Greater use of AI and technology in legal services will spur
economic growth thanks to a new Government investment as part of
the Plan for Change today (12 March 2025).
The £1.5m funding boost announced by Justice Minister will help further the UK's
leading position in the international legal services market.
In a speech to legal professionals, she announced the LawtechUK
programme will receive a £1.5m investment which will help
startups to attract further private investment.
Since 2023, LawtechUK has directly supported over 176 startups to
grow and the legal services sector is now estimated to provide
over 300,000 jobs in the UK. Their activity connects businesses
with investors, builds relationships between technology companies
and law firms, and offers showcasing opportunities at key
international and domestic events.
One recent example is Lexverify which created an advanced AI tool
that helps saves lawyers time and money by providing real-time
risk prevention for legal, compliance, and cybersecurity issues.
Courts and Legal Services Minister, KC MP, said:
“Lawtech is making legal services faster, more efficient, and
more accessible. It is transforming how we work, and opening
justice up to more people, at lower costs.
“This isn't just a win for law firms, or even the prestige of our
legal services sector. Lawtech is also a powerhouse for the UK
economy.”
Lawtech UK is a government-backed initiative to drive digital
transformation in the legal services industry, which is already
worth £37 billion to the UK economy every year.
Since 2019, £6 million has been invested in the programme,
supporting the lawtech sector's rapid growth as it attracts
record private investment of over £139 million and transforms how
legal services are delivered. Another LawTechUK beneficiary,
Office and Dragons, developed software that eliminates wasted
time on repetitive legal tasks, achieving over 85%-time savings
on administrative work.
Over half of the participants in LawtechUK's education programmes
come from outside London and the South-East, ensuring the
benefits of legal technology reach across the country.
The Ministry of Justice also delivers the GREAT Legal Services
campaign which promotes the strength of UK legal services and the
UK as a legal centre to the global market.
The campaign showcases UK lawtech companies internationally and
helps build relationships with potential business partners. It
has taken delegations of UK firms to take part in events in the
US, Australia and Singapore, and will be returning to the US
later this month for a programme of activity around the Legalweek
conference in New York and Chicago.
Since April 1, 2023, LawTechUK has been delivered by CodeBase and
Legal Geek.
Jon Hope, SVP at CodeBase, said:
"Building on the success of the past two years, we are excited to
extend LawtechUK into its third year.
“Together with our delivery partners, Legal Geek, we remain
committed to driving innovation and transformation in the legal
industry.
“We are proud of the impact LawtechUK has already made and look
forward to continuing to shape the future of the legal
sector."
Beth Fellner, Director at Legal Geek, said:
"Legal Geek and our delivery partner, CodeBase, have delivered a
high impact programme of activity over the last two years.
“We are ready to build on this work during a third year and
continue to drive digital transformation in the legal sector
across the UK."
