The Law Society of Scotland’s Legal Technology Conference 2025 marked a milestone in the evolution of our country’s adoption of legal technology in Scotland, says the event’s co-chair Aleks Tomczyk.
With more than 250 people attending in person and over 600 registered online, the Legal Technology Conference 2025 set new records for participation, highlighting the growing interest in technology innovation among stakeholders in Scotland’s legal sector.
An impressive range of delegates reflected the broad impact and future importance of legal technology in Scotland. Attendees and speakers came from firms of all sizes, government, politics, legal institutions, legal techs and practitioners at all stages of their careers. Expert speakers came from within Scotland, nearby and as far away as the west coast of Canada.
However, the really big thing that I noticed this year, that signalled momentum shift, was an increase in the energy and interest levels at the event – it is clear that legal technology in Scotland is no longer something that ‘some people somewhere else’ do, but something that the majority of people in the sector are interested in and know they need to embrace.
Scotland’s Legal Technology Conference 2025: A milestone moment
The 2025 conference set new benchmarks for attendance and demonstrated how legal tech has become central to the profession’s evolution.
AI in practice: tangible benefits for the legal profession
While its full potential remains unknown (and is potentially amazing), artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept; it is being actively trialled and integrated into legal operations. The conference featured demonstrations of how AI tools are streamlining everything from contract analysis and document review to legal research and case management. Examples showcased the tangible benefits in speed, accuracy and client service.
Balancing AI opportunities with ethical responsibility
While the adoption of AI presents many advantages, speakers addressed important ethical considerations and potential risks such as data privacy, bias, inclusivity and accountability. Experts encouraged us to approach AI with both enthusiasm and vigilance, ensuring responsible use and transparency. The message was clear: embracing AI offers significant opportunities for efficiency, growth and improved legal outcomes, but it must be balanced with strong ethical foundations and guardrails.
Legal technology for small firms and solo practitioners
Innovation was a recurring theme throughout the sessions, with particular emphasis on making legal tech easy and adoption successful. This year workshops and roundtable discussions included significant focus on small practices, with practitioners saying technology was enabling them to compete effectively and serve clients more efficiently. It was great to hear solo/small practitioners benefiting from innovation too.
Cyber security at the heart of digital adoption
As the sector increases its use of digital tools, cyber security and data integrity become ever more crucial. An insightful session with a security specialist gave threat insight and offered actionable strategies for mitigating risk, protecting data and maintaining business continuity.
Skills and roles shaping the next generation of lawyers
Trainees and others entering the sector are digital natives, with some getting structured legal tech induction as part of their development. ‘Legal technologist’ is an increasingly common role in the sector and will become more common.
The rise of Scottish-native legal tech solutions
Scottish-native and Scots law-enabled tech providers/solutions are growing successfully, providing technology that is increasingly easy for all to adopt and gain value from.
Collaboration, optimism and partnership in action
The atmosphere at the conference was one of learning, optimism and collaboration. The buzz at the breaks and in the exhibition areas was striking, with lively discussions, enthusiastic networking and real desire to find out what others were doing.
The future of legal technology in Scotland is now
In summary, it is clear that legal technology in Scotland is now being adopted by firms of all sizes, with the pace of uptake increasing rapidly. Adopters are already seeing tangible benefits, including greater efficiency, improved client service, increased competitiveness and access to new business opportunities.
In my view, the future success of the Scottish legal sector is inextricably linked to technology adoption; being digitally enabled is a necessity.
Why? Because by successfully adopting technology we enable application of the law and also enable increased economic prosperity. It has been a while since I felt optimistic that trends in these areas were heading in the right direction – this event gave me some hope!
Originally published by the Law Society of Scotland.
Written by Aleks Tomczyk, co-chair of the Legal Technology Conference, board member of LawscotTech and director of Estatesearch Group (with some drafting help from an AI). The views expressed here are personal.
Aleks Tomczyk
LegalTech and FinTech Business Advisor and NED
Successful technology innovation has been the key theme running through Aleks’ working life so far. He was Founder and MD at Exizent, a Scottish company providing modern executry software to law firms that was acquired by Estatesearch Group in January 2025. Immediately prior to Exizent, Aleks was an independent consultant advising on growth and technology, whilst before this he was Founder and CEO at Arum, a specialist technology advisory and transformation business in financial services. Aleks is a member of the LawscotTech Advisory, FinTech Scotland and Estatesearch Group Boards and, as a business angel, is an investor in technology businesses with strong growth potential.