Dentons UK, Ireland and Middle East (UKIME) has announced the launch of “Office Hours”, a unique opportunity for tech companies looking to build, test and develop innovative solutions tailored to the legal market.
The programme brings together technology companies and Dentons legal innovation specialists to explore the latest products capable of disrupting traditional legal processes.
Successful applicants will have the opportunity to co-develop and test products within Dentons’ wider Research and Development (R&D) programme, with guidance and expertise from their UK-based Innovation and AI team.
The team comprises Data Scientists, Product Managers, Innovation Advisers and Legal Technologists. The Dentons R&D programme focuses on testing and developing new solutions that will benefit the Firm and its clients.
As part of the Dentons Office Hours R&D programme, selected legal tech companies will:
- collaborate with Dentons’ legal and innovation teams to refine their product within a structured R&D framework;
- co-develop solutions tailored to specific use cases, ensuring the product fits seamlessly into existing workflows and provides practical, scalable results;
- test and iterate their product using specific use cases that focus on how the solution can be integrated into Dentons’ operations or offered to its clients; and
- explore partnership opportunities, including potential pilot programmes, to further develop and scale the solution across Dentons’ network.
“This is not just a pitch event – it’s an opportunity for tech visionaries to co-develop and test products”
Rowena Rix, Head of Innovation and AI, Dentons
Office Hours aims to identify and develop products that fall within its established innovation focus areas:
- Knowledge management: Ensuring Dentons’ knowledge base is readily accessible for efficient matter delivery. Facilitating knowledge sharing, reducing redundancy and enhancing decision-making through intuitive search and retrieval.
- Document lifecycle and matter management: Streamlining workflows and document management to enable seamless data capture, retrieval and compliance. Supporting real-time collaboration, audit trails and process automation to minimise inefficiencies.
- Communication and collaboration: Enhancing data tracking, visualisation and presentation for business insights and secure collaboration. Enabling integrated messaging and real-time document editing to improve client experience and operational effectiveness.
- Document and data extraction: Utilising advanced technologies, including LLMs, to analyse documents, retrieve and structure information, and support efficient validation and reporting.
- Data analysis and information visualisation: Applying advanced techniques to present complex data clearly, transforming raw data into actionable insights with intuitive visualisation tools for better decision-making and client reporting.
- Budgeting, costs and resource management: Harnessing data and technology for strategic pricing, quick fee estimation, budgeting, cost management, reporting and resource allocation.
Dentons is recognised as a leading innovator in the legal industry, having been ranked in the top seven most innovative law firms in Europe by the Financial Times.
Recent innovative steps taken by the Firm include the launch in 2023 of FleetAI, a secure, generative artificial intelligence (AI) product, empowering Dentons teams with AI capabilities in legal workflows.
Last year, Dentons rolled out a white label AI-powered intellectual property solution developed by Intanify, a VC-backed fintech start-up, following a successful pilot. The Firm also published “Laws of AI Traction“, a flagship research report based on feedback from 450 business leaders, outlining the gap between the AI ambitions and actions of international organisations.
Rowena Rix, Head of Innovation and AI at Dentons UK, Ireland and Middle East (UKIME), said: “We’re excited to launch Dentons Office Hours which promises to uncover some of the best in future legal tech solutions.
“This is not just a pitch event – it’s an opportunity for tech visionaries to co-develop and test products under our direction and expertise as we drive forward our ambitious growth strategy.
“Companies joining our R&D programme can expect to take a ‘capability first’ approach, laser-focused on problem solving for our clients and business.
“If you meet our criteria and are excited by what Dentons has to offer, apply to take part before the May deadline.”
Paul Jarvis, CEO of Dentons UK, Ireland and Middle East (UKIME), added: “As a firm that remains at the forefront of legal innovation, I am thrilled to be offering this opportunity to ambitious companies who share our vision for a tech-enabled future.
“I look forward with great enthusiasm to the ideas presented to our Innovation and AI team, and to seeing outcomes of this programme.”
