Legal Tech Just Got A New Face: Matija Kontak, Radboud University’s Winner of the Internship With Jur
The Lab For New Justice, an initiative held by Jur with the help of Radboud University, has come to an end for the Netherland’s Chapter!
Experimenting over the dispute resolution on blockchain
Over the last few months, Jur and an elite group of legal students from Radboud University have been debating the principles behind the Jur Open Layer. This online alternative dispute resolution (ODR) platform relies on the wisdom of the crowd to solve minor disputes at almost no cost to the parties seeking justice. Under a traditional legal system, arbitration and legal fees would make pursuing this kind of justice unrealistic. Now, with the help of the Lab for New Justice and a number of top universities, Jur is building a way for ‘micro-disputes’ to be solved in a fast and affordable manner.
The lab at Radboud University ended with an award ceremony: Jur’s jury and professors Ortolani and Janssen put their heads together to select Matija Kontak from the participating group of students. All were very keen to be part of the project, but sadly we could only select one, otherwise, we would have invited them all in!
The next labs in the UK and Spain are already on the way. Soon our Alumni will join together to develop a network of newborn legal tech professionals.
Our New Intern: Matija Kontak
Our newest intern has been an avid legal student for years. After completing his first Masters with a focus on European Law at the University of Zagreb in his native Croatia, he headed to Radboud University to continue his studies of European Law, this time with a specialization in Business Law.
“I am interested in blockchain technology, cryptocurrency in general, and in alternative dispute resolution. I have written my (first) master thesis on smart contracts and ICOs. I participated in the international Willem C. Vis Moot [commercial arbitration competition], so I developed an interest in alternative dispute resolution systems (arbitration). So this opportunity brings it all together quite nicely.” — Matija Kontak
Speaking with Matija after the award ceremony, it was hard for him to hide his surprise. In light of the stiff competition, he told Jur R&D expert Michele D’Asaro that he hadn’t expected to win, but was glad that he had. He talked about his satisfaction seeing the disputes come to life on the platform, and how being in the Lab for New Justice brought so many new ideas to mind. As someone who was always attracted to the decentralized idea of ‘freedom’ that bitcoin brought to finance, Matija is hopeful that Jur would be able to replicate that in the legal sphere. Now that he has won the internship, he is looking forward to performing more legal research and working with the structured guidance of the Jur team to create better legaltech solutions.
Thank you, and Congratulations!
We strongly believe that Matija has all it takes to support Jur’s activity in delivering ADRs on the blockchain. We thank all the students that have participated in the lab and carried out disputes on our platforms, and Radboud University itself for having hosted this unique format. Together, we were able to successfully merge law and technology in a groundbreaking academic experiment on the Jur Beta Platform.
As this chapter of the Lab for New Justice comes to a close, we are hopeful that the people we met along the way continue to stay in contact and take part in our growing ecosystem!
