LegalTech in Leeds announces speaker line-up for the 2023 Conference

Later this month the UK’s largest LegalTech event to be held outside of London will take place, and the agenda for the LegalTech in Leeds Conference 2023 has now been announced.

This will be the second LegalTech in Leeds conference, following the inaugural event which took place in March 2022. As recently announced, the conference will be held on Wednesday 26^th April at University of Leeds’ new flagship building for business and law - the Esther Simpson Building. 

The conference is being supported by the a number of the sponsors and partners of LegalTech in Leeds, including Addleshaw Goddard, Bruntwood SciTech, Barclays Eagle Labs, Barrister Link, Calls9, CSP, DAC Beachcroft, Founders Law, Jungle IT, Leeds City Council, Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, Leeds Law Society, LawtechUK, Leeds Trinity University, rradar, Page White Farrer, SYKE, The University of Law, Toca, University of Leeds, Walker Morris and Yorkshire Legal. 

The conference will be a full-day event featuring over 40 speakers, aimed at bringing together both the regional and national LegalTech ecosystem including law firms, tech/legaltech firms, startups and entrepreneurs, universities, public sector bodies and other key stakeholders.  

The morning will be split into two sessions, with the first being ‘LegalTech and Innovation in the UK’. This will see welcomes from LegalTech in Leeds and our hosts University of Leeds, followed by opening addresses from Leeds City Council and Leeds Law Society.  

A panel discussion will follow, focused on ‘Evolving the UK LegalTech Landscape’, where we will showcase the fast evolving LegalTech activity emerging across different regions of the UK including Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol & Bath. The panel will be chaired by Barclays Eagle Labs and will feature representatives from a range of regional initiatives including LegalTech in Leeds, SuperTechWM, Bristol+Bath LegalTech and the Manchester Law and Technology Initiative. 

The second session of the morning will be ‘LegalTech and Innovation: Stories from Leeds City Region’ where we will celebrate local success stories through a series of presentations from: Walker Morris, University of Leeds, Addleshaw Goddard, The University of Law, DAC Beachcroft, and Leeds Trinity University.

The morning will conclude with a panel discussion, chaired by Legal Geek, on the ‘Future of Legal Services’, and will explore a range of perspectives including speakers from rradar, Bupa, Calls9 and Founders Law.

After lunch, the first afternoon session will feature a number of immersive future-focused sessions which will see experts take a deep dive into different topics such as the Metaverse, Cybersecurity and Digital Transformation, providing attendees the opportunity to learn about a specific theme and engage with the session. There will be more information released regarding these sessions prior to the event.  

This will be followed by the ‘LegalTech in Leeds Showcase’ which will involve 15 tech and legaltech firms from Leeds City Region and beyond, delivering high-energy ‘quickfire’ pitches to the audience, showcasing some of the most innovative and forward-thinking tech-based solutions that could be adopted by the legal sector.

Organisations that will be represented in the ‘LegalTech in Leeds Showcase’ include: Abstract Tech, Barrister Link, Cyber Security Partners (CSP), Jungle IT, Just:ACCESS, Katchr, Lawtech 365, Legal Studio, Toca, TrialView, SYKE, The Case Law Portal, Talion.

The LegalTech Showcase will also feature the winning team from the LegalTech in Leeds Hackathon - ‘Remedy Robin’, who successfully pitched a solution for customer disputes in the retail sector. ‘The Big Hack’, hosted on 10^th March at Platform in Leeds, saw six teams work over the course of a day to find technology-based solutions to key challenges faced by the legal sector. Each team pitched their solution to a judging panel, with ‘Remedy Robin’ coming out on top. To read more about the Hackathon, please see the full event write-up here. 

To conclude the day, there will be a keynote from Simon Wright, Chief Operating Office at Pexa, who will talk about how the firm has tackled the challenge of revolutionising an established industry. Pexa’s world-first online property completion experience is now trusted by more than 10,000 legal and conveyancing firms in Australia and is used on more than 90% of property transactions. Pexa is embarking on the journey to do the same for buyers and sellers in the UK, and has settled on Leeds as its UK base. 

Some of our confirmed speakers include: 

·      Eve Roodhouse, Chief Officer for Culture and Economy, Leeds City Council.

·      Tom Matusiak, Director at Leeds Law Society, and Legal Director at Stewarts. 

·      Mark Stuart, Pro Dean, Research & Innovation at University of Leeds.

·      Gary Gallen, CEO, rradar.

·      Angelique de Lafontaine, Head of Legal Operations and Performance, Bupa.

·      Beth Fellner, Director, Legal Geek.

·      James Croyston, Director, Founders Law.

·      Liam Angus, Lawtech Innovation Lead, Barclays Eagle Labs.

·      Jonny Badrock, Senior Director, SYKE.

·     Steven Bravery, Head ofLaw, Leeds Trinity University.

·      Simon Wright, Chief Operating Officer at Pexa.

The 2023 LegalTech in Leeds Conference is set to be a unmissable event with a packed agenda full of regional and national thought-leaders, celebrating all of the exciting and innovative LegalTech activity that is taking place across Leeds City Region and beyond, showcasing the ‘art of the possible’ for legal services through the adoption of tech. 

 If you haven’t yet secured your place at the 2023 LegalTech in Leeds Conference, Sign-up Here.

For any enquiries about the conference, please contact: leedslegaltech@whitecapconsulting.co.uk  

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