New kinds of investment and a national effort to share case data will be needed to apply new technology to the problem of access to justice, the government-funded LawtechUK initiative says in a report published today, as part of a shift in focus for the programme as it enters its £2m second phase under new leadership.
Today's report focuses on 'justicetech', a subset of lawtech defined as 'technology that supports consumers and SME's to understand, protect, enforce and defend their legal rights and obligations'.
In the foreword to the report, Alexandra Lennox, outgoing director of LawtechUK, notes despite the boom in investment in legal technology 'the affordability and accessibility of legal support has remained largely unchanged'. The report proposes a joint initiative by the public, private and third sector to come together to create a 'vibrant, well connected JusticeTech community'.
The rprincipal barrier facing justicetech entrepreneurs is the lack of private investment capital, the report suggests. 'There is a tension between providing access to justice for consumers at a price they can afford and building an attractive business proposition that will secure investment to scale a new justicetech product,' the report notes. To fill the gap, the sector could turn to 'less traditional sources of funding, such as impact investors who are motivated by the positive social impact and accepting of a slower return on their investors'. This is already a developing area in the US through businesses such as Village Capital, the report states.
Another issue is access to data about real cases and journeys through the justice system. The report recommends that data holders 'come together to agree and prioritise the mechanism for collection and sharing of data around cases, pathways and outcomes across both public and private sectors'.
Overall, the report says that a 'single coordinating entity' should be set up to assist justicetech entrepreneurs across the UK. The government should engage wth the cross-ecosystem group 'to identify the frequently used consumer journeys through the justice system and explore the opportunity for justicetech to re-invent these, for improved user outcomes.'
The next phase of the LawTechUK programme will be launched in Edinburgh on 18 May.
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