The British Legal Technology Awards 2023 went off with a bang on Wednesday (22 November) with the NetLaw Media team once again delivering a fun-packed event that celebrated excellence in legal technology; IT security; and leadership & innovation, as well as the individuals, teams and suppliers transforming the future of legal services. The host for the evening was the brilliant actress, writer and comedian Jo Caulfield, who hilariously took the audience through her review of some of the websites of the law firms and vendors in attendance.
Referring to Weightmans’ strapline, “Helping businesses and people with all their legal needs,” Caulfield said she was reminded the Ronseal ‘does what it says on the tin’ varnish advert – “We varnish wood.”
‘Most Innovative Firm of the Year’
The ‘Most Innovative Firm of the Year Award’ went to UK-headquartered class action litigation law firm Pogust Goodhead, which has been involved in some of the most high profile consumer and environmental claims, including the Mariana dam disaster in Brazil (seeking redress from mining company BHP); and the Volkswagen NOx emissions group litigation.
The firm’s custom-built Claim Validation Platform automates the process from a client signing up, to receiving compensation, allowing the firm to “provide justice for as many victims of corporate wrongdoing as possible.”
The firm said of this win: “We believe that technology will change the scope of the group litigation landscape and vastly improve the often lengthy claim validation process.”
The firm also won Technology Venture of the Year.
The runners up for both of these awards respectively were Kennedys, and Kennedy IQ.
‘Technology Team of the Year’
‘The Technology Team of the Year Award’ went to Freeths, which was recognised for its growth and transformation over the last five years.
Commenting on the win, Freeths CTO Richard Hodkinson, said: “The result represents a milestone in market recognition of our efforts which has been very much a collective effort. The win was based on not just the activity over the last year but reflected on the totality of work that’s gone in by the Freeths team over the last few years in what has been transformational – Freeths IT department by any measure does not resemble that of five years ago.
“The team’s continued focus and dedication in supporting the endeavours of the firm’s partners has been incredible. A well deserved win.”
The runner up was DAC Beachcroft.
‘Innovation in Legal Services’
‘The Innovation in Legal Services Award’ winner was ID-Pal, which said this win is all the more noteworthy because it is ID-Pal’s inaugural entry and nomination in a legal industry award. ID-Pal provides a secure solution to verify clients’ identities in real-time and authenticate relevant documents, whether in person or remotely. It also provides an audit trail and report to demonstrate evidence of due diligence.
“ID-Pal’s nomination and subsequent win in this category demonstrates our commitment to reshaping the identity verification process for legal professionals”, the Dublin, Ireland-headquartered company said in a statement after its win.
Verify 365 was the runner up.
The Outstanding Achievement Award went to Professor Sarah Green, who was appointed as Law Commissioner for commercial and common law on 1 January 2020 and whose achievements in the past year include publishing recommendations for the reform and development of the laws relating to digital assets such as NFTs and crypto-tokens while protecting consumers. Professor Green has been leading the charge for the UK to remain at the forefront of technological innovation.
And in a one-off special award at the end of the night, Charles Christian was posthumously recognised for his outstanding contributions to the legal sector. Charles founded Legal Technology Insider, aka the Orange Rag in 1995 and is referred to as the Godfather of Legal Technology. He was talking about legal technology when it was very much all about the back office and long before technology was ‘cool’. His first issue of the Orange Rag, which came out on October 1995, discussed providers that were offering a new service to enable law firms to set up a presence on the internet. Charles died just over a year ago and this is indeed a really special recognition of his contribution to the industry.
Here are all the other winners of the night.
‘Information Security Team of the Year’
Winner
Horwich Farrelly
Runner Up
DAC Beachcroft
‘Alliance of the Year’
Winner
Osborne Clarke and Taylor Wimpey
Runner Up
Clyde & Co and 3Rive Technologies
‘Inclusion & Diversity in Legal Services’
Winner
Gateley
Runner up
Grayce
‘Legal AI Supplier of the Year’
Winner
Henchman
Runner Up
LegalFly
‘IT Product or Service of the Year’
Winner
Arctic Wolf
Runner Up
LeapXpert
‘IT Security Provider of the Year’
Winner
Quorum Cyber
Runner Up
Tessian
‘Supplier of the Year’
Winner
InfoTrack
Runner Up
Luminance (pictured below because it was brilliant to see so many of them on the stage.)
