Cheers to you #GLH2018 hackathon judges!
The first two rounds of the Global Legal Hackathon would not have been possible without the incredible individuals who formed judging panels across the globe
Less than seven weeks ago, 40 cities from all over the globe hosted the first round of the Global Legal Hackathon. In a matter of weeks, local hosts managed to not only generate enough local interest to exceed participation limits in some locations but also wrangle industry leaders for their impressive local judging panels. Without such dedicated organizations and judicious minds, the hackathon’s second round would have been impossible.
Thanks to the individuals at every step of the way, this inaugural global legal competition will host its final round on April 21. Let’s look back at the people who made this happen.
From managing partners to legal scholars to seasoned investors, the judges for the first round of the hackathon brought a wide range of experiences to the table. Each of them graciously sacrificed a significant part of their weekend (and stayed up late on a school night, no less!) to deliberate the merits and methods of dozens of legal technology projects.
“We didn’t have an easy job,” said President of the Law Society of England & Wales Christina Blacklaws, who judged the first round of the London location. “And we did spend the entire time talking in a very constructive way — no nasty arguments,” she laughed. While announcing the judges’ results to the London teams, Blacklaws also said she had mistakenly assumed that all participants were seasoned hackers, as she was thoroughly impressed by the submissions.
It being the inaugural Global Legal Hackathon, the judges couldn’t have known what they got themselves into, but we sure are grateful they took the chance. Their thoughtful and thorough examinations of each team’s proposed solution brought us nearly 40 first-round winners. They also provided valuable feedback to the teams that did not continue to the next round but who will undoubtedly continue their paths toward implementing successful legal innovations.
It’s no easy task deliberating over such promising legal technology solutions, and it gets more challenging with every new round, as the second-round judges can attest to. They spent nearly a week determining which of these second-round solutions would continue to the finals. In fact, the teams’ submissions were so impressive that they ended up sending 14 teams to the finals, as opposed to the originally planned eight teams.
As second-round judge and legal theory professor Minghui Xiong said of the submissions, “In my opinion, not only is almost every proposal urgently needed in society, but also technically implementable.”
Even though the second-round judges have successfully narrowed down the competition to 14 dynamite teams, some say their work isn’t over. GLH judge and global technology leader in Ottawa, Peter Becke said his fellow panel judges plan to “provide the continued leadership and framework to support legal tech in Ottawa.”
Let’s meet the second-round judges who dedicated their time and effort to making the next hackathon round possible and who will undoubtedly continue to foster innovation in legal communities worldwide.
Thanks to the second-round judges of the Global Legal Hackathon!
Hailing from six different continents, the following individuals have made the hackathon finals possible.
Africa: Wilbert Kapinga
Wilbert Kapinga is a leading corporate lawyer and the managing partner at Bowmans’ Tanzania office. He specializes in corporate and finance law as well as privatisations, telecommunications and competition law. With Tanzania’s economy growing and becoming increasingly attractive to foreign investors, Kapinga plays an important role in the leading the firm to be a key aspect of the country’s banking context.
Asia: Minghui Xiong
Professor Mingui Xiong teaches logic and legal theory at at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China. Xiong has been tracking the development of artificial intelligence and law for 15 years and has organized a group of individuals to translate the classic works of legal innovation pioneers into Chinese, including Henry Prakken’s Logical Tools for Modelling Legal Argument, Bart Verheij’s Virtual Argument, Arno Lodder’s DiaLaw and Thomas Gordon’s the Pleadings Games. Professor Xiong said he was honoured to be selected as a second-round judge for the Global Legal Hackathon.
Australia/Oceania: Graeme Grovum
Graeme Grovum is the head of innovation at Corrs Chambers Westgarth in Sydney, Australia. A legal technologist with 15 years of experience in the legal and financial services industries, Grovum has contributed to a variety of legal innovation developments, including the legal document review iPad app CaseFolio. Committed to deepening the legal industry’s understanding of how technology can improve legal practice, Grovum recently launched the Sydney chapter of Legal Hackers.
Europe: Reena Sengupta
Reena Sengupta is the founder and managing director of RSG Consulting. A leading analyst of the legal industry in London, Sengupta founded RSG Consulting in 2001 to provide research and offer consulting services to lawyers and in-house counsel. After conceiving of the research methodology behind the Chambers & Partners Publishing guides, she eventually moved on to ranking lawyers based on innovation, which has become the Financial Times’ Innovative Lawyers reports. So, what makes an innovative lawyer according to Sengupta? “They have to be incredibly analytical, but they have to be bold, willing to try new things and take risks.”
North America: Peter Becke
Peter Becke is the CEO of Venturing Hills Corporation and general partner at Hello Ventures in Ottawa. A global technology leader, a private equity investor, and an advisor to CEOs of growth companies, Becke has more than three decades as an executive in the technology industry. He is also a faculty member at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. In describing his recent experience judging the hackathon, Becke said, “Law reflects so much of the world, both the commonality, and the differences in the society and community we live in. We saw that in the cohort of companies, their ideas and the diversity of participants.”
South America: Paulo Roberto Toniazzo
After spending 18 years as a judge in Brazil’s Santa Catarina Court of Justice, Paulo Roberto Toniazzo is now the Administrative Director of the Paulo Roberto Froes Toniazzo Institute, which seeks to study aspects of human and social sciences “in search of a better world.” Working in the legal system helped him realize what he wanted to invest his energy in. The former judge is now committed to “facilitating paths that bring society closer to the resolutions they need, with agility and efficiency” in the hopes of improving people’s lives.
Who will be the global panel for the #GLH2018 Finals!?
Thanks to the first and second round judges, the Global Legal Hackathon will welcome another incredible group of people to judge the final round of the hackathon on April 21 in New York. Stay tuned to meet them!
To watch hackathon teams compete in the final round, attend the Global Legal Hackathon Gala in New York, April 21. Tickets available here: https://globallegalhackathon.com/glh2018-final-round-gala-tickets/
