4 minute read
ALICE NAMULI BLAZEVIC
INTERVIEW BY RETHABILE KONOPO
TELL US ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH LAW TECH NETWORK IN UGANDA AND THE LEGAL INNOVATION HUB?
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The Uganda Legal Tech Network is a platform that fosters conversation at the intersection of law and technology. It also fosters collaboration, information & opportunities sharing for Ugandan tech lawyers, tech enthusiasts, tech entrepreneurs, innovators, regulators and policy makers.
THE LEGAL INNOVATION HUB
The hub fosters innovation in the legal profession, focuses on supporting building legal solutions that enhance the mode of delivering legal services, and access to justice in Africa. It began as a series of ad hoc efforts and "legal hackathons" but has developed into a broader "legal tech", "law tech", "civic tech", "policy tech" and "reg tech" community.
The Hub drives LegalTech and LawTech to give practitioners and entrepreneurs the knowledge and the opportunity to take advantage of 21st century trends and movements. Our collaborative approach empowers Law firms, consumers of legal services, innovators and supports local startups.
What inspired you to kick start these organizations
Many of the legal tech solutions that were available on the market where not appreciated by legal practitioners, partly because lawyers were not ready for the changes the legal profession was facing due to the disruptive technologies but most importantly, the solutions did not provide practical solutions for lawyers. I wanted to create a platform to foster conversations at the intersection of law and technology, an open source forum for information sharing among legal tech practitioners, create awareness of the disruption of the legal profession by emerging technologies and build capacity for the future lawyer of the 21st Century. To provide a platform for young lawyers and law students to be creative and innovative, build solutions that enhance the mode delivering legal services and access to justice. To help them think outside the box. And up skill or learn new skills that are not taught in our law schools but essential for the 21st Century lawyer.
Most of the legal tech solutions were designed for lawyers without understanding the ethics of legal profession and the needs of the lawyers. So, I thought of creating a platform that would provide a safe space for legal tech practitioners, tech enthusiasts and technologists to collaborate, understand each others needs and find practical legal tech solutions for the legal
profession. What is a LawTech Lawyer?
A specialist of legal implications at the intersection of law and technology.
The challenges of transitioning to a Tech Lawyer
One of the major challenges was that there are very few practicing lawyers in this field .
Which
meant that there was hardly anyone to learn from or to share experiences and knowledge. The transition also
meant that I had to up skill
and train myself about all the
new emerging
technologies that where disrupting the
legal
profession businesses. and client’s Advice to others thinking of taking a similar route
Up skill or explore and or study new fields of law that have emerged due to the disruption of technology on the legal profession, like cyber law, data protection & privacy, Blockchain, AI, ethics of AI, Robotics, coding for lawyers, etc. Embrace and maximize the use of technology tools available on the market to enhance the way they deliver legal services. Embrace online learning platforms to access legal knowledge & professional skills required to understand the relationship between the law, technology and innovation. Learn soft skills that are not taught in law schools Be part of conversations at the intersection of law and tech both at local and global level. Seek collaborations with other professionals like programmers, cybersecurity experts, innovators, etc
F U T U R E L A B M A G A Z I N E P A G E 0
IF A LAWYER IS TO COMPETE IN THE 21ST CENTURY AND COME OUT ON TOP, I RECOMMEND THAT THEY START WORKING ON THESE SKILLS NOW.
ABOUT ALICE NAMULI BLAZEVIC
Alice Namuli Blazevic is a Partner at Katende Ssempebwa &co in Uganda. An award -winning lawyer, international speaker, and author. She specializes in Technology and the law with a keen interest in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Fintechs, Cyberlaw, and Data Protection.
Her background is in PPP’s, Infrastructure projects, Project Finance, Mergers, and Acquisitions. A Founder of Africa Innovation Law & Tech Academy; Co-Founder of Legal Innovation Hub; the Chairperson of Uganda Legal Tech Network; Co-Founder of Kampala Legal Hackers; and Board Member of the Innovation Advisory Board of the Uganda National Social Security Fund .
Alice is also a Cybersecurity expert for the Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa at the University of Stellenbosch. Faculty Advisor for the Digital Legal Exchange (A unique, global organization created to teach, apply, and scale digital principles to the legal function)
