Clifford Chance supports Legal Tech Initiative at Goethe University Frankfurt
23 January 2018
Clifford Chance supports Legal Tech Initiative at Goethe University Frankfurt
Legal tech and digitisation are already changing the daily work of lawyers and law firms - but the university education of young lawyers has hardly changed at all so far. With their initiative Legal Tech Lab, two law students of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Jan-Henrik Busch and Philipp Neumer, want to change this now. Since December 2017, the Legal Tech Lab has been officially recognized at the university, making it the first student initiative on the subject of legal technology and innovation at a state university in Germany. Clifford Chance works closely with the initiative and supports it with Pro Bono counseling and financial support.
The Legal Tech Lab analyses the practice-oriented digitisation in the legal field with the aim of promoting and developing innovative legal solutions through interdisciplinary cooperation. Therefore, the two founders are bringing together students of law, information technology, economics and political science. Thus, students are already preparing themselves for the practical challenges of their future working environment.
At regular "Legal Tech Lab Regulars' Tables", experts provide an insight into the practical world of Legal Tech. There are also plans to hold courses to acquire additional qualifications in the field of computer science. This includes a coding for Lawyer's seminar, in which the basics of programming are illustrated in order to provide lawyers and computer scientists with a common understanding of opportunities and challenges.
"Legal Tech changes the day-to-day working life in law firms and legal departments like hardly any other development", comments Prof. Dr. Thomas Gasteyer of Clifford Chance. "With the Legal Tech Lab, we are pleased to support an important initiative that addresses this topic during the studies and prepares students for their future work in the best possible way.
Clifford Chance already uses Legal Tech instruments for mandates on a regular basis. This includes self-developed communication platforms and automation products such as CC Connect or CC Dr@ft as well as working with legal tech providers such as KIRA, Leverton and Evana. Clifford Chance is also a member of the European Legal Tech Association ELTA.
More information on the Legal Tech Lab initiative can be found at https://legaltechlab.de/.