Medical negligence and serious injury law firm Fletchers Solicitors has partnered with the University of Liverpool and received £225,000 from Innovate UK as part of a landmark project to develop future tech innovations for the legal sector.
As part of the project, Fletchers is recruiting two PHD students to work alongside their in-house software programmers and the computer science department at the University of Liverpool to explore and develop Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovations.
The grant from Innovate UK, a government organisation that works with companies across the UK to drive forward technology and innovation, is part of a UK-wide ‘Knowledge Transfer Partnerships’ programme to help businesses improve their competitiveness and productivity. Riverview Law entered a similar KTP with the University of Liverpool in January 2015.
Fletchers’ systems director, Dan Taylor, approached the University of Liverpool and Innovate UK to get involved in the programme, which helps businesses with a strategic need to innovate and grow by linking them with a university so both parties can work together on a specific project.
Fletchers Solicitors will be matching the investment figure provided by Innovate UK as part of the funding criteria.
Ed Fletcher, CEO of Fletchers Solicitors, said: “The legal sector is renowned for being years behind most industries when it comes to innovation in technology. However, now is the time to start taking notice of what other sectors are doing and consider how this could be used to help our businesses improve.
“As we move towards a more innovative legal sector, we believe that AI will grow in importance. That is why our partnership with the University of Liverpool is such an exciting opportunity for us to pioneer the way towards greater innovation and development. As a forward-thinking law firm, we strive to remain at the forefront of our industry, challenging the traditional way of doing things to pave the way for positive change.”