Sabadell KPMG Cuatrecasas Deloitte Red Points join forces in the first global 'legaltech' hub created in Europe to transform the legal sector - Digitalization has accelerated in all sectors as a result of the coronavirus, which has forced everyone to adapt to a context in which it practically seemed the only solution.
According to KPMG data, 80% of CEOs interviewed by the consultancy (about 1,300) say that the pandemic has accelerated the process of digitization of their companies, even reaching years ahead of what they expected to be before the health crisis.
The legal sector is no exception, although until now it had been one of the slowest to join the digital transformation.
Yes, the mountains of papers continue to accumulate in the courts and there are tedious processes that could be automated that remain manual, but technology is showing that it can bring added value in the legal field.
And that represents a momentous change in the sector.
A report by the Valley argued in April that legaltech is one of the upward trends for this year because it involves lower costs, greater flexibility for lawyers and clients and greater control of operations.
With the firm conviction that the change has come to stay has been born in Barcelona the Global LegalTech Hub (GLTH), a hub international acts as a reference meeting point for professionals, startups, corporations, institutions and the academic world of the legal industry, united with the common interest of "accelerating the digital transformation in the legal field".
Sabadell KPMG Cuatrecasas Deloitte Red Points join forces
"After the pandemic and with the new normal digitalization is more important, if possible. This acceleration that we have visualized for the legal environment is more important than ever", comments its president, the Spanish Laura Urquizu - CEO of the technological red Points -, in an interview with Business Insider Spain.
"There is a long journey both in the field of justice and in the field of the company and its legal processes, as well as in advice," he details.
The associates of the hub come from various fields, from banking, such as Banc Sabadell, or consulting, such as KPMG, with offices such as Cuatrecasas and Uría and other institutions such as the University of Barcelona. In addition, the association was born with the ambition to influence globally and already has 70 companies from 5 continents. "We have 650 startups detected and indexed worldwide that we are already contacting," says Urquizu.
The project was launched in February after a year and a half of work, shortly before the confinement began, but that did not stop them. The president of the Association explains that the challenges of the association are focused on the promotion of this ecosystem and the connection with all legaltech hubs worldwide, as well as ensuring that the technology is truly incorporated into the strategy of each of the companies in the legal field.
The objectives that have been set in global LegalTech Hub are quite optimistic if we take into account the functioning of companies in the legal field, in which there is often practically no automation of processes.
Urquizu points out that, thanks to technology, workers will be able to devote their time to other things that add value. It also underlines that the different legaltech startups are innovating in various fields, from signing documents to creating minutes of boards of directors automatically.
"Whenever any company in any sector has to address the introduction of something unknown in its processes it sees it with some resistance, and if that something unknown is related to technology, even more so," he says. "It is not exclusive to the legal sector, but in some this process has had to be faster than in others."
Laura Urquizu, president of the Global LegalTech Hub, is not a newcomer to the world of scanning: is also the CEO of Red Points, a company born in Barcelona dedicated to detect fakes online that has raised 67 million dollars and has more than 700 customers all over the world.
Urquizu joined the company in 2014, when Red Points was still very small, and before that he had already worked at Caja Navarra, where he was in charge of technology-related matters, and at the auditor Arthur Andersen, among other companies. Last year she was awarded the AED Award as the best manager of the year in the startup category.
Sabadell KPMG Cuatrecasas Deloitte Red Points join forces