IE Workshop on the Impact of Technology on Law

The event was opened by Javier de Cendra, Dean of IE LAW SCHOOL and Carlos de la Pedraja, Director of Master and Executive Education programs at IE LAW SCHOOL. Participants included Nathaly Rey, Privacy & Security Attorney, CDPP, CCSK, and EMEA Trust Manager at Google for Work; Martí Manent, Founder of Derecho.com and elAbogado.com; Alejandro Touriño, partner of Écija; Javier Puyol Montero, Magistrate; and Praveen Kosuri, Director of the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic at University of Pennsylvania Law School.  The event was rounded off with a round table moderated by Almudena Vigil, a journalist from the law section of Spanish business daily Expansión.

Issues discussed included how legislation can foster or hinder innovation, technology-based opportunities in the legal sector, how legal professionals should become entrepreneurs, how the eruption of technology in the world of law is driving up levels of entrepreneurship in the sector, as evidenced by trends in the US, and how this is changing the industry. All the speakers underscored the key role of law schools in shaping lawyers who are experts in technology and entrepreneurship.  Praveen Kosuri, Director, Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic, University of Pennsylvania Law School spoke about his experience of teaching students to understand their clients’ needs, clients that may be a startup or a firm.  He also stated that the work in the legal sector is fast becoming a commodity, pointing out that there are 1.4 million lawyers in the US.

Nathaly Rey of Google talked about the challenges facing technology firms and of the importance of guaranteeing information and its conciliation with cyber security. 14 million breaches were detected on the Internet in 2014, and the big challenge for ensuring the security of information is transparency.

Javier Puyol, who was the first judge to pass sentence by computer in Spain, walked participants through the impact of technology and entrepreneurship in the public administration sector. The magistrate stated that a change of roles and mentality is essential, that there is a lack of organization in administration and justice departments. He also underlined the fact that the incorporation of technologies is going to result in economies of scale, and that the right technology, correctly implemented in the legal process, is what is needed to help improve the legal system.