Having begun his career in the world of online marketing, Jimmy combined his entrepreneurial spirit and digital expertise to develop projects within the legal profession.
He was part of the founding team of Flex Legal (later acquired by Mishcon de Reya) and helped the International Bar Association shape its digital strategy during the COVID pandemic.
In 2015, spotting opportunities to help legal practitioners embrace technology, Jimmy founded Legal Geek. Today, Legal Geek is one of the world’s largest law tech communities, running annual events in London, Amsterdam and Chicago.
How have the Legal Geek events evolved over the last 10 years?
We started off as an informal meet-up group in Shoreditch. As both a consumer of tech and a business owner I felt the legal profession wasn’t using technology as much as it could.
I started attending events for lawyers and it struck me how traditional they were in their overall feel. Being use to tech events that were staged on a ‘festivalisation’ format, I wanted to bring that concept to the legal community. We weren’t 100% sure if it would work, but we started attracting people in the legal profession who were passionate about technology.
Many of these were people who looked after tech on the side of their roles rather than as their main job description. Then, as tech-specific roles began to emerge, our attendances grew – from five hundred to the point where we had to cap numbers at 2,000 due to venue restrictions, then move to larger venues. This growth continues.
How are your audiences split between private practice and in-house lawyers?
Initially, they were more on the law firm side, but as we’ve targeted core markets and launched new events, we’ve seen a shift towards more in-house lawyers, mainly from corporates. This trend is global - we’re seeing it at our events in London, Amsterdam and Chicago, and we also now run events aimed at smaller organisations.
What’s the key take-away from a Legal Geek event?
We attract changemakers, people who are thinking about the future they want. A lot of our sessions aren't about technology. They're about change management and culture change.
In-house teams want their law firms to be more efficient and law firms want their clients to see the improved value they provide when they become so. That's why we unite those parties with technologists. When all these people come together, we see amazing cross pollination of ideas and insights. We also run sessions on legal design and practical thinking based on the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY methodology.
How is adoption of legal tech growing in the in-house space?
When I think of in-house, I think of two personas. One is the small in-house legal leader who has created their team from nothing. They're talking to their board about how tech adoption can enhance efficiencies and the culture of the organisation.
The other is the GC in a large corporate, like a bank for example, who might have a legal budget larger than some law firms turnover. In a similar way to law firms, they have dedicated innovation teams but are bound by extensive regulation.
These personas are very different, yet both could be doing more than they currently are with new tools coming on the market like Microsoft Copilot. Then, overlaying current tech with AI and legal specific applications becomes very powerful.
Investment in legal tech is increasing and that means the tech is getting better at a rapid rate. When I started Legal Geek, £2 million was a big investment, today we’re seeing scaleups raising $500m and hitting $1billion valuations.
How valuable is peer-to-peer learning it the legal community?
Immensely, and the great news is that people in legal tech will happily share. Presenters will come on stage and talk about what's worked, what hasn't and what lessons they’ve learned.
This is particularly good for in-house, where presenters and their audiences are rarely direct competitors. We also find that attendees set up subgroups, such as WhatsApp groups or Slack communities and continue their conversations beyond our events.
Another thing we’ve seen happening is these people – who don’t get together very often – arranging to meet at our events, taking a day offsite, discussing strategy and going back to work and implementing new ideas. That’s not something we planned. It’s happening organically.
How are you seeing the role of the in-house lawyer change?
From my vantage point as a legal tech event organiser, I see in-house lawyers spending more time looking at their wider markets and reporting back on the implications of macro issues to their organisations.
We're seeing increasing interest in data security and compliance and evidence that AI will continue to reshape the role. I think we’ll see a lot of human-centred change, too, with a focus on wellness, mental health, women in legal tech and greater diversity generally.
What will a Legal Geek GC look like in 2030?
Hopefully, someone with lots of tools at their fingertips, someone who doesn’t have to put in long hours and can instead focus on work that fulfils them.
Many in-house lawyers are still doing quite low-level work. Technology can free them from a lot of this.
In 2030, these lawyers should be equipped to focus on project management and delivery, contributing to business strategy and building cultures that nurture wellness among their teams.
How can in-house lawyers develop a hackathon mindset without running a hackathon?
Hackathons are intense, yet incredibly useful. My advice is to create safe environments that people can prototype and test within. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be people coming together, taking one process within the legal function and thinking about how they could improve it. Even if you don’t take specific actions, working through each step helps to foster a hackathon mindset.
How to you switch off?
Being more outdoorsy is one of my missions. My family are all farmers, so after a day dealing with tech and being on calls, I love doing things like mountain biking and spending time outdoors.
To learn more about Legal Geek events visit their website: www.legalgeek.co (yes, it’s .co)
