By Pablo Yannone Sancho, Journalist at GLTH
You can see Pascale Dahrouj anywhere where there is a conference or a workshop. As a professional with a background in international, energy and gas law, she is very concerned about the importance of what she calls the “global connection”, and she is always keeping herself informed of what is the current trend. So it goes without saying why she joined the Innovation Area of our Advisory Board…
During the pandemic she was working in dispute resolution and she took notice of the “pain points and inefficiency in the legal sector”. As the founder and CEO of Willminds, an enterprise specialized in dispute resolution, consulting services and professional development, she was able to start the “journey” of implementing innovative technological products that have driven them to win many awards.
More about Pascale’s background
She has always been driven by a passion for diplomacy and a desire to make a global impact. From a young age, her dream was very clear: "My goal was to make an impact on the international political scene, to represent my country, Lebanon, in an official capacity," she recalls. With a degree in International Relations and Diplomacy and later a transition into law, she found her way to a career that still aligned closely with those ambitions.
Reflecting on her move into law, Pascale says that “is not far from where I wanted to be because I have been an advisor for a long time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants. Diplomacy is very much about law, technology, and everything.”
The name of Pascale's company, Willminds, reminds her every day of one of her core principles: "When Will and Mind come together, nothing is impossible."
Pascale holds a special place in her heart for Washington, D.C., a city where she lived during her college years while pursuing her MPS at George Washington University and later specialized studies at Harvard. “I love D.C. because it's a small city, but at the same time, it's the most international city in the world,” she says. For Pascale, the city’s blend of quiet neighborhoods and vibrant international life was the perfect backdrop for never “stop learning”.
When it comes to unwinding, Pascale's favorite TV series is Suits -the same as other advisors with a very good taste for TVshows-. In the case of Pascale, her taste never misses its flavor: “I have actually watched the series three times," she admits. "It’s not just about legal cases; it’s also about personal drama, corporate politics, and how complex problems are solved. Every time I watch it, I discover something new."
One of Pascale's guiding quotes comes from the epic Theodore Roosevelt: “Believe you can and you're halfway there.” “The next steps you need to take, you need to take them. But to believe is the foundation”, she concludes.
Pascale´s favorites legaltech applications
Pascale has a very holistic vision of legal tech, appreciated in the fact that she could spend all the day talking about all its applications -which is why, perhaps, you can see her in many conferences as speaker-: “case management, legal processing, customer services, customized services for clients, feedback and advice from clients, sustainability”, are only some of them.
For Pascale, legal tech is rethinking the legal sector, but not its function, whose purpose is, in the end, the access and delivery of justice. Among all the benefits around legal tech that help to rethink the sector, we can find, inter alia, the increasing of operational efficiency, security and complexity. Regarding this last fact, she says that legal tech allows us to have better databases and, as a consequence, better “informed decisions”.
Within the enormous legal tech landscape there is a special region that Pascale adores: Artificial Intelligence. Repeating all its benefits would be redundant as many of them have been already said -which highlights the important part that it takes in legal tech-. For Pascale, the most important application of AI is “legal investigations”, which involves contract analysis, management and predictive analytics. Indeed, she likes how AI can be applied in the field that she calls “predictive justice”, providing help not only at “the outcome of cases and what the decision could be, but also giving some preventive measures.”
This aspect is very interesting, especially for law firms. Why? AI can help provide monitoring about new regulations around the world, something critical since “jurisdictions are changing everywhere”, as Pascale claims. “If you are not compliant, there is a big problem, especially in the legal sector since there are no longer transactions on the border with globalization.”
What do we need when implementing AI in a legal company?
The first thing that has to be done is a “digital transformation strategy”, a process that changes depending on many facts that are all connected. Of course, we cannot provide a personalized strategy for each reader -in that case, call Pascale, please-. By now, she has shared with us what would be a general strategy for an average legal company, which involves the following tasks: “understanding the current situation of a company, identifying areas for improvement and putting a clear roadmap for this digital transformation, from timelines to objectives, to budget considerations, etc. And within that, within this strategy, there should be a change management plan for the employee. We need to make sure that the employee understands the benefits and is trained for this transition.”
Secondly, there are essential tools that need to be included: “Cloud-based solutions for document management systems, legal practice management software, project management tools, customer engagement tools”. And, of course, do not forget about cyber security measures!
Finally, Pascale would suggest trying to bring innovation labs in order to create an own solution for the company. This step is not essential, but probably is a very disruptive way of making the difference.
Maybe many readers are thinking that the most difficult part is the second one or the third one, but Pascale considers that it is the first one, specifically the change management plan: “some employees think that their jobs will be lost when things are automated”, she claims. “There is a gap in knowledge and expertise in particular. Some employees do not know how to operate or work with technology well. Even if they are trained, there is an existing skills gap.”
The profound global and human impact of legaltech
When we are talking about justice, we are talking about the whole society. “No matter what sector you are in”, says Pascale, “you are affected by judicial reform, by how justice is carried out, because the impact is on you in the end, on the individual, the business, the community, etc.”
That's why, in Pascale´s opinion, legal tech has a huge global and human impact. “It's transforming education. It's also transforming in terms of sustainability. It's helping to make things paperless. It's improving the user experience. When you know that you have an easier and cheaper platform to access justice, you'll be more willing to go to justice.This will create an equitable society. So yes, for sure. I would focus a lot on the human impact.”
Following this line, she encourages everyone to contribute: “no matter what field, whether you're a legal professional, whether you're a technologist, whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're just curious about legal technology, there's always a way you can contribute and make a difference. Legal technology is an exciting field full of possibilities”. “It has great potential for the future”, she follows, “and is driving change in the legal industry and society at large, as we already mentioned, about the human impact and how it is creating an equitable and more efficient system. Can any contribution from you in this, be it big or small, shape the future?” If the answer is yes, then, Pascale has something to tell you: “Let’s work together to explore new ideas and make a positive impact!”
Founder & CEO, Willminds
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