Ashurst legal technology event for SEMLA members a ‘real eye-opener’

A Scottish Ethnic Minorities Lawyers Association event hosted by Ashurst was a “real eye-opener” for attendees who learned about developments in legal technology and how they are changing the legal services market.

The evening provided an opportunity for SEMLA members to meet the Ashurst Advance team who are pursuing alternative careers in law, as well as seeing demos of legal tech in action.

The programme included a session with Mike Polson, co-head of innovation at Ashurst and head of Ashurst Advance, who discussed how the legal industry is changing and the ways in which legal teams are responding through the use of smarter technology, integrated with more efficient ways of resourcing and managing legal matters to meet their challenges.

Mr Polson also spoke about Ashurst’s commitment to innovation and challenging existing legal processes, and the new roles of legal analyst, legal technologist and legal project manager which the firm introduced in response to the varying career aspirations of law graduates and professionals in an ever-evolving legal marketplace.

He said: “Ashurst has a strong and unconditional commitment to diversity and inclusion and, within our Glasgow office, we are extremely proud of the diverse and inclusive workforce and environment which we have built together. It is one of our key strengths and drives improved business performance.

“We were absolutely delighted to work with SEMLA in helping them to promote their objectives and to share with their members some of the new and exciting opportunities and careers within the legal services market.”

Usman Tariq, founder and committee member of SEMLA, said: “SEMLA was delighted to collaborate with Ashurst for this event. The objectives of SEMLA include to open doors for our members into new workplaces and to improve their understanding of the legal profession and its future.

“Many of our junior members have no existing connections in the legal profession and some have, in fact, never set foot in a legal office until attending one of our events.

“We were delighted with the warm welcome that we received from the firm as it opened the doors of its Glasgow office to our members.

He added: “The firm’s engagement with our network and its enthusiastic support of our objective to improve diversity within the legal profession and create opportunities for all was highly encouraging.

“It was fascinating to hear Mike’s presentation and see how technology can be used at each stage of the life cycle of a contract to improve the delivery of legal services. The event was a real eye-opener for our members and showed a glimpse into the future of the legal services market in Scotland.”