Technology and Legal Practice… How Disruptive Can It Possibly Be? A Conversation with Chrissie Lightfoot, Joanna Goodman and Lisa Webley

Date: 16 May 2017

Time: 6pm-7.30pm

Venue: University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2HW, room UG05

New technology, capable of massively disrupting the legal profession, continues to be introduced at an ever-increasing rate. Legaltech, including chatbots, document automation and ground-breaking research tools, amongst others, raises fundamental existential questions about the legal profession. This evening event at Westminster Law School, University of Westminster, brings together three prominent experts in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics and law for a conversation around current developments in these areas, followed by an opportunity for the audience to engage and ask questions.

Chrissie Lightfoot is a prominent international legal figure, an entrepreneur, a legal futurist, legaltech investor, writer, international keynote speaker, legal and business commentator (quoted periodically in The Times and FT), solicitor (non-practising), Honorary Visiting Fellow at the University of Westminster School of Law, and author of best-seller The Naked Lawyer and Tomorrow`s Naked Lawyer. She is CEO and founder of EntrepreneurLawyer Ltd and as the visionary and creator of Robot Lawyer LISA - the world’s first impartial AI lawyer – is CEO and co-founder of AI Tech Support Ltd (trading as Robot Lawyer LISA).

Joanna Goodman is a journalist and author. Her book; “Robots in Law: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Legal Services”, published in November 2016, is essential reading for anyone looking to get up to speed on AI in legal services. She is the IT columnist for the Law Society Gazette and writes regular features for The Guardian about cutting-edge technology, brands, and media, and occasional features for The Times business supplements. Her main areas of interest are artificial intelligence, robots and chatbots, virtual assistants, connected devices, driverless cars, and virtual and augmented reality.

Dr Lisa Webley is Professor of Empirical Legal Studies and Director of the Centre on the Legal Profession at Westminster Law School. She is the holder of the OUP Law Teacher of the Year Award 2016. She sits on the Law Society of England and Wales' Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Academic Committee of the Civil Mediation Council. She has co-taught on the 21st Century Law Practice Summer School programme and has been co-director of ReinventLaw London. She has extensively researched gender and diversity in the legal profession and legal education.

Chair: Dr Paresh Kathrani is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Westminster Law School and a member of the Centre on the Legal Profession. He is the module leader of Criminal Law and was previously a PhD coordinator. He has worked on projects funded by the European Union, including on human rights in higher education, and is currently looking at the confluence of artificial intelligence and law. He has written on the challenges that AI will bring for the legal profession and chaired a panel on artificial intelligence at Westminster Law School in 2015, as well as an AI film and debate series for the Centre for Law, Society and Popular Culture, of which he is also a member, in 2016.