My experience in the TLF Connect program - Aimee Morcos

The Legal Forecast’s first virtual mentoring program, TLF Connect, has been an incomparable experience delivering a platform connecting like-minded law students with leaders in the field of innovation, design and operations. Nearing conclusion of the program, my journey over the last three months has provided me with tremendous value and has put me in a position where I feel better equipped with the tools and networks to ‘do law differently’. Equally, that I have a place in a growing technology-driven world where my entrepreneurial, innovative and creative mindset is both supported and encouraged.

I would like to extend a big thank you to Cristabel, the Program Director, for pairing and connecting me with my incredible mentor, Anne Wong. Without having the chance to meet in person yet, Anne and I have hit it off, not only sharing similar interests and career goals but a common passion for forward-thinking in the law. Anne is a recent law graduate, working as a Legal Automation Consultant at Herbert Smith Freehills and is kicking some serious goals having launched the JobKeeper Navigation App within a 2-week sprint with her team and only within 3 months of being at the firm. Anne’s hunger to design, build and deliver tech- enabled solutions in her own cool, calm and creative way is truly inspiring and it has been great to learn closely from such a strong female mentor.

My goals coming into the program

From the get-go at our first meeting, both Anne and I were determined to achieve a goal. Mine was to have one virtual zoom coffee catch up every two weeks with a legal professional in the lead up to Clerkship applications, while Anne aspired to build her personal brand around innovation and automation. Although I grew a little busy with exams and a tad lost in the wonderous world of Zoom, I have met some fascinating people and can say with confidence that my ability to connect with different people and invest time in getting to know the network and community around me has grown significantly.

It has no doubt been a challenging and trying Semester One online, but it has allowed me more time to focus on my passion to learn more about the innovation space. While we have all lost the opportunity to engage face-to-face with each other, it has been incredible to feel connected while being in a sense, unconnected and attend events virtually, perhaps even more events than I would have otherwise been able to attend in person. TLF Connect has not felt like your ordinary mentoring program but rather a community of people from law students to managers in top tier law firms that all have a role to play and supports and motivates each other’s unique offerings and talents.

What I learned from my mentor, Anne

Throughout the months, Anne has highlighted to me various events that have piqued my interests and explore the nuances of technology and the law. One of the stand out events was a virtual chit chat with Anne and several other members from TLF, Rose Inglis, Justin North, Karen Finch, Alice Cooney, Bori Ahn, Zach Moon and Christine Bulos where we had a very insightful and honest conversation about possibilities the recent pandemic has posed and the future of the profession. If I could echo two remarks from Justin, firstly, that in the law, we are in a profession of privilege and therefore, can and should use the broad set of skills we have to make real, tangible change. Secondly, the importance of volunteering whether that be during the pandemic or not and putting your time to prosperous and purposeful use!

Another stand out and more lowkey event was a captivating Instagram live featuring Tessa Ramanlal (co-founder of Anika Legal) and TLF mentor Anna Lozynski (General Counsel for L'Oréal) who explored the complexities of working in the innovation space. Anna is an incredible advocate for law students, and I have taken her advice to be bold and be curious quite literally in undertaking research of my own about the legal education in Australia and whether law students feel equipped to be a lawyer of the future. Furthermore, this year, I have been working in a close-knit group of students to develop an app, and in the interim a website, called ‘Lawcate’ to provide law students with the necessary support and resources to tackle their legal education to the fullest.

My research also stemmed from notions explored at vALTACON, a completely virtual legal tech conference! TLF provided law students with the ability to purchase tickets to the conference at a discounted price and it was a great opportunity as an aspiring lawyer with an interest in legal technology to directly talk with representatives from some of the largest legal tech software companies such as Neota Logic and Law in Order. Whilst I was a student among professionals well established in their careers, the many keynote speakers endorsed that law students as the future of the profession, can have just as much power to create traction to shift from the traditional paradigms to a more, efficient and effective working world.

My final thoughts

Prior to the past three months and despite having a passion for “innovation” and “technology”, I could not have defined these two words even to save my own life. It has now become clear that innovation is the human-centred process while technology is the tangible component that can be used to implement the innovation. There is no one piece of technology that acts as a magic wand, fixing whatever problem you face with a client or within your firm. Legal technology is a tool that can do a range of things from advancing analytics to complete automation of advice or documents with some firms finding the unique marketing advantage to find new business and personalise client services. Legal technology improves the data and the advice but will never replace the lawyers who run the difficult job of wearing so many different hats and somehow pulling it all together in the end. The legal field is unique in this way that, combining elements from many different professions in one tweaking it so fit the legal landscape, from project management to data analysis.

The TLF crew is hands down the most smart, encouraging and passionate cohort of people! Thank you to the team at The Legal Forecast for affording me the opportunity to be in the first cohort of TLF Connect. Thank you to each and every individual I have had the chance to talk to or engage with and I congratulate you all on your amazing achievements and drive for change! I am sure that the fruitful relationships we have made with each other throughout the program are not temporary and will continue to flourish in all our future endeavours.