Legal tech—why is it important to in-house lawyers and how to build the team of the future

Produced in partnership with Ben Shillito of Olus

Practice notes

Legal tech—why is it important to in-house lawyers and how to build the team of the future

Produced in partnership with Ben Shillito of Olus

Practice notes

Legal tech is transforming the legal industry in unimaginable ways; as technology has done throughout our lives. In law, that transformation has been a gradual and cautious process—but that period is over. The pace of change is accelerating exponentially and legal teams must now consider how to incorporate technology into their ways of working to maximise their value and impact, and maintain their relevance.

This Practice Note, produced in partnership with Ben Shillito, Senior Director at Olus, considers the usage and impact of legal tech from the perspective of an in-house legal team.

What is legal tech?

The term legal tech refers to technology which has the specific purpose of supporting the work of the legal profession, or providing legal services directly to a client or consumer. Historically, such technology usually focused on matter management, document management, billing or document formatting. As advanced technologies have evolved, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and natural language processing, the full potential of legal tech is being unlocked.

Ben Shillito

Senior Director, Olus

Ben founded and leads the digital consultancy, Olus.

Olus is committed to empowering the legal industry to thrive in the digital era, and partners with law firms and corporate legal teams to embrace cutting-edge technologies, foster cultures of growth, and deliver sustainable, long-term value.

Prior to founding Olus, Ben Shillito led the Digital Legal Services team at Fujitsu, where he continues to work closely with a global team of lawyers, legal engineers, and operations specialists. The team operates with a worldwide scope to drive a digitally enabled approach to complex multi-jurisdictional legal services.

The team were recognised at the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards as the most digitally innovative team for leading a global digital transformation programme. The programme reimagined the value the function can deliver, and its purpose in the Fujitsu Group, using data, technology, and standardisation, as well as cultural and behavioural change initiatives.

Ben began his career in London at Hogan Lovells before moving to the legal team at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and then Fujitsu. At Fujitsu, Ben led the UK Commercial team, and then the UK Legal team, where he was recognised on the Legal 500 GC Powerlist 2021.

Ben speaks regularly at UK and international legal conferences about digital transformation, legal technology, and the future of in-house legal services.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

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