Oxford LawTech Education Programme

Our Mission

The Oxford LawTech Education Programme was founded as is a joint initiative by the Oxford Law Faculty and the Oxford Department of Computer Science members. Our mission is simple. We train future leaders in the legal market, confident providers of tech-enhanced legal services, and successful innovators who can spot, analyse and utilise trends in digital technology. Our approach is research-driven and builds on our world-leading expertise in digital technologies and relevant issues regarding both substantive law and the practice of law. 

Read an article about us on the University of Oxford Social Sciences Division website.

Our Story

OLTEP was established in 2020 after a series of successful pilots across the private and public legal sector. The emergence of our education programme was motivated by the results of our large-scale research on LawTech knowledge and skills needs (as part of the Unlocking the Potential of Artificial Intelligence for English Law project, 2019-2021) and our University Law and Computer Science course (launched in 2019).
 
Interdisciplinarity is at the heart of everything we do. Thus, the research that has led to OLTEP combined expertise by researchers and instructors involved in the AI for English Law project and as well as the Law and Computer Science course, especially, Professor Rebecca Williams (Law), Professor Tom Melham (Computer Science),  Professor Ewart Keep  (Education), and Dr Václav Janeček (Law).
 
Our research showed that law professionals who master the following five capabilities, either individually or in multi-disciplinary teams, are best placed to unlock the potential of AI and digital technology in their practice. We approach your learning needs primarily from this perspective.

Our Team

OLTEP is a non-degree programme of professional education operated by Oxford University Innovation and directed by experienced Oxford academics. 

Many experts from across the Oxford University, legal professionals, and LawTech industry members are involved in the development and delivery of the programme. 

Currently, the core team is built around co-founders and co-directors Professor Rebecca Williams (Law), Professor Tom Melham (Computer Science), and Dr Václav Janeček (Law), as well as a research team of post-graduates from across the University of Oxford. 

Current and/or former research team members are Oscar Darwin, Computer Science; Ambika Vadehra, Law; Amine M’Charrak, Computer Science; Marcel Wibawa, Law; AnneMichaela Brodaric, Criminology; Hatim Hussain, Law; Jyothsna Gurumurthy, Law; Mary Adeyemo, Law; Suzanne Nusselder, Oxford Internet Institute.

Funding and Support

The Oxford LawTech Education Programme started thanks to the financial support by the University of Oxford, the UK Research and Innovation Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Impact Acceleration Account.  

Current OLTEP modules have been developed and tested with the input from Slaughter and May and the Government Legal Department.