Roke Telkom and The Innovation Village in partnership with the Uganda Law Society (ULS) held the 3rd edition of the LegalTech Expo at Motiv in Kampala under the theme, “LegalTech Expo: Breaking Barriers in the Digitalization of the Legal Industry” to leverage technology as a means to tackle challenges in the legal industry.
The expo featured a digital products market that showcased a variety of technology products and services such as cloud services, legal AI solutions, and legal management software, among others that can be employed by lawyers to enhance the efficiency of their legal practice.
In his remarks, James Byaruhanga, the Chief Commercial Officer at Roke Telkom remarked how technology could easily enhance service delivery, improve access to justice, and build greater public trust. “The expo represents a significant step towards a more modern, efficient, and accessible legal system,” he said while highlighting the importance of digitalization to the legal industry. “By embracing digitalization, the legal industry can enhance its service delivery, improve access to justice, and build greater public trust.”
“As partners in this innovation drive, we are committed to leading this change and supporting the legal community in navigating the digital era,” he added.
Hellen Mukasa, LegalTech Lab Lead at The Innovation Village explained how the Legal Tech Lab can enhance the adoption of digital technologies in the legal industry. In her explanation, she said that the LegalTech Lab focuses on enhancing the adoption of digital technologies in the legal industry by supporting innovators to design solutions that solve the most pressing problems of the industry, such as access to justice, information, and legal service delivery —intended to yield rich customer experience journeys and build public confidence and trust in the justice system.
Although he acknowledged that there are still challenges in the legal industry when it comes to practicing digitalization, Bernard Oundo, President of the Uganda Law Society, said that the legal system has slowly adopted some of the various technology innovations like; video conferencing for court hearings, e-case filings, digital exhibits and evidence presentation which are used during legal processes.
“Technology has the potential to transform and improve the entire legal system,” said Oundo. “If well leveraged, digital tools can enable law institutions to optimize and refocus their business processes, improve service delivery to users, protect individual human rights, and democratize access to justice.”
While the digitalization of the justice system has begun, unifying legal institutions, practitioners, and the entire justice system in the digital era is a complex, monumental, and ongoing challenge that requires collaboration and coordination among all stakeholders.
With joint forces combined, these efforts can help bridge the digital divide and ensure a more efficient, accessible, and just legal system for all.
