We hear a lot about Legal Technology and its importance for practice now and in the future. In this second session in the Professional Law Institute’s Future of Legal Practice series for 2021, the panel will share their experiences on how legal technology is actually being used in practice today and how far junior lawyers coming into the profession are expected to have technology knowledge and skills.

Cutting through the rhetoric, this talk will focus on the reality of life for early-career practitioners, and the extent to which new technology really is a game-changer.

The event will be chaired by Chris Howard, Director of Professional Legal Education within the Professional Law Institute at The Dickson Poon School of Law. 

Swaathi Balajawahar is a final-year law student and the President of the King's IT & IP Law Society. She is enthusiastic about innovation in the legal sector and has led the organisation of the largest student-led virtual legal technology conference in the UK. Swaathi has also worked with multiple legal technology companies like Avvoka, BamLegal, and BRYTER on projects to raise awareness about their product and brand amongst budding lawyers.

Alex Hannington is an Associate in the Dispute Resolution team at Linklaters LLP in London. Since qualifying in September 2016 he has worked on a range of contentious matters, representing major companies both in the UK and globally. His areas of specialism include competition, technology and data protection disputes and he has acted for a number of household names in this space, including Three, Visa and Air France-KLM. In addition to his core practice, he is also actively involved in pro bono initiatives with Citizens Advice and APPEAL and training programmes for junior lawyers. Alex previously studied law at the University of Oxford.

Michaela Hanzelova is an Innovation Specialist in the London office of Reed Smith LLP. She has been driving the firm’s innovation hours initiative for two years. Thanks to the initiative, the firm’s attorneys are granted up to 50 billable hours per year to work on their own innovation projects. The initiative harnesses the ideas and creativity of the firm’s community to provide exceptional client service. Michaela actively manages over 60 innovation projects across the UK, US, France, Germany and Asia. Michaela has an LLB from Queen Mary and LPC and LLM from BPP Law School. She will be joining Reed Smith as a trainee in 2021.

Natalie Pratt is a barrister at Radcliffe Chambers, specialising in Chancery and property matters, and regularly appears in the High Court and County Court. Prior to joining the Bar, Natalie was a Teaching Fellow in the law of property and trusts at King’s College London, where she also completed her PhD.