector strategic collaboration to help all our members adopt technology.
  • Support our LawscotTech community by celebrating their successes.
  • Develop a louder collective voice and ensure everyone working in the legal system in Scotland knows LawscotTech and how it can help them succeed.
  • Help to identify the new opportunities opening up for the profession from legaltech.

  • Identify barriers to successful technology adoption and act to help remove them.
  • Measure success against a baseline by identifying the starting point, 'where are we now?'.
  • Develop and maintain a library of challenges defined by the sector.
  • Engage in and motivate the discussion of ethics within the profession, wider justice sector and regulatory bodies where these relate to technology.
  • Support the use of technology that improves access to justice for all citizens and businesses.

  • Develop connectivity amongst different technology clusters.
  • Broaden LawscotTech stakeholders across the UK.
  • Build upon the learning of others in the wider technology eco-system.
  • Promote the importance of the legal sector to the growth of Scotland’s digital economy.
  • Encourage technology companies to invest in Scotland by helping them understand the sector.

Our vision

For Scotland to be seen by its citizens, businesses, and global peers as a leading jurisdiction for legaltech innovation that directly benefits clients, practitioners, and the administration of and access to justice.

Our mission

We will inform not instruct on the benefits of legaltech, remove obstacles one at a time, and celebrate and share successes to build momentum.

Our values

Underpinning our work are the following values that everyone involved in LawscotTech is asked to commit to living up to:

  • Purpose
  • Inclusion
  • Creativity
  • Transparency
  • Diversity
  • Clarity

Contact details

To find out more or if you want to get involved in LawscotTech in some other way please email us at tech@lawscot.org.uk.

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