The Legal Tech Event of 2017

Making Switzerland a Leading Digital Legal Tech Hub.
Connecting national and international pioneers in the Legal Tech area.

 

The Swiss Legal Tech 2017 is a three-day event, bringing together a community of legal professionals and digital innovators in order to discuss and develop the legal industry of the future.

 

On October 2nd, the three day event begins with a 48h Legal Tech Hackathon, where lawyers and software developers jointly identify problems and develop solutions. Accompanied by legal engineers, lawyers with technical expertise, ideas will be generated in an open format and teams created around shared interests. A parallel full-day workshop track on October 3rd provides in-depth lectures and individual discussions in focus groups.

 

On October 4th, a full day Conference on Legal Tech follows . Renowned speakers with national and international backgrounds will have the opportunity to give their view on how the digital revolution will affect law and legal practice in the near and far future. The winners of the Hackathon will pitch their ideas and prototypes.

Key Technologies at the Swiss Legal Tech

Blockchain

Transactions of all kind will be executed on a globally shared trust infrastructure, giving rise to new levels of transparency and accountability. Blockchain technology is the most promising candidate technology yet to fulfill that vision

Industrialization

Legal Services will be industrialized and standardized: starting with specific contract types, ultimately every aspect of a lawyer’s day-to-day job will be touched by automation. Increasing complexity requires more qualified legal advice, leading to an increase in cost. Here, industrialization helps to reduce cost and lower the barrier to justice.

Law & AI

Advances in Machine Learning and Big Data influence law in many ways. From cost reduction in legal practice to questions such as legal personhood for machines.

Become part of a Community

 

 

 

 

 

Become part of the hacking.law Community at our two-day Hackathon. Connect with Lawyers, Software Developers, Designers, Digital Innovators and many other people interested in Legal Tech.

 

In organized brainstorming sessions,  we’ll cover topics as diverse as Document Automation, Knowledge Management, Templating, Use of artificial intelligence in daily law practice, Competitive advantages through the use of AI, Process Automation & Knowledge Architecture, Blockchain, Smart Contracts.

 

We will touch upon new digital business models and topics such as Legal Tech Start-Up Success Stories and Legal Design Thinking

2day Hackathon & Workshops

Full Day Conference

The Conference language will be English, workshops and break-out sessions in English, German and French.

 

 

The Swiss Legal Tech Conference brings together a community of legal professionals and technical experts in order to discuss and develop the legal industry of the future.

 

The legal services industry is currently entering a phase of deep transformation. The most basic tasks are automatized, simple services are commoditized, clients are empowered and professionals must increasingly focus on value-added services.

 

Similarly to other industries previously, legal services are being industrialized and standardized. Starting with simple contracts and services, ultimately every aspect of a lawyer’s day-to-day job will be touched by automation. Customers will benefit from a price drop and a better access to justice. But faced with increasing competition, lawyers will need to rethink their business model.

Speakers

Gabriele Schwarz
Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, Department of Computer Science

Gabriele Schwarz is a lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, Department of Computer Science. In addition, she is a member of Innovista Management GmbH, a Zurich-based company specializing in training and monitoring innovation and technology projects. Gabriele Schwarz holds a PhD in Information and Technology Management.

Gabriele Schwarz
Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, Department of Computer Science
Stephan Meyer
ZHAW School of Management and Law

Stephan is a legal professional specialised in FinTech, InsurTech and blockchain technology. After studies in Zurich, Paris and London and six years of working for an international insurance company he is now researching on legal implications of blockchain technology as a PhD candidate at University of Zurich. Stephan works at ZHAW School of Management and Law as a member of an SNSF research project team on the regulation of virtual currencies. In addition, he is a crypto team member at MME, a leading advisory firm in the crypto space, a lecturer in business law and a staff officer in a command support battalion of the Swiss Armed Forces.

Stephan Meyer
ZHAW School of Management and Law
Nora Teuwsen
Group General Counsel of Swiss Federal Railways

Nora Teuwsen was appointed Group General Counsel of Swiss Federal Railways in 2013. She graduated from the University of Zurich and is admitted to all Swiss courts. She holds a degree as Executive Master of European and International Business Law from the University of St. Gallen. Prior to her appointment as Group General Counsel she served as Head Legal and Procurement and member of the executive management team of SBB’s real estate division, one of the foremost players in the country’s property sector. 2015, Nora was elected to the Management Committee of the Institute of Law and Legal Practice from the University of St. Gallen.

Nora Teuwsen
Group General Counsel of Swiss Federal Railways
Martin Fries
Assistant professor of law at the University of Munich (LMU)

Martin Fries is assistant professor of law at the University of Munich (LMU) with a research focus on legal tech. After studying law (bar exam) and economics (diploma), he earned a master’s degree from Stanford University and founded a Munich-based law firm. Aside from his academic activities, he regularly serves as a mediator in inheritance and commercial conflicts.

Martin Fries
Assistant professor of law at the University of Munich (LMU)
Gunther Thies
Co-Founder & CEO of STP Informationstechnologie AG

Gunther Thies is co-founder and CEO of STP Informationstechnologie AG, one of the largest IT companies in the legal market of the Federal Republic with almost 200 employees. STP AG is a highly specialized software company in the segment of legal technology based in Karlsruhe and Switzerland. As a successful entrepreneur, he has been working with digital solutions for the German legal market for more than 20 years. With his many years of experience, he is the driving force behind the development of Legal Tech.

Gunther Thies
Co-Founder & CEO of STP Informationstechnologie AG
Patrick Prior
Founder Advotisement®, FAQ-Recht & Advobot

Patrick Prior graduated law school at the university of Potsdam, Germany. He is a Legal Tech expert, author and ELTA member. In 2016 he founded the Legal Tech consulting company Advotisement®. He is the founder of FAQ-Recht, a legal information platform for generating new clients. In 2017 he started Advobot, a provider of legal chatbots for law firms.

Patrick Prior
Founder Advotisement®, FAQ-Recht & Advobot
Alessandro Tonchia,
Digital KYC

Alessandro Tonchia,
Digital KYC
Jana Essebier
Lawyer & Partner Vischer

Jana Essebier is an attorney at law admitted to the bar in Switzerland and Germany and partner at the law firm VISCHER in the field of banking and finance law. She regularly advises Swiss and foreign financial market participants on regulatory law and insolvency and restructuring as well as on litigious matters. One focus of her work is FinTech innovations, such as crowdfunding, mobile payment and blockchain, as well as providing legal advice to start-ups. In addition, she advises both financial market participants and investors on derivatives, structured products and other financial instruments. Jana is recognized by the Regulatory Board of the SIX Swiss Exchange as a representative of issuers.

Jana Essebier
Lawyer & Partner Vischer
Luis Ackermann
Co-Founder Lex Ferenda

Luis Ackermann is a Data Scientist and IT Architect. Three years ago he founded Lex Ferenda and has since been developing systems for automated legal data processing and digital assistance tools for legal professionals. He specialises in the area of Machine Learning and Data Security, crafting algorithms which provide reliable insights while complying with high confidentiality standards.

Luis Ackermann
Co-Founder Lex Ferenda
Philippe D. Zimmermann
E-Government Projekt „Transaktionsportal für die Wirtschaft“

After his studies in Management at the University of Berne, he worked for several years in academic research and teaching positions. From 2007 onwards he worked in the software industry and was in charge of the certificate business at SwissSign AG, first as a Product Manager, then as a Business Unit Manager. He also founded 2 startup companies, which are still both successfully active. He has an overall experience of 15 years in the fields of e-business and e-government.
Currently, he works at the SECO, where he heads the SME-portal and the business registration portal StartBiz. He also manages the national e-government project „Transaction portal for businesses“ www.egovernment.ch/oss.

Philippe D. Zimmermann
E-Government Projekt „Transaktionsportal für die Wirtschaft“
Daniel Gasteiger
Co-Founder of nexussquared // Founder of Procivis AG

Daniel Gasteiger began his career as a foreign exchange trader at Credit Suisse and joined UBS Investmentbank in 1998. He then worked as a managing director at UBS at the Corporate Center and, starting in 2012, built the office of the Chairman of the Board of Directors. In 2015 he left the financial industry and founded Nexussquared in Zurich. The start-up advises Blockchain start-ups as well as established companies on the subject of blockchain. In 2016, he founded his second company, Procivis AG, which advises authorities and governments on the use of block-based solutions and offers e-government-as-a-service.

Daniel Gasteiger
Co-Founder of nexussquared // Founder of Procivis AG
Markus Waldner
Dipl. El. Ing. ETH, Exec MBA HSG, Leiter Fachbereich Weiterentwicklung Ausweise, Bundesamt für Polizei

Markus was trained as an electrical engineer ETH (postgraduate HSG) Markus Waldner held various senior positions in the industry, with a focus on radio and communication technology. In 2004, he moved to the EJPD and prepared a project for the definitive introduction of the biometric passport in Switzerland. Since 2013, he has been responsible for the conceptual and project work of the federal government for the introduction of a state-recognized electronic identity, as well as the projects for the development and public procurement of the next generation of passports on passports and identity cards

Markus Waldner
Dipl. El. Ing. ETH, Exec MBA HSG, Leiter Fachbereich Weiterentwicklung Ausweise, Bundesamt für Polizei
Michael Bornhäuser
Co-Owner Salfort Privatbank

Michael Bornhäusser is a co-owner and the head of Private Equity, Products & Services. He has been in business for 20 years, during which time he has successfully founded, acquired and resold or floated companies in the internet, telecommunication and media sectors. He lectures at St. Gallen University and the University of NW Switzerland and is a board member of companies in Switzerland and abroad

Michael Bornhäuser
Co-Owner Salfort Privatbank
Stephan Breidenbach
Co-Founder Legal Tech Center, Law Professor

Stephan Breidenbach is a law professor at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), a mediator and an entrepreneur.Stephan co-founded betterplace.org, knowledgeTools International GmbH and Blue Economy Solutions.

Stephan Breidenbach
Co-Founder Legal Tech Center, Law Professor
Markus Hartung
Director of the Bucerius Center on the Legal Profession

Markus Hartung - a lawyer and mediator - is director of the Bucerius Center on the Legal Profession (CLP) at Bucerius Law School. His research at CLP revolves around market developments and trends, management, strategic leadership and Corporate Governance, as well as new business models enabled through Legal Tech.

Markus Hartung
Director of the Bucerius Center on the Legal Profession
Simon Ahammer
Lawyer - heads the internal software development department of the law firm Beiten Burkhardt.

Simon Ahammer is a lawyer and currently heads the internal software development department of the medium-sized law firm Beiten Burkhardt. Already during his legal studies Mr. Ahammer was concerned about software projects in the legal sector. Since this time, he has been designing and developing branch-specific legal applications, as well as working as a legaltech consultant.

Simon Ahammer
Lawyer - heads the internal software development department of the law firm Beiten Burkhardt.
Gerard Neiditsch
Legal Tech Consultant - Executive School of Management, Technology and Law

Gerard Neiditsch has a track record of technology enabled transformation and operations management at large professional services organisations. He has been working for more than two decades in applying innovative technology and work practice changes at leading legal, advisory and accounting firms, at a civil engineering company and a wholesaler. He has also been the co-founder of a leading eDiscovery and virtual data room software company. He is also the co-inventor of a new electronic filing technology, now known as NetDocuments Email.

Gerard Neiditsch
Legal Tech Consultant - Executive School of Management, Technology and Law
Bruno Mascello
Vice Director, Lecturer University of St. Gallen, Executive School of Management, Technology and Law

Qualified attorney and internationally experienced in both private practice and in-house/legal department. Proven management and leadership skills. Experienced trouble shooter and interim general counsel. Experienced negotiator on an international level and project manager. Broad, international and interdisciplinary education in law and economics (LL.M., Executive MBA). Adjunct professor and lecturer at the University of St. Gallen / Executive School in the area of Law&Management. Legal and business consulting, coaching, trouble shooting and interim roles for establishing/leading legal departments.

Bruno Mascello
Vice Director, Lecturer University of St. Gallen, Executive School of Management, Technology and Law
Maurus Schreyvogel
Chief of Staff Legal at Novartis International AG

Chief of staff to the Group General Counsel provides the backbone infrastructure for the Legal function and is responsible for the strategy execution. Together with peers from other functions and business units the chief of staff supports the development the group wide strategy and participates in group wide and cross functional strategic initiatives. Furthermore, the chief of staff delivers the Legal management reporting, oversees research to develop the Legal function and provides internal and external communication support for the Group General Counsel.

Maurus Schreyvogel
Chief of Staff Legal at Novartis International AG
Gian Sandro Genna
Lawyer at Jusonline AG

Gian Sandro Genna
Lawyer at Jusonline AG
Sascha Theissen
Member of the Executive Board. Strategy advisor for digital transformation.

Consulting for companies, legal departments and law firms in the search for and implementation of new business models, digital tools and legal tech, as well as support for change processes for more innovation and modern leadership through agile methods, kanban and design thinking

Sascha Theissen
Member of the Executive Board. Strategy advisor for digital transformation.
Christian Laux
Partner Laux Rechtsanwälte

Christian Laux
Partner Laux Rechtsanwälte
Martin Eckert
Lawyer and Partner at MME

Martin Eckert, one of the three founding partners of MME, has broad experience in assisting international technology and commercial firms (contracts, distribution, relocation, M&A). His areas of expertise are IT, IP and technology law, particularly in the telecommunications and high tech sectors (inter alia medical technology). He has been appointed as an expert lawyer in negotiating many complex IT-Outsourcing projects, mainly for banks and insurance companies. He acts as a litigator in complex commercial law cases before arbitral tribunals and commercial state courts.

Martin Eckert
Lawyer and Partner at MME
Florent Thouvenin
Chair for lnformation and Communications Law, University of Zuric

Florent Thouvenin
Chair for lnformation and Communications Law, University of Zuric
Philippe Natermod
FDP Nationalrat

Philippe Nantermod (33) is a member of the Swiss parliament, vice-president of the Swiss liberal-radical party. He works as an independent lawyer. As part of its activities, it has been very involved in digitization issues and proposes a deregulation and market liberalization approach to deal with the digital revolution.

Philippe Natermod
FDP Nationalrat
Patrick Allemann
CTO at Gatechain.com

Patrick has extensive knowledge of security and cryptography, having worked in various projects in the context of secure data storage. He is founder of futuretek AG, a technology solution provider, and has been actively involved in Cryptocurrencies since 2012. Previously, he gained a broad experience in various technology and business positions across several sectors, with a focus on banking.

Patrick Allemann
CTO at Gatechain.com
Julia Heinzer
Partner Accenture

Julia Heinzer
Partner Accenture
Marc Morant
General Manager of Axiom in Switzerland

Marc is the General Manager of Axiom in Switzerland and a member of Axiom’s Continental Europe management team. Axiom is the world’s largest provider of tech-enabled legal, contracts and compliance solutions for large enterprises. The firm’s unique solutions combine legal expertise, technology and data analytics to deliver work in a way that dramatically reduces risk, cost and cycle time. At Axiom, Marc is responsible for the firm’s first Continental European office including expansion across the region. In this fully-fledged role, Marc is directing a team responsible for managing and developing the firm's relationships with Switzerland based clients.

Marc Morant
General Manager of Axiom in Switzerland
Rolf Auf der Maur
Lawyer & Partner Vischer

Since the beginning of his career as an attorney in 1992, Rolf Auf der Maur has focused on the legal aspects of the internet, combining his fascination with new communication technologies with his legal expertise. His clients include leading companies from the media and entertainment industries as well as from the telecommunications and information technology industries. In addition to his activities as an attorney, Rolf publishes and speaks regularly on internet-related legal issues and is a member of various industry bodies (e.g. as a board member of simsa Swiss internet industry association, IAB Switzerland and the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers).

Rolf Auf der Maur
Lawyer & Partner Vischer
Luka Müller
Partner MME

Luka Müller-Studer provides assistance to companies in the technology and financial sector. He focuses on technology, financing acquisition and restructuring cases. He is an expert on complex compliance cases in the areas of regulatory compliance, anti-money laundering, anti-corruption and judicial assistance and advisor of large compliance organizations.

Luka Müller
Partner MME
Wiebe de Fries
Lawyer & President of the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA)

He is a licensed tax and civil law attorney in the Netherlands, and founded his own Tax boutique, BloomTax B.V., based in Amsterdam, in April 2014. He is a tax advisor on international transactions, international structurings and investments in and through the Netherlands. Although his practice predominantly comprises Dutch and foreign based corporate clients, he also advises a considerable number of private clients on their personal income tax position and cross border tax aspects. He studied Dutch civil law in Leiden and tax law in Amsterdam, he got his degrees in 2001 and 2004

Wiebe de Fries
Lawyer & President of the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA)
Isabel Parker
Lawyer Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Isabel trained and qualified as a finance lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. In 2013, she moved from fee earning into the Management office of Freshfields as Strategy Lead for a firmwide
global change project to shape the firm’s target operating model. She set up the firm’s legal Services Centre in Manchester, which
formally opened in July 2015. In December 2015, Isabel was made a Senior Director of the firm, responsible for legal services
innovation. She has responsibility for reshaping the legal services elements of the Global Centre and the wider firm, to enhance the value of Freshfields’ client service.

Isabel Parker
Lawyer Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Event Schedule Conference

A schedule at a glance is listed below. Check the program for this year's conference and learn about the speakers and sessions in store for legal tech enthusiasts.

Conference (Oct 4th)

9:00 AM

Petra Arends-Paltzer - Florian Glatz - Christoph Küng - Antoine Verdon

The 4 founders of the Swiss Legal Tech Conference will welcome the visitors and introduce the schedule of this unique conference

9:10 AM

TBD

Legal Tech for Law Firms

9:20 AM

Markus Hartung
Director of the Bucerius Center on the Legal Profession

The Digitization will bring about fundamental changes to all kinds of businesses, i. e. ‘disruptive innovations’ are ahead of us. Many lawyers and entrepreneurs will benefit as more work processes can be automated in the near future. But new legal business models develop into competitors for some lawyers. The so-called 'alternative legal service providers' are increasingly entering the market with a focus on the A2J (‘Access to Justice’) market. The growing number of «legal service providers» will enable new clients to get affordable legal advice online, hence they can manage their legal matters online. Markus Hartung is the Head of Bucerius Law School's Center on the Legal Profession (CLP). He will detail an overview of the current disruptive legal developments and the business models lawyers can use to react to these new challenges.

9:40 AM

Antoine Verdon & Chris Küng
Founder Swiss Legal Tech Association

The Productization of Legal Services - Lawyers tend to be unwilling to look to other professions or industries to find ways to improve their practices and work. We might call this approach “law practice exceptionalism,” the belief that nearly every aspect of the practice of law is unique and must be considered in isolation from what we see elsewhere. We all have heard or said, “But law is different. Really.” As a result, lawyers have been reluctant to adopt approaches that have proven successful in other industries—project management techniques, business process strategies and much more. Antoine Verdon and Chris Küng, the 2 founder of the Swiss Legal Tech Association will give an overview about the current market situation.

9:50 AM

Sascha Theissen
Member of the Executive Board diconium strategy

What economic, social, technological and cultural developments will influence, change and innovate the market for legal services in the next 20 years? Are today's legal practices prepared to meet the future? If not, how will they need to adapt? What changes will be needed to stay in business? Sascha Theissen, the well-known consultant for digital transformation, will give an overview of the tends that will change the fundamental way legal services are provided today and how law practices are already adapting to them.

Legal Tech for Corporations and SMEs

10:00 AM

Marc Morant
General Manager & Head of Sales Axiom Switzerland
10:20 AM

Maurus Schreyvogel
Chief of Staff Legal at Novartis International AG

Some years ago, already Novartis with several hundreds in-house attorneys has started to automatize and digitalize parts of their legal services. In his presentation Maurus Schreyvogel, head of the Novartis Legal Department, will outline what problems and challenges an international company had to face to manage the tasks that come along with the digitization of legal services in an international inhouse legal department.

10:30 AM

Nora Teuwsen
General Counsel SBB

In the course of the digitalization inhouse legal departments will have to reinvent themselves. SBB has accepted these challenges and an inhouse team is currently working to establish cornerstones for the SBB inhouse legal department of the future. Nora Teuwsen Group General Counsel of Swiss Federal Railways will provide insights into this study.

10:40 AM

Bruno Mascello
Attorney at Law, Vice Director, Lecturer Executive School of Management, Technology and Law

Blockchain Technology for Lawyers

11:10

Luka Müller
Partner MME

'Blockchain' is the word used to describe a decentralised and therefore democratic database system. It's purpose is to facilate transactions of any kind between the members participating in the blockchain. The result is a totally transparent system that cannot internally or externally be manipulated. Blockchain systems can be applied to many commercial and financial businesses. However each application will be require its own legal framework. Luka Müller, a partner with the Law firm MME, has advised numerous new ventures into the blockchain market. His overview of the new legal service models that are being developed for this often misunderstood transaction system will bring the novice as well as the experienced up to speed in this fast-paced market.

11:30 AM

Florian Glatz
Blockchain Lawyer

Florian Glatz, Blockchain Lawyer has worked on numerous blockchain projects in his speech he will present practical case examples of selected blockchain projects.

11:40 PM

Patrick Allemann
CTO at Gatechain.com Legal Technologies Switzerland AG

Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers

11:50 AM

Paul von Bünau
Managing Director at idalab
12:10 PM

TBD
12:20 PM

TBD

Legal Tech for Public Services

1:30 PM

TBD
2:00 PM

TBD

Afternoon Program

2:10 PM

3:30 PM

Markus Hartung - NZZ (TBD), Flightright (CEO), ZALANDO (CEO)
4:00 PM

5:00 PM

Event Schedule Workshops

Check the program for this year's workshops and learn about our hands-on sessions.

Workshops: Industrialisation (Oct 3rd)

9:30 AM

Gunther Thies
Co-Founder and CEO von STP

Legal information is available online and anytime, the future client is 'informed'. Faster, cheaper and a focus on digital solutions - the demands of clients will change and this will have a significant impact the digitalisation of law firms. B2B and B2C will both force digitization in law firms.

10:15 AM

TBD

eDiscovery allows to localize, secure and search data that can be used as evidence in civil or criminal court cases. eDiscovery can be performed on individual computers but also on the network of computers. In this workshop, you will learn how eDiscovery works in day-to-day business.

11:00 AM

Simon Ahammer
Lawyer currently heads the internal software development department of the law firm Beiten Burkhardt.

Programming – must-skills for lawyers? In the future basics programming skills will be important for everyone; basic knowledge is essential. Legal aspects and workflows must be properly represented and translated into requirements, which are understood by programmers or IT service providers. Lawyers can learn these technics!

11:45 AM

Gabriele Schwarz
Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, Department of Computer Science

The choice of the right business model for digital challenges proved to be one of the core challenges for start-ups and project managers. It has been shown that certain digital business models can prevail in the market, others have failed. In her lecture, Gabriele Schwarz shows, based on a 'Magic Triangle', which digital business models have proved themselves on the basis of which factors.

12:30 PM

Christian Laux
Partner at LAUX LAWYERS AG

With his publications, i.e. ‘The end of the lawyers’ Richard Susskind, an English lawyer and IT consultant for law firms, is shaking up the legal profession. In his presentation Christian Laux encourages an intensified use of information technology by law firms. His presentation addresses the question how law firms can react and adapt to the latest tendencies in IT.

2:00 PM

TBD
2:45 PM

Gerard Neiditsch & Bruno Mascello

In the near future, lawyers will have to face increasingly complex cases in an increasingly fast-paced world. This calls for skills that go far beyond purely legal expertise.
What are the required skills lawyers having to bring to the table and how do law firms have to position themselves to meet these future challenges? This workshop is conducted together with Mr. Gerard Neiditsch, Legal Tech Consultant, Executive School of Management, Technology and Law.

3:30 PM

Martin Fries
Assistant Professor LMU University Munich

Alternative legal service providers such as flightright, LegalBase and Rocket Lawyer are re-launching the legal consulting market. They also promise a realistic access to justice. The enforcement of consumer rights is just a mouse click away.

4:15 PM

Michael Bornhäuser
Head of Private Equity Salfort Privatbank

Can small and medium size enterprises benefit from the new digital legal service providers? Contracts drafting on the Internet, outsourcing of the legal department, 'Lawyers on Demand' - what benefits can small and medium-sized companies gain from the private and public digital legal services?

5:00 PM

Dr. Gian Sandro Genna
Lawyer at Jusonline AG

LegalTech affects the large economic chancery, but also the individual prosecutor in the province and the small business in the city. LegalTech also means more than just the use of nice digital tools in the office day. Digitization is fundamental to the way lawyers work and communicate with their customers. It also opens up unprecedented opportunities for new business models for innovative lawyers and leads to more efficiency in case management. The prerequisite for this is that lawyers act as modern entrepreneurs and understand LegalTech as a blessing rather than a curse.

6:00 PM

8:00 PM

Workshops: Blockchain & AI (Oct 3rd)

09:30 AM

Patrick Allemann
CTO at Gatechain.com
10:15AM

Martin Fries
Assistant professor LMU Munich
11:00 AM

Stephan D.Meyer
ZHAW

Smart contracts are among the hottest topics in the blockchain space. For lawyers, several important questions have been arising. Stephan D. Meyer’s workshop will show current research findings regarding the private law assessment of smart contracts and cryptocurrencies, focussing on the following:

- How is the interaction between the legal & technical layer of a smart contract?
- Which legal relationships may exist between users, miners and blockchain-developers?
- What are the legal consequences in the event of a default of a smart contract?
- How is a claim in cryptocurrency legally enforceable?

11:45 AM

Isabel Parker
Director of Legal Services Innovation Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
12:30 AM

Alessandro Tonchia
Digital KYC
2:00 PM

Jana Essebier und Rolf Auf Der Maur
Rechtsanwälte und Partner VISCHER

Can companies resolve conflict using smart contracts or do smart contracts rather create conflict?``

'Smart contracts are supposed to revolutionize the law. What does this mean for companies in practice?' Can they use smart contracts to avoid legal disputes from the outset? What are the possible fields of application? And what are the limitations of smart contracts?

2:45 PM

Patrick Prior
Founder Advotisement®, FAQ-Recht & Advobot

Chatbots handling multiple interactions give a new dimension to customer care and access to justice. Legal chatbots started with access to justice, where they provide a cost-effective and efficient solution that has partially helped to compensate for cuts in legal aid provision, as well as a scalable way to offer new services. Chatbots like ‘DoNotPay’ or ‘Ratisbot’ shoot up like mushrooms after a spring rain. The best-known example of a chatbot delivering access to justice is Stanford University student Joshua Browder’s DoNotPay, which has overturned more than 200,000 parking fines in London and New York and processed over 3,000 emergency housing applications. DoNotPay uses IBM Watson’s conversation service to gather information from users via a natural language interface.
Patrick will give an overview about the current situation of the legal chatbot scene and how lawyers can use chatbots to generate business.

3:30 PM

Julia Heinzer
accenture
4:15 PM

David Frølich
President at AIJA - International Association of Young Lawyers
5:00 PM

Luis Ackermann
Founder lexferenda
6:00 PM

8:00 PM

Workshops: E-Government (Oct 3rd)

9:30 AM

Dr. Martin Eckert
Partner, MME

Defining data is not as trivial as it sounds. What is data, who owns it? In what cases do we have a right to access or retrieve our data? What happens in the case of decentralised data deposit, such as on the blockchain?

10:15 AM

Markus Waldner
Head of Department for development certificates, Bundesamt für Polizei (fedpol)

The Federal Council wants to create legal and organizational framework conditions for the recognition of electronic identification tools and their providers and is committed to state-approved electronic identities (E-ID) on systems developed by the market. In this workshop you will learn the state of affairs as well as conceptual and legal aspects.

10:45 AM

Daniel Gasteiger
Founder, Procivis AG

Procivis provides an integrated electronic identity and services solution, called “eID+”. The platform allows the issuance, management and integration of electronic identity services.

11:15 AM

Markus Waldner, Daniel Gasteiger

TBC

11:45 AM

Prof. Florent Thouvenin
Chair for lnformation and Communications Law, University of Zurich
2:00 PM

Philippe D. Zimmermann
Head E-Government Projekt „Transaktionsportal für die Wirtschaft“

TBC

2:45 PM

Dr. Luka Müller
Partner, MME

The Swiss C-Share Project is about building the first Blockchain based Crypto Share, in which its functions are fully managed by a Smart Contract System. It will be a specific type of Blockchain Crypto Property (BCP), represented by a Token on the Blockchain.

3:30 PM

TBD

4:15 PM

Philippe Nantermod (Member of Parliament, FDP), tbd

TBD

6:00 PM

8:00 PM

Event Schedule Hackathon

A schedule at a glance is listed below. Check the program for this year's conference and learn about the speakers and sessions in store for tech enthusiasts.

Hackathon Day 1 (Oct 2nd)

09:00 AM

During breakfast, we will discuss how we will run initial brainstorming on three topics: Blockchain, AI and Industrialization.

Introduction of ideas and topics. Brainstorming to simplify law so it’s easier both for humans and computers to understand it.

10:00 AM

Participants develop ideas and use cases in an open exchange, supported through various creative methods based on Legal Design Thinking

01:00 PM

02:00 PM

03:00 PM

Teams start to implement their ideas in the form of Prototypes, Presentations and other formats.

06:00 PM

07:00 PM

Legal Hackers can continue hacking for as long as they wish. The event area is available during the whole night.

Hackathon Day 2 (Oct 3rd)

09:00 AM

01:00 PM

04:00 PM

Teams will hand in their final prototypes and presentations.

06:00 PM

Teams will pitch their ideas and prototypes to an expert jury. The best teams will be award a prize.

08:00 PM

We will finish off with music, drinks and over-all happiness.

Tickets

Check out our event pricing below to find the right pass for you.

Swiss Legal Tech Hackathon
October 2nd + 3rd 2017
Free
Participants Must ApplyApply Now
What you get
Two-day Legal Tech Hackathon
Win attractive Prizes
Winners get free Participation in the Conference on October 4th
Breakfast-Lunch-Coffee
Sleeping and Showering at Venue is possible
Drinks and Networking
Swiss Legal Tech Workshops & Conference
October 3rd + 4th 2017
CHF575,- SUPER EARLY BIRD
for the first 100 buyersBuy Now
What you get
Access to 25+ workshops on October 3rd
Access to Hackathon Pitching & Award Show on October 3rd
Free Breakfast, Lunch and Coffee on October 3rd
Access to After Show Party on October 3rd
Participation in the Conference Oon ctober 4th
Breakfast, Lunch and Coffee on October 4th
Regular Price 1'200 CHF
Swiss Legal Tech Conference
October 4th 2017
CHF375,- SUPER EARLY BIRD
for the first 100 buyersBuy Now
What you get
Participation in the Conference on the 4th of October
Participation in Breakout Sessions
Breakfast-Lunch-Coffee
Drinks Party starts at 5pm
Regular Price 1'000 CHF
Swiss Legal Tech Conference Student Ticket
with student ID only
CHF100,- EARLY BIRD
October 4thBuy Now
Personal pack
Participation in the conference October 4th
Participation in the Breakout Sessions October 4th
Breakfast-Lunch-Coffee
Drinks Party at 5pm

Legal Tech Hackathon

Switzerland’s first Legal Tech Hackathon brings together software developers, the digital revolution’s driving forces, and legal practitioners for the first time. Under the umbrella of “hacking.law” we promote a long overdue dialogue between these two groups.

Any productive dialogue starts with a common language. Its development  is the core goal of the event. For two days, the event aims at building bridges in the form of different formats and with the help of Legal Engineers, legal practitioners with technical expertise.

Legal practitioners, lawyers, students

Legal consulting is on the verge of fundamental change. With some delay, law is hit by digitization, bringing about deep change. Meanwhile legal education is not keen on change and innovation. There is much as it is because it has always been no different.

The Legal Tech Hackathon aims at changing this. We invite legal practitioners, lawyers and students to dive in the world of digital innovation for two days. Technical background knowledge is thereby not a requirement at all; in fact, legal practitioners can make a significant contribution by means of their legal expertise to create innovative Legal Tech products and services.

Legal Engineers

Legal Engineers are legal practitioners who already have a profound technical understanding. They have understood to – mainly autodidactically – gain valuable knowledge of how digital technologies can be used. Their knowledge is meant to be shared, commonly expanded and sharpened.

During the two-days Legal Tech Hackathon, they will translate and bridge the gap between curious legal practitioners on the one hand, and software developers and designers of digital products on the other hand. Thereby, they serve as a role model for the future legal practitioner.

Software developers and designers

Software developers and designers are the driving forces behind our society’s digital transformation. They are the architects of tomorrow’s society. The overall social responsibility is a heavy load to carry on their shoulders. In this respect, legal practitioners, having been responsible for society in a whole for centuries already, therefore are crucial stakeholders to provide valuable input and assistance.

A humane digital future can only be built together. We invite software developers, designers and digital entrepreneurs to open up for a dialogue.

Hackathon Building Blocks

Idea hacking

Stage 1: joint brainstorming

Everything starts with an idea: What is part of legal practitioners’ everyday professional life which can be simplified, accelerated or even eliminated? How can work processes be improved? And in general: how can legal advice and legal practice be rethought? Think creatively, think big, every idea counts! In this respect, legal practitioners can provide valuable input, ideas, for instance, in the field of contracts (templates, analysis, execution, etc.), document and IP management as well as CRM tools for legal practitioners.

Stage 2: organization of ideas

In this stage, ideas and technological possibilities are put together – how can ideas be matched with the innovation drivers blockchain, industrialization and artificial intelligence?

Stage 3: team building

The participants form teams in accordance with personal interests. There are no specifications in respect of the composition of the team. Every team will be supported by the present legal engineers.

Prototype hacking

The teams implement their ideas by starting to hack. The goal may be, but not necessarily, to develop a functional prototype. As a competition entry, it is also possible to theoretically elaborate an exciting idea. Legal engineers help legal practitioners to be productive in the teams, to contribute to the implementation of the idea and to fulfill original legal tasks within the team.

Workshops for legal practitioners

By participating at the Legal Tech Hackathon, legal practitioners have already overcome the first hurdles on the way to tomorrow’s legal consulting. The workshops are meant to allay remaining reservations and fears concerning Legal Tech, to ignite curiosity and, last but not least, to provide basic knowledge.

There will be workshops on basis of software programming and algorithmic thinking, on blockchain and machine learning as well as on document automation tools.

Competition of ideas

The teams have the chance to win attractive prizes. The expert jury chooses the three best competition entries i. a. by level of creativity, innovation, practicability, social impact, etc. The three winning teams will have the possibility to present their competition entries at the Legal Tech Conference, 10th February 2017, in front of an audience of experts and professionals.

From the Creators of the Berlin Legal Tech Hackathon & Conference

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Education Partners

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Organizers

The Swiss Legal Tech is organized and advised by a capable team of experts and thought leaders from across the field.

Antoine Verdon
Co-founder of LegalHub

Antoine is a co-founder of LegalHub, a blockchain-based document automation company based in Zug, Switzerland. He is also a co-founder of the Swiss LegalTech Association (SLTA) and of Sandbox (now “Thousand Network”), a global network of young entrepreneurs under 30. Previously, he has set up and Ied Centralway Ventures, the first Swiss venture capital vehicle investing in financial technology. In 2010 and in 2013, he was named in the 100 top Swiss personalities by the magazines L'Hebdo and Bilan and is a regular commentator on Swiss media on digitalisation topics related to legal and finance.

Antoine Verdon
Co-founder of LegalHub
Petra Arends-Paltzer
Lawyer, Digital Marketing Expert

Petra is an experienced banker and lawyer (Universities Bonn, Lausanne, Würzburg & Berlin - PhD FU Berlin) and has specialised in developing international online business campaigns for both of these service industries. For the past two years, she has researched comprehensively the challenges of digitalisation and advises several entrepreneurs on the interactive strategies that are available to digitally market their services. In cooperation with leading LegalTech companies she offers a comprehensive service to law firms and asset managers to implement new digital technologies and strategies.

Petra Arends-Paltzer
Lawyer, Digital Marketing Expert
Chris Küng
CEO of SKUANI AG

Chris holds a Bachelor of Finance from the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland and a Master of Law from the University of Zurich. He is a Certified Tax Expert. Since May 2016 he is CEO of SKUANI Ltd. Previously, he worked for Zurich Cantonal Bank in the group tax department and as a tax advisor for a Big4 and a BigLaw company. He is Co-Founder of the Swiss LegalTech Association (SLTA), Founder of LEC Club, a new generation network and Civic Circle, a liberal think tank.

Chris Küng
CEO of SKUANI AG
Florian Glatz
blockchain.lawyer

Florian co-founded the Legal Tech Center, the Berlin Legal Tech Hackathon & Conference as well as the hacking.law Community. Besides that, he is a Berlin-based lawyer, software developer and entrepreneur, working in the blockchain and legal technology space for many years. In that capacity, Florian helps startups and corporations navigate the uncharted waters of applied blockchain technology in a world of legacy legal systems.

Florian Glatz
blockchain.lawyer

Advisory Board

The Swiss Legal Tech is organized and advised by a capable team of experts and thought leaders from across the field.

Primavera de Filippi
Researcher at CERSA, CNRS and Berkman Center, Harvard

Primavera is a permanent researcher at the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, a faculty associate at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School and Founder of the Coalition Of Automated Legal Applications (COALA). Most of Primavera's research focuses on the legal challenges raised, and faced by emergent decentralized technologies —such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and other blockchain-based applications —and how these technologies could be used to design new governance models capable of supporting large-scale decentralized collaboration and more participatory decision-making.

Primavera de Filippi
Researcher at CERSA, CNRS and Berkman Center, Harvard
Stephan Breidenbach
Co-Founder Legal Tech Center, Law Professor

Stephan Breidenbach is a law professor at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), a mediator and an entrepreneur.

Stephan co-founded betterplace.org, knowledgeTools International GmbH and Blue Economy Solutions.

Stephan Breidenbach
Co-Founder Legal Tech Center, Law Professor
Markus Hartung
Director of the Bucerius Center on the Legal Profession

Markus Hartung - a lawyer and mediator - is director of the Bucerius Center on the Legal Profession (CLP) at Bucerius Law School. His research at CLP revolves around market developments and trends, management, strategic leadership and Corporate Governance, as well as new business models enabled through Legal Tech.

Markus Hartung
Director of the Bucerius Center on the Legal Profession
Marc Morant
General Manager & Head of Sales Axiom Switzerland

Marc was trained as a lawyer at University Basel, LSE London and Harvard Business School. He started his career as a Senior associate in a law firm, worked as a Senior legal counsel in an insurance Company. In 2007 he was appointed Chief Counsel of Swiss Life International. Since 2014 he is the General manager of Axiom Switzerland.

Marc Morant
General Manager & Head of Sales Axiom Switzerland
Marc Bloch Sommer
CEO of SWISSLEX AG

Marc has a law degree (lic.iur.) from the University of Zurich. He has been admitted to the bar in 2001. Since 2009 he is CEO of SWISSLEX AG, the leading legal research platform in Switzerland. Prior to his current position, he worked as an attorney for a mid-sized Zurich law firm and almost ten years as a solo practitioner. For more than a decade, Marc has been involved in several projects in the field of digitization and law.

Marc Bloch Sommer
CEO of SWISSLEX AG
Christian Wenger
Attorney At Law

Christian serves as chairman and member of various boards of directors of Swiss and international companies. Christian Wenger is a member of the Executive Committee of SECA (Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association) and of the committee Venture Capital and Seed. In this function, he works on a pro bono basis for various federal and cantonal projects for the promotion of young entrepreneurs and the promotion of Switzerland as a technology location.

Christian Wenger
Attorney At Law

Contact & Event Location

Here, you can find directions to the conference venue. More space to meet and network!

Event Location

X-TRA
Limmatstrasse 118
8005 Zürich
Switzerland

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EMAIL US

info@swisslegal.tech

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