Slaughter and May pilots Oxford University LawTech Education Series

Almost 200 Slaughter and May staff from across practice groups and business services have become the first participants to pilot a new ‘Digital Literacy: Law and Computer Science’ series, designed and developed with leading academics from the Oxford University LawTech Education Programme team.

Based on large-scale interdisciplinary research undertaken by Oxford academics, as well as content from Oxford University’s Law and Computer Science course, the series aims to help those within the legal sector to fill the gaps in their knowledge and skills in order to accelerate the uptake of technology in the provision of legal services.

The series, delivered in November and December, forms part of Slaughter and May’s wider Innovation Training Programme, offered to all staff at the firm. Each unit of the tri-partite series included on-demand video materials for participants to complete in their own time, followed by a live Q&A session with Oxford Professors structured around the most popular pre-submitted questions and themes.

The pilot has been well-received, with one participant noting that their biggest takeaway was ‘thinking about how to combine the power of CS's and lawyers effectively to deal with new challenges’. Others praised ‘the pace and the balance between using academic sources, theoretical puzzles (well I found them puzzling and interestingly challenging) and practical examples.’ ‘The myth busting and no nonsense approach’ was also highly appreciated. The pilot also called on Slaughter and May participants to provide valuable feedback to the Oxford team.

Jane Stewart, Head of Knowledge and Innovation at Slaughter and May said, “Partnering with Oxford University on this Digital Literacy series has been an incredibly beneficial experience for all of our people. The volume and complexity of legal tech we are using as a firm is ever-increasing; understanding the relationship between law and computer science is critical to ensuring that law firms get the most out of these technologies. We look forward to continuing our work with Oxford as the landscape changes and develops.”

Slaughter and May and Oxford will continue to partner on the Unlocking the Potential of Artificial Intelligence for English Law project, concluding in 2021.

To learn more about the Oxford LawTech Education Programme (OLTEP), please visit the OLTEP website.