Study title

What human and financial capital inputs are needed to sustain and scale-up a legal innovation (‘LawTech’) ecosystem in Britain? How do networks within the sector foster and sustain the diffusion of innovation? We present a database of 20 interviews with 15 lawtech firm founders and 5 venture capitalists who invest in lawtech firms to address these questions and help inform evidence-based public policy. The data collection consists of 20 semi-structured interviews with founders (15) of lawtech start-up firms and venture capitalists (5) who invest in these firms. The interviewees were based in England and the interviews were conducted in 2020. The interviews explored the human and financial capital inputs needed to sustain and scale-up a legal innovation (‘LawTech’) ecosystem in Britain, and how networks within the sector foster and sustain the diffusion of innovation.The proposed research will explore the potential and limitations of using artificial intelligence (AI) in support of legal services. AI's capabilities have made enormous recent leaps; many expect it to transform how the economy operates. In particular, activities relying on human knowledge to create value, insulated until now from mechanisation, are facing dramatic change. Amongst these are professional services, such as law. Like other professions, legal services contribute to the economy both through revenues of service providers and through benefits provided to clients. For large business clients, who can choose which legal regime will govern their affairs, UK legal services are an export good. For small businesses and citizens, working within the domestic legal system, UK legal services affect costs directly. Yet unlike other professions, the legal system has a dual role in society. Beyond the law's role in governing economic order, the legal system is more fundamentally a structure for social order. It sets out rules agreed on by society, and also the limits of politicians' ability to enact...