International legal practice Osborne Clarke, which has a major office in Bristol, has partnered with the University of Bristol for its legal and emerging tech vacation scheme.
As part of the project, six students took part in a virtual two-week work placement at the firm. 
The students – half studying law with the others studying STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects – were paired up and challenged to work together using their different skill sets on a project to resolve a real business problem using new technologies.
By linking the two disciplines, the scheme aimed to stimulate thinking around the use of emerging technologies and how digitalisation can offer a more efficient client service.
As part of their projects the students considered some of the latest legal tech issues set to streamline and enhance legal services.
Each pair was assigned one of the following challenges:
- Smarter drafting: To look for a more efficient way to prepare commercial draft agreements and to standardise Osborne Clarke’s approach
- Transaction management: To use tech to make the process of transacting a real estate deal more efficient and to enable partners and clients to easily monitor a deal’s progress
- Chatbots: To look at how chatbot tech can enhance data input for legal matters and be used to monitor progress on matters.
The students received additional mentoring from members of Osborne Clarke’s IT and legal teams. They also attended workshops and meet specialists to see how new technologies were impacting on the law and how the firm was harnessing these technologies in the services it offers to clients.
Following the work placement, Osborne Clarke is offering the students ongoing mentoring and the opportunity to take their projects further.
Osborne Clarke IT director Nathan Hayes, who led the initiative, said: “The University of Bristol has an outstanding reputation in law and in the STEM fields and we are very excited to see the ideas the students present.
“By pairing the different disciplines we want to generate new ideas and a fresh perspective on how we can better leverage technology to create greater business efficiencies.
“We also want to encourage the students to think about the different career paths law offers and to explore careers in legal technology.”
Osborne Clarke employs around 600 staff in its Bristol office out of 1,000 across all its 24 UK and international bases.
