The third annual LegalTech in Leeds Hackathon, delivered in partnership with Bruntwood SciTech, brought together participants from across the UK for a full day of innovation and rapid idea development. Opening the event, Julian Wells from Whitecap Consulting described the Hackathon as “capturing the spirit of LegalTech in Leeds, bringing people together, sparking new ideas and showing what can happen when legal and tech talent work with purpose.”
Katherine Megson from Bruntwood SciTech echoed this in her welcome, noting that:
"Over the past 3 years, we've evolved the Hackathon into a hotbed of talent for both the legal and tech sectors. It's something I'm really proud to support; talent and skills are always high on the agenda for growing businesses."
With participants travelling from London, Manchester, Nottingham and Winchester, as well as from across Yorkshire, the scale and energy of the day underlined the continued growth of the initiative. Katherine commented:
"This is one of my favourite events we host with LegalTech in Leeds and I can't wait to see how we make it even better next year."
After registration and a morning briefing, the challenge was revealed, and teams headed straight into ideation.
Create a technology solution that improves access to legal expertise and justice for consumers and/or businesses
The pace was immediate, walls covered in post-its, laptops open, and concepts rapidly forming. Expert advisers Richard Eaton, Sophie Basso and Julian Wells moved between team rooms, offering guidance and helping participants refine their thinking as ideas built momentum.
"Seeing how the teams had different ideas, approaches, and skills was fascinating. And watching them take the seed of an idea at the start of the day, to delivering polished presentations (and even working product demos!) by the end of the day was a real showcase for the amazing talent we have here" Richard Eaton
Thomson Reuters brought expertise from across engineering, AI and legal technology. Led by Brad Bell and Henry Ives , the team focused on how to help people communicate their legal issues more clearly and how to support lawyers in identifying key details quickly.
Solution name: Guided Justice
Guided Justice helps people explain their legal problem in a clear, structured way by asking a small number of adaptive questions and allowing them to upload key documents. The tool produces a simple summary that lawyers can review quickly, helping them spot risks earlier and triage new matters more efficiently. The concept aims to improve communication, reduce delays and help clients feel more supported from the start.
It was great to work with students and legal professionals to turn abstract market challenges into tangible, user-centred solutions. Grateful to the organisers for bringing us all together! Brad Bell
rradar is a legal enterprise that supports businesses with practical, tech-enabled risk management. Led by team lead Leigh Payne, a Cyber, Data and Information Law Senior Solicitor, the team focused on the challenges facing event organisers and developed a solution shaped by the introduction of Martyn’s Law.
Solution name: All Sure Events
All Sure Events is a digital tool that helps event organisers understand the risks linked to their event and what they need to do to meet their legal obligations. It brings guidance, templates and checklists into one place and responds directly to the lack of accessible resources currently available. The idea aims to make events safer, clearer to manage and easier to run.
Barrister Link works to improve access to the Bar and make legal support easier to reach. Led by Paul Wright MBA, the team drew on real experiences of the challenges students face when navigating legal issues for the first time.
Solution name: LegallyFYP
LegallyFYP is an AI assistant designed to help university students access simple, reliable information about visas, housing, healthcare and student rights. It also includes the option to refer urgent cases directly to a lawyer. The concept has been shaped with Yorkshire universities and aims to give students a clear, trustworthy starting point when they need legal guidance.
The University of Law team brought a strong understanding of access to justice and legal education. Led by Associate Professor Patrick Grant the group focused on how to support individuals in some of the most challenging circumstances to navigate family legal aid.
Solution name: Alumen
Alumen is an AI tool created to help individuals experiencing domestic abuse understand whether they may be eligible for family legal aid. It uses clear and compassionate language to avoid the complexity of legal terminology and helps remove uncertainty for people in crisis. For solicitors, it also acts as a quick pre-screening tool to support effective case management.
At 3pm, teams gathered to present their ideas to the judging panel. Tom Matusiak, Stewarts, Leeds Law Society, Jason Crispin, AUDITSU, Leeds Angels, Adam Roney, Calls9. Kalisa, Katherine Megson, Bruntwood SciTech and Gary Gallen, rradar.
Each team had only 10 minutes to outline their solution, explain the problem it addressed and demonstrate its impact. Despite the time pressure, the pitches were confident, well-structured and showed clear potential for real-world application.
It was a genuinely difficult decision for the judges with every team creating impressive innovative legal solutions and giving confident persuasive presentations and demos. Everyone who participated can be proud of their contribution – all those I spoke with after said that they had taken a lot of positives and learning from the hackathon experience. Tom Matusiak
The judges commended the teams for their clarity, ambition and the breadth of issues tackled, from public safety and legal aid to student support and case preparation.
This was my first year as a judge, and wow, it was a tough decision. I was blown away by the solutions the teams pulled together and demoed so professionally in such a short time, especially when most of them didn't know each other beforehand. The passion and teamwork were incredible to see. Katherine Megson
After deliberation, the judges named rradar the overall winner for All Sure Events, recognising its clarity, relevance and strong potential impact, particularly as Martyn’s Law continues to develop.
The People’s Vote went to Team Thomson Reuters for Guided Justice, whose solution strongly resonated with attendees for its practicality and user-centred design.
The winning team will now have the opportunity to present their solution at the LegalTech in Leeds Annual Conference next year, giving them a wider platform to share their concept with the Leeds legaltech community.
The day ended with food, drinks and networking. Teams continued to discuss ideas, exchange contacts and reflect on the progress they had made in just eight hours. The energy remained high until close, with many already talking about returning next year.
The Hackathon was delivered by LegalTech in Leeds, Bruntwood SciTech and Whitecap Consulting
Sincere thanks go to:
A full photo gallery is available on the LegalTech in Leeds website.
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