Meet the judges for the LegalTech in Leeds Hackathon

Teams will have one day to build a solution to a challenge facing the legal sector, then pitch it to our judging panel: a mix of lawyers, engineers, founders and innovation leaders. Here’s who they are, and what they’ll be scoring teams on.

Katherine Megson, Head of Innovation, Bruntwood SciTech

Katherine supports startups, scale-ups and global companies through strategic ecosystem development. She has delivered five Female Founder Incubators across the North, supporting more than 60 women-led businesses, and has a financial services background with expertise in FinTech. She sits on the LegalTech in Leeds Advisory Board and works within Bruntwood SciTech’s community of more than 1,100 businesses.

Adrian Ioana, Head of Engineering, GoAhead Ventures

Adrian leads engineering at GoAhead Ventures, a $250M Silicon Valley venture capital fund, where he builds the AI-driven platform used to source and assess founders. He also founded BBMM Software, a software studio working with clients in the US, the Netherlands and Romania. Adrian brings both a technical and an investor’s view, from product architecture and feasibility to paths to revenue.

Chunjiang (CJ) Liu, Founder, OneXOne Tech

CJ is a serial entrepreneur in AI and EdTech. In Beijing he built AI products, raised three rounds of venture funding and sold his AI education product to a listed education company. He now runs Unfog Ltd in the UK, building applied AI products.

“I’m looking forward to seeing people from different backgrounds turn real-world problems into practical solutions. I’m especially interested in how teams combine AI with a clear understanding of users’ needs, and how they explain the value of what they build.”

Sarah Wilson, Legal R&D Specialist, Pinsent Masons

A former corporate finance lawyer, Sarah has spent the last twelve years in legal tech and innovation at Pinsent Masons. She has led teams of legal engineers and low-code / no-code engineers, and more recently has worked on AI adoption, from use cases to training. She’s driven by helping people work more efficiently and produce better outcomes.

Luke Corcoran, Senior Lawyer, Government Legal Department

Luke is a Senior Lawyer at the Government Legal Department and President of Leeds Law Society. He has worked in GLD’s Leeds office since 2017, advising on procurement and commercial law, and served as GLD’s innovation lead. He has seen government’s use of technology change significantly, and knows what it takes to land change with lawyers.

Alison Sandoval, Senior Legal Technology Engineer, Walker Morris

Alison has more than 33 years’ experience in the legal sector, including more than 30 years with the same Leeds law firm. Having seen first-hand the significant changes technology has brought to the legal profession, she now focuses on AI, innovation and legal technology, exploring how emerging solutions can make a real difference to the way lawyers work. She brings a combination of deep practical experience, curiosity about new technology and a drive to turn innovation into solutions that work in the real world.

What the judges will be looking for

Each team will be scored across four areas: user validation, design and implementation, business model, and commercialisation. Every pitch is judged in the same way.

User validation. How well has the team identified who it’s building for? Is the problem it’s tackling a relevant one for those users, and does the solution fit what they need?

Design and implementation. How developed is the team’s minimum viable product or tech concept, how well does the demo work, and how easy is it to understand?

Business model. How compelling is the value proposition, and how viable is the model? Judges will look at the team’s competitive analysis, its plan for winning customers and its revenue model. For projects with a public benefit, such as access to justice, the team needs a compelling theory for how the project could be financially viable.

Commercialisation. How realistic are the team’s next steps after the Hackathon, such as a pilot, a partnership or funding? Judges will also look at how well the team understands what it takes to make the solution work in practice, including regulation, client confidentiality, data protection and integration with existing legal systems. They’ll look at how scalable the idea is beyond its first use, and at the skills, resources and partners the team would need to take it forward.

Good luck to all the teams on the day. We’ll be posting about the day as it happens, so follow us on LinkedIn for live updates.

About the Hackathon

Our hackathon is a one-day innovation event where teams from across law and tech work together to tackle a challenge facing the legal sector, then pitch their idea to a panel of judges. It takes place on Friday 13 November 2026, 8:30am to 6:30pm, at Platform, Leeds, in partnership with Bruntwood SciTech. It is supported by sponsors Pinsent Masons and iThink 365, and collaborator Lovable.