BARCELONA – (17th of Feburary 2020) – The LegalTech hub has become the first global gathering of companies and institutions in the European LegalTech sector, which was held in the ICAB headquarters. This initiative unites different stakeholders in the legal sector, with the aim to encourage and strengthen the digital transformations taking place in the legal space on a global scale. The hub is collaborating with institutions such as PIMEC, Universities such as Universitat de Barcelona, law firms such as Cuatrecasas, Roca Junyent, Deloitte Legal, Across Legal, ETL, Jané Advocats and Cirial 180, companies such as Banc Sabadell, VLex Networks and Alterwork, and startups like Red Points, Bigle Legal, Validated ID, Signaturit and Pridatect. Other institutions such as Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Universitat Autònoma Barcelona have also attended the event.
Laura Urquizu, CEO of Red Points, the first Brand Intelligence platform in the world and global leader in the detection and removal of Intellectual Property infringements online, was chosen as the hub’s first president. “Today, technology is having an impact on every aspect of our society, this digital transformation involves all sectors and one of them is the legal sector. We believe that it is fundamental to unite all stakeholders of this sector to find growth synergies and a digital transformation. For this, we want to impact the LegalTech ecosystem from Barcelona to the rest of the world”, Laura Urquizu stated.
In reference to LegalTech Hub’s mission, Urquizu added: “We’re creating an association that represents the legal sector transversally as well as the industry that provides technology and services. We have a clear vision of how it impacts the digital transformation within this industry and it’s for the same reason that we want to lead it and help with the transition into the new model. Our vision and commitment is based on the fact that our associates are the main stakeholders in this industry and sector and with that in mind, we speak with the knowledge of who is in this on a daily basis and is witnessing the changes that have been initiated.”
The LegalTech Hub was created from the genuine need to unite technology with the legal field. The traditional ways of service provision in the legal sector is in the process of transformation since the arrival of new stakeholders that offer new and innovative solutions to obtain legal assistance and knowledge. This hub intends to be an inclusive organisation, both transversally and globally, that relies on the collaboration of the main institutions, law firms, companies, such as the Universities of Barcelona.
Albert Ferré, president of PIMEC Joves Barcelona, has highlighted the “open, transversal, inclusive and cooperative nature of the Hub, in which they must pivot from startups to universities.” With this in mind, he added that it is “a project that is the first of its kind on a worldwide scale, as it has been created with the support of the majority of the LegalTech community of our country”.
For Francesc Muñoz, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Cuatrecasas, “the LegalTech Hub will be an essential place of union between companies, law firms and startups to innovate in the streamlining of their legal processes”. “The work starts now. We’re facing a white canvas that we need to start painting. “Today, we start activating the new lines of work, between which there is, without doubt, that of finding a common physical space, which will allow us to generate many synergies together”, Muñoz stated.
