Stockholm

Meet Stefan Kim (PSA Consulting) one of our Nordic Sponsors at NLTD Stockholm 2023

  1. Welcome back to NLTD! What do you look forward to this year?

PSA: We are really looking forward to the opportunity to meet, discuss and share ideas with other legal tech enthusiasts from all parts of the dynamic legal tech community.

 

  1. What specific areas of expertise does PSA focus on?

PSA: We are a Nordic legal tech expert firm and help our clients with their digital transformation with the help of connected solutions and services that are purpose-built for law firms and in-house legal teams. We work both with selected leading legal tech solutions and our own Custodian platform (cloud-based integration platform boosted with cloud apps, e.g. Custodian Client Onboarding for automated and compliant client and matter intake).

 

  1. Have you and your clients been affected by the new generative AI tools? If so, how?

PSA: Absolutely. Generative AI is obviously ‘all the rage’ now. We are working on launching our own Custodian AI app in collaboration with a number of leading Nordic law firms, and we also have several partners who have implemented smart capabilities in their legal tech solutions based on generative AI.

 

  1. Are there any particular trends you are currently monitoring or advising your clients on in the fast-changing tech landscape?

PSA: We have always emphasised the importance of having a connected and composable digital platform that can be complemented and augmented with value-adding legal tech applications and data intelligence services. We do of course have a lot of conversations at the moment that relate to generative AI, but we also have a lot of conversations and engagements that relate to using applications and services in other areas of AI/Machine Learning.

 

  1. Innovations or changes you would like to see in the legal market the coming years? – Dream big!

PSA: For a long time now in the legal industry, experts have talked about more disruptive change being ‘just around the corner’. There are obviously a number of trailblazers in the industry who are trying to change the way legal services are priced, and designed, produced, delivered and consumed by clients, but it would be exciting to see that accelerate even more in the coming years. That could also mean that more law firms would launch more holistic initiatives where firm strategy, service design and technology all played equal parts. Too much time and effort today is spent on getting faster horses, and too little on building electric vehicles and starships.

 

Thank you so much for your time Stefan and PSA Consulting. See you in October!
// NLTD crew

 

For tickets and more information about the Stockholm event, click here

Meet Electra Japonas – keynote speaker NLTD Stockholm 2023

You are an inhouse lawyer becoming an entrepreneur.  What made you take that jump?
Having spent 10 years as an in-house lawyer in various large organisations, I became frustrated with how in-house Legal and the rest of the business worked together. Legal felt very much like it worked in silo against its own objectives whereas the rest of the business often saw us as a bottleneck that didn’t truly grasp the business priorities and direction. Working in the legal team felt isolating at times and it was clear to me that there were a few reasons for this:

1) risk appetite: there is a natural tension between Legal and the business due to the nature of the role and our responsibility to protect the business from undue risk. However, it was often the case that lawyers did not fully grasp the fact that the business has its own risk appetite and that Legal’s responsibility was to reflect that. The lack of standardisation across each lawyer’s approach was not only frustrating but also created an inconsistent risk-threshold for the business which in effect was working against our own goal of protecting the business.

2) ways of working: the other significant reason Legal wasn’t fully able to support the business’s needs was the way it worked, practically. Legal has unfortunately fallen behind other teams with archaic, manual ways of working and a lack of tech enabled processes. Add to the mix the often unfriendly language that lawyers tend to use in their contracts, policies and even communications and it’s not a surprise why the chasm is there. The other impact of this issue is that Legal is chronically overloaded with low value work, leaving little time for important strategic work. This is a really significant issue and creates a vicious cycle of lawyers who want to do better but haven’t got the time to kick-start a process to make that happen.

3) personal brand: Legal’s out-of-sync risk appetite coupled with friction-filled ways of working and a general lack of time to do much more than ’urgent’ BAU work, has an impact on the way Legal is perceived within a business. Often seen as a bottleneck, Legal is often not influential enough to have a true strategic impact on the business. The reality however is that lawyers really should have a place at the top table: our position within an organisation gives us a unique eagle-eye view of the whole business landscape and our ability to see and understand complexity where others may miss it is incredibly valuable for fast-moving organisations that are trying to navigate increasingly more complex regulatory changes, environmental issues and other nuances that have huge business impact. Through the way we are trained to think, behave and assess different scenarios, we are naturally equipped to really help propel a business forward and fundamentally impact major strategic decisions at the highest levels thereby adding enormous value to the business and creating more satisfying jobs for the lawyers themselves. Yet somehow, the very attributes that make us so valuable can also hold us back – which is why I started TLB – to help bridge the gap and empower lawyers to claim their seat at the table whilst at the same time creating richer, more fulfilling roles for themselves.

 

Tell us about TLB? In what way is it different from a law firm?
There will always be a place for law firms where for example you’re looking for advice on complex or new territory that will enable you to confidently make business decisions without fear of unwanted repercussions. In those instances, law firms are worth their weight in gold because they remove a major roadblock for you and allow you to press ahead and deliver. TLB is not a law firm. We are a legal optimisation consultancy that works with in-house lawyers to help them streamline their legal functions so they can get their time back and focus on the strategic work that matters. We do that through a unique blend of services including legal expertise, design thinking, process optimisation and tech. On the one hand, we take on legal teams’ heavy lifting by offering a smart contract review service where we act as an extension to their team to take on the high volume contracts whilst in parallel helping them streamline their contract function end to end. We also help in-house teams redesign their contracts so they’re easier to review and negotiate, build playbooks so they have standardised approaches to their agreements and internal processes, map out their processes and streamline them and finally, we help them choose, prepare and deploy technology to digitise their operations and unlock valuable data. We are also the team behind oneNDA, the global NDA standard that has been adopted by over 1000 companies worldwide.

 

There is a lot of talk about generative AI. Do you see it as a new cool tool or a potential threat?
Generative AI will be a complete game-changer for Legal and I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon – it’s here to stay. Whereas most of the legal world has been focused on CLM over the last 3-5 years, my view is that over the next 3-5 years the focus will change to incorporating GAI into their operations. Although it’s fairly new technology, it has the power to make certain tasks Legal is burdened with completely obsolete and will in fact be a threat to those lawyers that have found their comfort zone in performing manual, low value tasks that are more akin to admin than legal work.

 

Innovations or changes you would like to see in the legal market the coming years – dream big!
I would like to see lawyers really appreciate the value they can bring to their business and move the needle in terms of the way they work to reflect that value and allow their businesses to capitalise on it. In terms of what that means in practice, taking a design thinking, user-centric approach to the way they work with a view to engage their ’customers’ and truly deliver on their needs is fundamental in making a difference. I would also like to see lawyers embrace technology and use it as a tool to alleviate their workload so they can make space for the work that matters. 

 

You will be in Stockholm on October 12 as the key note speaker at NLTD. Is this the first time Stockholm and anything you look forward to? Meeting the Nordic legal tech community, a Swedish fika or the ABBA museum?
I have only been to Stockholm once before when I worked for a space company and it was -10 degrees but sunny and beautiful! I have very fond memories of Stockholm and the fika (!) and I can’t wait to be there again this Autumn. But what I’m most excited about is getting to know the Nordic legal tech community and really getting a feel for what the landscape is like – I think the Nordics are a very fertile ground for legal innovation and we’re seeing some really great initiatives coming out of this region like Contractbook, Pocket Law and Privasee.

 

Thank you so much for your time Electra. See you in October!
// NLTD crew

 

Electra Japonas 

  • CEO and Founder at TLB,
  • Co-Founder at oneNDA
  • The Hot 100 Lawyer Award 2022
  • FT Collaboration in Legal Innovation Award 2022
  • European Women in Legal Tech 2020 Award

Mercator® by Citco is coming to town!

Why is Nordic Legal Tech Day important to you?
NLTD is important for Mercator® by Citco (Mercator) for a number of reasons. First and foremost, our service delivery model is becoming more and more based on our in-house technology platform Entica™. An opportunity to demonstrate our technology is obviously important, but so is the possibility to have peer-to-peer discussions with users and other providers of legal tech. We are also delighted to have the opportunity this conference gives us to be in Stockholm and meet our existing and hopefully future partners and clients in Sweden and the wider Nordic region.  Sweden is the home of a large number of multinational corporations with global reach, which is exactly the type of organisation our service offering is designed for.

 

Mercator specializes in Entity Portfolio Management. In what ways has legal tech helped advance the discipline?
Legal tech is in the process of revolutionising Entity Portfolio Management (EPM). It started when corporations understood that storing and tracking large amounts of statutory and management data about their subsidiaries on locally hosted spreadsheet was risky and inconvenient. Use of so called legal entity management systems began and was highly accelerated by remote connectivity when working from home during the pandemic. Once the static data was well structured online, the natural next step is to do the same for the workflows – the dynamic, time sensitive and ever changing data. In our case, Mercator sees this as the next step and have pioneered a task-based system with ever-increasing levels of functionality that both we and our clients rely on.  And this trend is only going to accelerate.

 

What is on your wish-list as for legal tech innovation? Dream big!
To set our people free! By this I mean to reach the stage that our professional staff become “knowledge guardians” who are overseeing a highly automated process rather than the drafters of often repetitive documentation that they tend to be today.

 

Thank you for your time and we look forward meeting you at the event! /NLTD crew

Start-up Company ”Goodfeed” is joining the pitching contest!

Describe your business idea in one sentence – What problem do you solve?
Goodfeed makes it possible to generate and gather real time insights from your various projects and workflows and will drive your business towards continuous improvement.

Starting a business is not always a smooth road ahead – Do you have a fun/challenging/odd memory from developing your business that you would like to share?
The biggest challenge, but also the most fun, has been the transformation of mindset from previous lawyers at big law firms to start-up entrepreneurs.  

If you can predict the future of legal tech – what do you think is the next big trend?
Services that helps the legal industry to adopt to the next generation of talents and customers. 

What do you look forward to at Nordic Legal Tech Day?
Hearing about the new trends within legal tech.  

 

We wish you good luck at the pitching contest! /NLTD crew

”The future of the Legal Profession” and much more with Therese Järnankar, Norstedts Juridik

Why is Nordic Legal Tech Day important to you?
Even if legal tech has been on the agenda for many years, it is still partly unexplored and has not reached its full potential. This means in my mind that all different parts of the legal industry should and could help out to sparkle new ideas, show success stories (to steal with pride!) and to connect between different actors. Exactly that is what I hope that Nordic Legal Tech Day can give us all! Also: I am really looking forward to the start-up part of the day, so much enthusiasm lies within that hour!

According to Norstedts Juridik’s industry report, The Future of the Legal Profession,  60 % of lawyers in Scandinavia believe that technology will drive the development within the legal industry. What is your view on this?
I agree! But we also need to remember the difficulties organizations can face when implementing new technology. For example, it can be very difficult for employees to understand how to use new technology and the benefits of it at first. Often there is a learning curve that needs to be accounted for. User experience should always be in focus when it comes to developing new technology – a new technology is only as good as the user perceives it to be.

What is on your wish-list for Legal Tech innovation?
What if we took some big leaps within legal tech? We are as a whole either standing still or focusing on minor workflow changes or efficiency problems. What disruption ideas are around the corner?

You are also participating in one of the panels during the day, innovative organizations. What is a good example of innovation in your view?
Organizations that have a high degree of collaboration and a structure that accommodates for that. The company culture should encourage motivated, result-driven and proactive innovators (you still need those local heros!) to run with all of the contributors though-out the organization and across organizations. In a collaborative spirit! And finally – customer involvement. What driving forces are prominent at the customer’s end – and how will that effect the surrounding parts of the ecosystem?

Looking forward to see you at the event! /NLTD crew

Start-up company ”Ebie” are also joining the pitch contest at Nordic Legal Tech Day

Describe your business idea in one sentence – What problem do you solve? 
We decrease the barriers for commercial renters by replacing an expensive deposit with a low-cost insurance.

Starting a business is not always a smooth road ahead – Do you have a fun/challenging/odd memory from developing your business that you would like to share?
We’ve made a few pivots along the way. Long story short, the initial plan was to launch a solution for the residential market in Berlin. Instead, the actual go-to market was commercial real estate in Stockholm.

If you can predict the future of legal tech – what do you think is the next big trend?
More accessible legal services, like Lawyer-in-your-pocket and on-site consultations, enabled by technology.

What do you look forward to at Nordic Legal Tech Day?
We love to talk about insurance law and look forward to an event where that’s not odd.

–  We are delighted you are joining the event. Good luck and see you in October!

NLTD crew

Erik P.M. Vermeulen

Erik’s work can be broken down into three categories.

First, Erik is a Professor of Business and Financial Law and the Director of the International Business Law program at Tilburg University in The Netherlands. He teaches business organizations and governance, law and technology, and business innovation and finance at Tilburg Law School, TIAS School for Business and Society, and at other universities around the world. His research, including chapters of his academic books, can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network. Erik has appeared at numerous conferences as a featured or keynote speaker.

Second, Erik works at the intersection of the academic and corporate worlds. He is a Senior Legal Counsel at Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting). He works on corporate matters, mergers & acquisitions, and legal design, tech, and communication.

Third, Erik can be described as a content creator. He has a blog at erikpmvermeulen.medium.com, where he shares insights in how emerging technologies are creating new opportunities across all areas of the economy and society. In our fast-changing world, Erik revisits long-held assumptions and theories, and seeks to develop new models more appropriate to the next normal.

Erik’s thought-provoking and innovative views on business, technology, education, and the law have attracted international attention. He regularly serves as an expert advisor to international organizations and national and local governments around the world.

Henchman joins NLTD Stockholm as Tech Sponsor

Tell us how it all started?
The idea for Henchman was born out of a real-life frustration. During the acquisition of their previous company, our founders noticed that legal professionals lose a lot of valuable time to repetitive and tedious work. What bothered them most was the time that was wasted on looking up clauses that the lawyers knew existed somewhere in the company’s database. Clauses that had carefully been drafted before and that should increase the law firm’s efficiency, resulted in a loss of time. Time that should be used by lawyers to create value for their clients by sharing experience and knowledge.That is why Henchman enables legal professionals to draft and negotiate complex and bespoke contracts faster. Our enablement software automatically retrieves and suggests previously written clauses from the company’s contract repository within Microsoft Word.

How has the response been to your product?
The response to our solution has been overwhelmingly positive. Legal teams are blown away by the ease of implementation and use. We often ask our customers for feedback. The key question we then ask them is: ‘How disappointed would you be if you couldn’t use Henchman anymore?’. The majority of users would never want to go back to the old way of drafting.

What challenges have you had along the road?
Although the idea for Henchman is rather simple, the technical side is very complex. For Henchman to be relevant, the tool has to be able to connect to all different types of databases from where it must be able to process millions of clauses. Together with legal advisors, customers who gave on-point feedback and a great engineering team, we have built an unmatched product that does precisely what it promises.

This is Henchman’s first time attending Nordic Legal Tech Day. What are your hopes?We want to meet and connect with forward-thinking legal teams and law firms. We hope to get to know the Nordic market better and understand its challenges.

Where do you see yourselves in five years?
By 2026 we want Henchman to enable 10,000 lawyers to draft and negotiate faster.

We are delighted to have you as a Tech Sponsor. See you in October!

Start-up company ”Juristic” is pitching at Nordic Legal Tech Day

Juristic is one of the start-ups that will pitch their business at the Nordic Legal Tech Day. We have asked them some questions to get to know them better”

 

Describe your business idea in one sentence – What problem do you solve?
A flexible and easy-to-use legal tech platform: (1) a digital timeline with automated email import and document management, (2) a data tool for international company data and charts, and (3) a whiteboard to illustrate structures or transactions. The platform can translate your timeline or drawings into enriched draft deliverables.

Starting a business is not always a smooth road ahead – Do you have a fun/challenging/odd memory from developing your business that you would like to share?
Some of our problems have been very challenging. Building easy-to-use tools that work across jurisdictions and legal areas is an extremely difficult task. Interestingly, some of the best solutions have been found while playing a daily game of chess. Between our founders – and unfortunately for Christian – Kean tends to win.

If you can predict the future of legal tech – what do you think is the next big trend?
Instead of specialized tools for specific tasks, the future will have adaptable and “programmable” multi-purpose legal tech tools that work across the organizations. Intelligent visualization tools instead of complex forms or coding courses: drag and drop elements, draw boxes and arrows – how most people are used to doing things anyway.

What do you look forward to at the Nordic Legal Tech Day?
Meeting like-minded people and businesses. It would not have been possible to create our platform without input and feedback – and discussing legal tech with others!

We are also looking forward to the panel discussion regarding AI compliance in practice, especially considering the proposal for harmonised AI rules.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to see you in october! – NLTD Crew