LawTech Futures hits 2014 with a bang as internet pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee is set to deliver the keynote

LawTech Futures event has been a resounding success since its launch in 2012. In its first year it hit headlines as the largest legal technology event in the UK. Three years later, LawTech Futures is now the largest LawTech event outside the USA.

Staged by Netlaw Media in association with Charles Christian, all is set for the 2014 event to go ahead at the QEII Conference Centre in London on the 25 March 2014. This year however, event attendees are in for a gigantic tech treat with the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee; scheduled to deliver the keynote presentation.

As one of the world’s leading legal technology events, LawTech Futures 2014 will examine a whole host of tech based topics including Hacking, Security, Cloud Computing, Mobile Workforces, Global Expansion, Virtual Legal Services, Big Data, eDisclosure, Knowledge Management, Colocation and more. Presented and debated by top technical experts, lawyers and some of the sharpest minds the legal world has to offer, the annual LawTech Futures event will once again facilitate sharing of knowledge, expertise and valuable practical experiences.

There could not be a more appropriate time for the type of debate and collaboration that the LawTech Futures events have been highlighting. With the modern law firm one of the world’s most hacked business communities, lawyers everywhere have to get ahead in the field of internet and IT security, or face extinction in a world where the virtual law firm is swiftly overtaking the high-street firm with its locked doors and fire-proof filing cabinets.

The challenges posed by ‘big data’, which are set to be debated at LawTech Futures 2014, are also of grave concern to the modern lawyer. Not only because of the challenges that arise in connection with compliance and the security guidelines within the legal sector, but because of the legal controversies that big data management presents to the modern-day individual and today’s corporation. Issues such as where data is stored and who can access data are becoming more and more the subject of controversy in an era where criminals can be convicted according to their last internet search and people can be located, tracked and identified through reference to their social media activity.

For the modern lawyer, big data analytics can also be the difference between getting ahead commercially and lagging behind. If you are using data for commercial analysis as many a big firm or corporate giant, you will need to know just how far you can go in the analysis and retention of data. You will also need to know clever ways in which to leverage data to your commercial advantage.

Hi-speed internet connections mean you can do business just about anywhere in the world, but an uncomfortable truth is that the increasing reliance on IT can spell disaster for many a law firm either as a result of unidentified risks or because others have leveraged the tools available to a better advantage.

Lawyers need to keep abreast of these issues or face being overtaken in an internet savvy world where so many businesses are only as good as the latest technologies they can afford to buy. All of these issues are up for discussion at LawTech Futures so lawyers and law firms can figure out the best ways to leverage their own tech based solutions.

The regulatory systems governing legal systems are also of key relevance to the lawyer interested in technology and these areas will also be explored by the experts at this year’s event.

The UK legal regulatory system has opened its doors to more and more competition as reforms introduced by the Legal Services Act 2007 have changed the way lawyers work, interact and do business. The advent of the virtual law firm and the alternative business structure has arrived and with these giant changes to the regulatory fabric governing law firms, sizeable issues arise which must be understood and responded to by the modern lawyer. These regulatory changes also manifest business and strategic concerns. ‘How do I keep data secure when my firm’s admin is handled in India?’; ‘How do I ensure my firm is not targeted by hackers?’; ‘How can I make my clients data safer and more secure?’; and ‘What technologies should we invest in to stay ahead of the game?’ are all questions asked by today’s law firm and the answers and strategies developed on the back of such questions are key determinants of any firm’s success.

At Netlaw Media, we could not have been more fortunate in terms of the sheer quality of speakers that this years’ event will deliver. We have managed to secure a wide range of CIO’s, IT directors, CEOs, KM and technical experts which will share their expertise, knowledge and unique viewpoints at this year’s LawTech Futures.

With over 35 key speakers on 3 presentation stages, the 2014 speaker lineup includes Sir Tim Berners-Lee (Inventor of the World Wide Web), Charles Christian (Legal IT Insider), Graham Cluley, Daniel Pollick (DLA Piper), Raj Samani (McAfee), Ruth Ward (Allen & Overy), Tim Hyman (Reed Smith), Jason Plant (DLA Piper), Richard Hodkinson (DWF), Mark Gould (Addleshaw Goddard), Ian Hunter (Sherman & Sterling), Rosie Houghton (Lawyers Online), Peter Owen (Lights-on consultancy), Andrew Haslem (Allvision), Sanjay Bhandari (Ernst & Young), Clive Freeman (3 Verulam Buildings), Steven Williams (Nabarro) and many more.

For more information, visit www.lawtechfutures.com or www.netlawmedia.com