By Caroline Hill
I’ve just returned from a couple of days in France at the now annual Uncorking Innovation conference, where IT directors and vendors focus as much on personal development, leadership, and time to think as on legal technology.
Hosted by former Milbank IT director Annette Brown and Radiant Logic’s VP for EMEA Roy Harris, Uncorking Innovation recognises the value of deep connection and learning while having fun. Both were achieved at Chateau Canet in Carcassonne, Toulouse, where sessions focused on team building and breaking down barriers, as well as more traditional topics such as adoption and the future tech stack.
The event was opened with a team building exercise from former professional rugby player Mark Soden, who took us through our paces as NGO teams helping a hurricane hit island, rife with political posturing, broken roads and desperate people. The emphasis was on making decisions under pressure – do you wait and assess, or move quickly and risk chaos – sound familiar? Both are not without risk, but there was a heavy emphasis on looking after your people and your teams.
There were panels on what it takes to succeed in today’s evolving law firm environment and thriving under pressure, as well as exploring the neurobiology of stress and distress. Did you know that in order for the analytical prefrontal cortex part of your brain to operate, the fight or flight part of our brain – the amygdala – needs to be quiet? Me neither. Today’s high stress, high impact working life is not conducive to us producing our best work. The talk didn’t suggest we move to the Bahamas and sip cocktails, but that we start to recognise how to soothe ourselves and create a work environment in which we can thrive.
Once again this year there was a session from improv expert Heather Urqhart, who had the conference attendees finishing one another’s sentences and creating sentences one word per person. These types of sessions start out as slightly embarrassing but break down barriers and enable us to connect in a child-like way, which is a joy.
Day two saw a workshop exploring successful legal tech pilots and how to drive adoption. The panel shared their experiences of pilot programmes and what works: willing rather than reluctant participants and, from a vendor perspective, the need for pilots to be paid for, even if a nominal sum to focus minds. In a market that recently has seemed to shift from buying technology to solve a specific problem to buying technology with a view to seeing how people use it, the former approach was viewed as driving far greater adoption.
A topical ‘Build, Buy or Partner’ panel looked at what the right approach is right now and also how much impact GenAI is likely to have on the way law firms practice. There was an acknowledgement from some (not all) that new AI-driven law firms are emerging that could fundamentally disrupt traditional legal service delivery, particularly in process-heavy areas like conveyancing.
Take a look at our Legal IT Insider Instagram videos for some of the views, food and company over the conference. We were treated to amazing wine from Chateau Canet, and it was more than the wine that got to breathe.