Ashurst Advance Pathway Programme – Q&A with Joshua Williams and Stephanie Barbour

The Ashurst Advance Pathway Programme offers members of our legal analyst team the opportunity to diversify their skillset through a secondment to another team within the division such as eDiscovery, Digital Services, Legal Project Management or Legal Process Improvement.

We sat down to find out more from Joshua Williams and Stephanie Barbour, the newest recruits of the Pathway Programme, who will be joining the Digital Services team in the role of Legal Technology Analyst for the next six months.

Congratulations on your new role! How long have you been with Ashurst and what's been your highlight of working with the firm to date?

Joshua: Thank you! I have worked at Ashurst for just over two years now, having joined the Legal Analyst team when we first set up in Brisbane in 2018. The highlight of working with the firm to date has been the variety of work I have been exposed to – from commercial transactions to regulatory investigations, and even being involved in significant pro bono cases. This has allowed me to developed my legal and commercial understanding while working on challenging (but exciting) matters.

Stephanie: I've been with Ashurst for 18 months now having started in September 2019 after graduating from the University of Stirling. So far, in my journey at Ashurst, my highlight is being part of a project which contributed to the firm being named the Most Innovative Firm of the Year for the second year in a row at the British Legal Technology Awards 2020.

Can you give us an idea of what your new role will involve?

Stephanie: In my new role as a Legal Technology Analyst, I will be working closely with others in the Ashurst Advance Digital team with the aim of delivering support to our internal and external clients, and providing them with the best possible services to align with the developing legal market. One of the areas I will focus on is automating legal documents by designing and implementing online questionnaires. The questionnaires can then be used by our lawyers and Legal Analysts to create and amend the legal documents to reflect what has been inputted by the user.

Joshua: I have been told that the role will be extremely varied, focused on using exciting technology to provide value and efficient solutions to our clients. This could involve developing collaborative platforms to conduct legal work, using machine learning to review contracts or automating the production of documents.

What appealed to you about seconding to the Digital Services team in particular?

Joshua: The legal industry is rapidly changing and technology is at the forefront of this transformation. For me, I see this as an opportunity to be a part of this change at Ashurst. I have really enjoyed working with the firm's technology toolkit previously and this role will give me the opportunity to expand my knowledge and understanding of these tools. As I develop in the role, I hope to be able to use these skills to assist in designing and implementing digital solutions for our internal and external clients.

Stephanie: As a Legal Analyst, and working with some of the toolkits that are developed by the Digital Services team on various projects, has made me want to explore the technology side further and be able to see it from a different perspective. I was keen to learn more about how these toolkits get to the stage where they are ready to be used by the Legal Analyst or other teams within the firm. Also, I love the feeling that you are helping someone or making their life easier and if we can do that for our clients through the use of technology, it is something I would be really proud to be involved in.

What do you hope to learn over the next 6 months?

Stephanie: I hope that over the next 6 months, I can learn more about how technology is driving the legal industry. Working as part of the Legal Analyst team has taught me many skills and qualities that I look forward to applying in my role as Legal Technology Analyst and being able to expand on them further.

Joshua: Like Stephanie, I hope to broaden my technical understanding of digital legal platforms and tools and also better understand the commercial decisions that underpin their use. I am excited to see how the legal industry evolves as technology is more readily embraced by our clients and feel fortunate to have a front seat in this change at Ashurst.