By Pablo Yannone Sancho, Journalist at GLTH
One of Fernando´s concerns has always been a very important topic discussed during this interview: to bring to Latin America the new trends of the world and what is affecting the legal profession. This awareness and motivation align with the GLTH goal of generating knowledge in terms of the impact of legal technology, which is a reason that Fernando states that encouraged him to join our Advisory Board, within the Geographic Area!
He was born in Mexico, where he got his first law degree and became the “first lawyer of his family” after a whole childhood and teenage years insisting on that to his family. After getting his law degree and a few years of practice in Mexico City, he continued his practices in Paris and in London until he finally landed in Venezuela, where he has spent almost 42 years of his life. During his career, he has taken part and chaired two important organizations, like Lex Mundi and the International Bar Association. All these experiences have provided him an insightful perspective about the topic that we will dive into.
The development of legaltech in Latam
In Latin America, the adoption of legaltech, “a development that is changing our industry,” has been “slower, but that doesn't mean that we are not seeing changes”, claims Fernando. After all, the legal sector “is traditionally resistant to changes.” It depends on the jurisdiction, as the Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions, namely the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, and then some other jurisdictions in Europe, are “giving examples.”
According to Fernando, there has to be an “evangelization” that provides awareness of why the legal sector has to embrace technological changes. “One of the reasons why this has not moved at the pace that we would like is that law firms continue, in a large majority, seeing the investments in technology as an expense and not as an investment”, says Fernando. “You have to regard this as an investment in the medium and long term. Also it is important to have a strategy and to develop a culture of innovation and technological transformation ”
In the specific case of Latam, the reluctance of lawyers is increased by regulatory issues: “In Latin America, we don't have basic regulations about technology. I mean, in the European Union you have the directive, in the US there's a good number of resolutions and so on and so on. But in Latin America, no, perhaps there are, in some jurisdictions, regulations related to data protection, but that's not necessarily what we are referring to. If I'm not wrong, the latest was Peru. But I would say that's one area where they are much more focused on working on.”
Despite this, there has been a constant evolution in terms of legaltech that draws “clear signals in two directions.”
First, in the “development,” “because the number of startups that have come out to the market in order to develop different legaltech tools is amazing. Nowadays, you have access to many of these tools at a rather attractive, let's say, investment, regardless of the size of the firm. You don't have to have an IT department in your firm.”
Second, in the strategy: “Law firms must be clear that the best strategy or the best tool is not the one of their competitors. They have to do an analysis of their firm, their target market, the core business of the firm, the added value that they want to deliver. And to understand which are the processes that they have to either reconfigure, transform, or develop in order to render a better service to their clients. And be much more competitive and to differentiate from their competitors.”
A bright future: More Access to Justice
In those jurisdictions where access to justice is extremely expensive and they have problems such as “corruption,” Fernando says that technology “can have a very important impact on access to justice.” “You don't need anymore a team of 15 or 20 associates for due diligence. I mean, there are tools that can do the same in a few hours under the supervision of two or three professionals. That's a simple example of how this generation is going to use it or how the firm is going to use the free time of this generation.”
The model of the organizations will change, from the workflow to the “distribution of benefits to the compensation plan.” “If the firm embarks itself in sharing the information of all the different specialists of the firm, in order for the whole team to have access and to produce and develop the services to their clientele, it is obvious that the role of the partner will be different. And the role of the teams will be different also.”
Know more about Fernando
Fernando has a very good taste for TV shows and other branches of entertainment. He would watch Breaking Bad, Succession and Scenes from a Marriage again and again. Regarding specifically Scenes from a Marriage, Fernando underlines that it was “an excellent one with Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac. That is a new version of a Bergman film. And I think it was excellent.”
Nevertheless, if Fernando loves something more than Scenes from a Marriage it is reading Latin American narrative. “If I am going to focus on three books that I read at the time, one is Rayuela from the Argentinian author Cortázar, which I think is one of the best books that have been written. There is another book that, in my opinion, is excellent from Bryce Echenique, a Peruvian author. The name is Un Mundo para Julio. And then there is a Colombian author, Jaramillo Agudelo, who wrote a book named Cartas Cruzadas. And I would say those are three of my favorite books.”
If Fernando could talk to his younger self, he would encourage him to follow the following mantra: “Continue to be curious, continue to be interested in learning what is happening around you. This will prepare you to take advantage of all the different opportunities.”
Taking advantage of opportunities is something that Fernando considers that has become more present nowadays. “All that technology offers to the new generations, they have access to information. They have many more opportunities, even though I consider myself very lucky because I have had in my personal professional life to travel extensively. Nowadays, it is much easier.”
To say goodbye, Fernando, as a GLTH Advisor and, above all, as a person committed to learn more about legal tech and people, invites you to join the hub. “It would be a great opportunity”, he claims. “Keeping in mind what I have always said, I think that you should be generously interested in the subject. I think that you should be ready to, I would say, invest in a good cause or project .”
CEO, Lex Latin
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