About

Team size: 450

Major legal advisers: Hogan Lovells, Linklaters, Norton Rose Fulbright, Osborne Clarke, Slaughter and May, Squire Patton Boggs, Wiggin

The advance of legal technology has dominated headlines for years. GCs, however, are often underwhelmed by what they find, with little substance to back up the often gushing claims of products.

‘There is so much happening now in legal tech that it’s hard to keep up,’ reflects Vodafone GC Rosemary Martin. ‘There are so many of these start-ups now and it’s hard as a buyer to get a good sense of how they compare and contrast with each other. Maybe I’m just really bad at it, but it’s hard moving from the concept to actually using and employing it successfully.’

In 2018, a government-backed initiative was launched to tackle the problem: the LawTech Delivery Panel. Co-sponsored by the Law Society, the panel was devised as an industry-led approach to identifying the barriers and potential for growth of legal tech. The following year, the Ministry of Justice allocated £2m to Tech Nation, a tech entrepreneur network, to deliver on the work of the panel over the next couple of years. Former TransferWise GC Jenifer Swallow was simultaneously tasked with implementing that, while Martin was one of just two GCs appointed to the eight-person panel, alongside Bank of England’s Sonya Branch.

Martin, who also joined artificial intelligence company Luminance’s advisory board in late 2019, is seen by many to be the perfect fit for the initiative, having long challenged how law firms deliver services.

‘She is spearheading the death of the hourly rate and pushing firms to completely change their business model,’ comments Dentons vice chair Richard Macklin. ‘She has been the person who has been the most, not only vocal, but effective, in ensuring that firms start doing something, rather than just talking about it.’

‘Rosemary is very focused on how the work is delivered and making sure it is delivered in a modern and innovative way,’ adds Hogan Lovells partner Ben Higson. ‘She is dynamic both in terms of diversity and inclusion, approach to innovation and the way she works with law firms.’

‘It’s all slightly depressing – people are doing lots of stuff, but the needle is moving slowly,’ Martin comments. ‘It’s such a complicated issue, but certainly people are trying to do the right things and say the right things. Some of them are having an impact, but a lot of them are still not breaking through enough: why not?’