Legal Technologist

Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP is a leading UK and international law firm which provides high quality legal advice tailored to both individuals and businesses. We address the specific objectives of each client through our flair and the application of deep multi-disciplinary technical expertise. We pride ourselves on providing real world solutions to our clients’ situations.

Today, we have UK offices in the City of London, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Cambridge, Guildford, Oxford and Reading while our growing overseas network stretches from Asia to South America through our presence in Singapore, Piraeus, Paris, and Madrid. We have 140+ partners and over 850 people in total.

We have established a strong reputation in a variety of sectors, particularly technology, private wealth, shipping and real estate. Our lawyers are also recognised for their expertise in life sciences, education, retail, sports and entertainment and international trade.

Among our clients we count multi-national corporations, public companies, professional partnerships, banks and financial institutions as well as private individuals, owner managed businesses and start-ups. We are conscious that our culture and close working relationships are vital assets and we are determined to maintain these as we increase in size.

Our broad international focus is supported by well-established links with law firms throughout the world. Penningtons Manches Cooper is a member of Multilaw and the European Law Group, networks with representatives in over 100 countries, and many of our lawyers play leading roles in various international bodies.

We believe that our values (we care, stronger as one, curious and grounded, constructively challenging and proactively evolving) are core to our success. For further information about the firm: https://www.penningtonslaw.com/.

The Knowledge Team is a collaborative, vibrant team that forms a conduit between the fee-earning teams and central business to deliver a culture of knowledge sharing and continuous improvement. Their strength and depth are recognised in the legal industry, being finalists in the PSL/Knowledge category of the LexisNexis Legal Awards in 2019 and 2022; runners up at the British Legal Technology Awards in 2021 (for collaboration with Class Legal, leading publishers in the Family law arena) and shortlisted in 2020 for Legal Week's "Future of Legal Services Innovation – Mid-sized Private Practice" award.

The Knowledge Team comprises specialist knowledge lawyers (up to partner level) as well as central knowledge management professionals providing knowledge and information services.

The team sits within the wider Best Practice Group which includes specialists in risk/compliance, data governance, learning and development, legal project management, document automation and innovation. Together they work collaboratively with one aim in mind: to make things better. Better for our employees, better for our business, and better for our clients. They identify problems, and solve those problems by engaging with people, processes and technology. They help individuals, teams and the firm achieve strategic goals, maximise operational efficiency, drive innovation, facilitate change and create value from the firm’s knowledge assets.

We are looking for a Legal Technologist to support the firm's use and adoption of legal tech tools. This position will involve working closely with the Knowledge, fee earning, IT and Project teams as well as with other technology specialists within the firm (eg HighQ Collaborate, Contract Express and MS 365 Suite) to develop and embed innovative solutions enabling the firm to better serve its clients and support its fee earners.

The Legal Technologist will be responsible for developing, maintaining, supporting, driving adoption and embedding the firm's existing legal delivery tools including e-disclosure software (Relativity), AI software (Luminance), e-signature tools (DocuSign) and legal budgeting tools (Bighand Pricing and Profitability). They will serve as a point of contact for lawyers and central teams on legal technology matters and respond to enquiries/requests for support.

The role offers:

• the opportunity to utilise both legal and technology knowledge;
• exposure to lawyers and pivotal people within the business;
• a chance to use/develop key skills such as problem solving, service delivery and project management;
• the opportunity to be part of a growing and successful firm where knowledge management, client service and innovation are strategic priorities;
• great benefits and a friendly, supportive and welcoming team and firm.

Duties include:

• being the subject matter expert for specific key legal delivery tools – understanding how they work and identifying/defining roadmaps and new use cases for existing technology to better deliver client services;
• working closely with the Knowledge, fee earning, IT and Project teams and other stakeholders to ensure that legal delivery tools are used effectively, delivering maximum client and business benefit;
• leading integration, configuration & customisation of existing legal delivery tools;
• responsibility for legal technology deployment on client matters – including but not limited to Relativity, Luminance, DocuSign and matter budgeting tools;
• promoting use of existing legal tech to lawyers & encouraging innovative uses;
• driving awareness and supporting the adoption of legal technology solutions through regular engagement, demos and the creation/maintenance of relevant collateral materials;

• supporting the organisation and delivery of the legal technology training programmes to upskill stakeholders in the use of the firm's legal technology solutions;
• supporting pitch and business development activities in relation to the use of legal technology and effectively marketing the firm's legal technology offerings to clients;
• building and maintaining relationships with third party vendors;
• the collection, storage, maintenance and sharing of internal and external legal technology know-how;
• providing insights on legal market & technology trends & investigating new solutions & technologies;
• various day to day administrative tasks including internal site management and responding to fee earner queries on the use of legal technology.

Location: 

London or Basingstoke with travel as required.

The firm operates a hybrid agile working policy allowing employees to work from home (or another UK location) for at least 50% of their time. Individuals can also apply for other flexible working options either at the time of recruitment or during the course of their employment.

This role would be ideal for someone who is ambitious, bright and energetic with a passion for using technology to deliver legal services. We are looking for someone with previous experience of developing, managing, driving adoption and embedding technology solutions in a legal or other professional services environment.

Technical Skills and Experience

• Degree qualification, minimum 2:1 (or equivalent) is desirable.
• Previous experience of studying for a legal, technical or innovation course.
• Demonstrable experience of working with legal technology tools and platforms within a law firm or other professional services firm is highly desirable (eg Relativity/e-disclosure platforms, Luminance/other AI tools, DocuSign, HighQ Collaborate, Contract Express/document automation software and legal budgeting tools).
• IT literate, confident user of MS Office (including Excel and PowerPoint), knowledge of the MS365 Suite with the desire and ability to acquire new technical skills.
• An advocate for legal technology and its potential to unlock profitability and efficiency.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills demonstrating an ability to communicate with colleagues at all levels, to pitch new ideas clearly and to inspire confidence.
• Experience with business analysis and/or project management is desirable.

Behavioural Competencies

• Strong attention to detail and well-developed analytical skills.
• Enthusiasm for law and regulation generally within a client-focused professional services environment.
• Eager to learn about and champion the use of new technology and processes with a keen interest in new and emerging technologies.
• Passion for the use of people, process and technology to enhance the delivery of legal services and the ability to communicate the financial and other benefits of deployed solutions to stakeholders at all levels.
• Imaginative, highly motivated, driven to excel and willing to take on responsibility.
• Collaborative team member (but able to work autonomously as necessary) with a professional, user focussed approach and ability to quickly build trusted relationships with a wide range of people.
• Ability to facilitate, support and drive change.
• Keen and resourceful; pro-active and motivated self-starter with excellent organisational skills; flexible, pragmatic and problem-solving approach.
• Comfortable working under pressure with the ability to plan and prioritise work and deliver to tight or changing deadlines whilst maintaining high standards.
• Able to use sound judgement to balance confidence in own judgement and know when to refer decisions.
• Client-orientated approach – both internally and externally; ability to think laterally; appreciation of fee earner and client needs and constraints.
• Commercially aware with an appreciation of the challenges affecting law firms within a changing legal services market and an understanding of the legal technology market and its trends.

We actively want to attract a vibrant and varied workforce and welcome applications from everyone, from all backgrounds. We ensure that there are equal opportunities in all stages of the recruitment process and employment. All job applicants and employees receive equal treatment regardless of age, sex, gender, marital status, religion or belief,  race, ethnic or national origins, sexual orientation or disability, and we are happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled or neurodiverse candidates (including where a mental health issue is classified as a disability) to demonstrate their suitability for the position.