Dentons UK, Ireland and Middle East (UKIME) has launched a programme called Office Hours, which going forward will govern how innovative new technology is assessed, tested, developed and potentially taken forward by the business.
Office hours in many organisations refers to a scheduled time when a team member is able to seek guidance and help. This programme, created and led by Dentons UKIME’s head of innovation and AI, Rowena Rix, will bring together technology companies and Dentons’ legal innovation specialists to explore the latest products capable of disrupting traditional legal processes.
Office Hours aims to identify and develop products that fall within Dentons’ six innovation focus areas: knowledge management; document lifecycle and matter management; communication and collaboration; document and data extraction; data analysis and information visualisation; and budgeting, costs and resource management.
There will be opportunities for legal tech companies to refine their product within a structured R&D framework and co-develop solutions tailored to specific use cases.
The objective of the programme is partly to create some order around the way in which the business interacts with new technology, to make the process more efficient and also to ensure that the right people are available to test and develop it.
Speaking to Legal IT Insider, Rix, who since joining in January 2024 has built up the innovation team to include product management and data science specialists, said: “The primary purpose is to find technology that solves our problems, and this is our new approach to funnelling external providers. We’ll be measuring against which problems they are solving and whether they can prove that they are solving it. This ‘proof of tech’ is important, because we’ve had experience of providers saying they can solve everything under the sun and our lawyers buy into that, but the product does none of it. That erodes trust in our team and in AI and causes more problems that we then have to spend time unpicking. We want to focus on what the product does solve, or at least, does it get us further or in a different way to solve the thing that people have got stuck with?”
In the initial stage of testing, Dentons will be using synthetic data that it has used for its own internal evaluation of products, and Rix says: “We have our own idea of what comes out of that, which will help us with that initial assessment of providers.”
Rix is a former litigator; a process improvement specialist trained in Lean Six Sigma; and before Dentons was head of legal solutions at Mishcon de Reya.
The Office Hours application process has echoes of Mishcon’s incubator MDR LAB, in that tech companies will be asked to apply; have a call with the innovation team; be allocated a work stream; and will collaborate with fee-earners interested in priority focus areas. What is different here is that suppliers need to have an MVP, and Rix told us: “We’re not looking for people with an idea. We don’t have the capacity at the moment to support germination. We’re looking for products that we can take forward immediately.”
While Dentons UKIME hasn’t ruled out investing in new tech under this programme, Rix says that the primary objective goes back to finding technology that works to solve its lawyers problems.
Dentons previously had a global new tech platform called Nextlaw Labs, but that program no longer exists. The Nextlaw brand still exists as a technology referral network.
Programs such as Office Hours are indicative of the volume of new tech once again being introduced to the firm, as partners become enthused by the possibilities of GenAI. Going forward, Rix says: “If our people come up with an idea it will go through Office Hours so we are process driven and can measure what is being promised and delivered.”
Innovative tech solutions rolled out by Dentons include OpenAI-based chatbot FleetAI, and last year it partnered with AI intellectual property startup Intanify to accelerate and improve the process of creating IP inventories.
How to apply
Companies are encouraged to submit their applications through this form.
Application deadline: 12 May 2025
Shortlist notifications: 2 June 2025
Office Hours sessions: June 2025
Details in full of those work streams are below.
Knowledge management: Ensuring Dentons’ knowledge base is readily accessible for efficient matter delivery. Facilitating knowledge sharing, reducing redundancy and enhancing decision-making through intuitive search and retrieval.
Document lifecycle and matter management: Streamlining workflows and document management to enable seamless data capture, retrieval and compliance. Supporting real-time collaboration, audit trails and process automation to minimise inefficiencies.
Communication and collaboration: Enhancing data tracking, visualisation and presentation for business insights and secure collaboration. Enabling integrated messaging and real-time document editing to improve client experience and operational effectiveness.
Document and data extraction: Utilising advanced technologies, including LLMs, to analyse documents, retrieve and structure information, and support efficient validation and reporting.
Data analysis and information visualisation: Applying advanced techniques to present complex data clearly, transforming raw data into actionable insights with intuitive visualisation tools for better decision-making and client reporting.
Budgeting, costs and resource management: Harnessing data and technology for strategic pricing, quick fee estimation, budgeting, cost management, reporting and resource allocation.