Idealaw

The IDEALAW story - Kay’s personal perspective

Why are we doing things differently from everyone else?

The reason is in a way, a deeply personal one.

I’ve had a passion for IT since I was about 10, and my father got us kids started in programming so we’d give him some peace and quiet. At the time, we were programming in BASIC on Apple IIe computers (compatibles, since real Apples cost as much as a car back in the late 70s).

Although I broke with family tradition and went into law rather than IT, I always knew that I would combine the two.

So I completed a Masters in law in IT and intellectual property law, and then a few years later went back to study IT as well (but had an epiphany at 3 am one morning while blearily counting brackets in a line of code for the nth time that – oh look, I’m really a lawyer after all).

IT provides the infrastructure, the vehicle and sometimes the driving force for almost every other industry sector. And alas, IT does not exist in a vacuum without legal restraints, and some days it feels like the rules are being made up as we go along. But that’s what makes it so interesting. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So what’s wrong with old school?

Have you ever seen something that made you roll your eyes? I have, lots of times – and here’s just a little example.

Not long ago we got a message from a lawyer that I’d describe as ‘old school’. Technically correct, hopelessly old fashioned.

He dictated the letter to his secretary, and she typed it up and printed it out for him to sign. Then she scanned the signed copy and emailed it to us on his behalf. It took me about 20 seconds to reply to his email. But then, two days later…his signed hard copy turned up in the post anyway!

Can lawyers keep doing business this way? Not if they’re doing IT law.

That’s why I run a law firm that’s more like an IT company – but providing legal services to the IT sector. This shift in thinking fundamentally changes the way we communicate with clients, do our work, and structure our business processes.

And that’s why we’re doing things differently from everyone else.