By Legal Futures Associate Lawtech 365
Rudi Kesic, CEO of UK-based Lawtech 365 Group is delighted to announce the appointment to the Advisory Board of new Non-Executive Members.
This is the first major refresh of Lawtech 365’s Advisory Board since the company’s launch.
Rudi Kesic, CEO of Lawtech 365 Group, said: “I am delighted to welcome such an experienced and talented team of colleagues to Lawtech 365’s Advisory Board. We are really impressed by the level of expertise and experience that the new members and investors bring to Lawtech 365. I can’t wait to begin working with them to help the company achieve its targets in the challenging conditions the legal sector across the globe faces now and in the near future. My sincerest thanks also to our Chief Technology Officer, Mev Dzihic, and our Chief Marketing Officer, Azeem Rashid, who have been immensely valuable to the company since Lawtech 365’s earliest days for all their hard work and valuable contributions.”
Mev Dzihic, CTO, Lawtech 365 Group, added: “I’m super excited to welcome the new non-execs to the Advisory Board of Lawtech 365. Between them they bring a cornucopia of expertise, experience and wisdom from the legal sector, software industry, technology, and the global investment community. They join us as we face an entirely new set of challenges in the legal sector. I look forward to their support and guidance as we continue to accelerate Verify 365 and Lawyer 365 legal apps and platforms and gain a global competitive advantage”.
“We’re delighted to welcome the new advisory members to Lawtech 365, and I know that all of us will benefit from their forward-thinking mindset and leadership, especially as we launch new lawtech products such as eSign 365,” said Azeem Rashid, Chief Marketing Officer at the company.
“Building a new and unique digital legal experience is about more than just technology. It requires visionary people with a digital mindset who believe in the power of technology to improve people’s lives while creating a sustainable legal sector,” he added.
One of the early investors in the company, Amrit Johal, said, “We’re fortunate to have an advisory board that shares our commitment to providing unrivalled legal technology solutions and bringing ease, simplicity and transparency to the legal sector.”
In October 2021, the company launched two innovative technology platforms specifically developed for the legal sector, Verify 365 and Lawyer 365.
Verify 365 is the world’s first automated, biometric NFC-based ID verification and client onboarding platform for law firms, including a native app for AML checks, FCA-regulated access to open banking digital statements, payments and PEPs and sanctions checks.
Lawyer 365 is the next-generation virtual law marketplace and legal advice app, which includes in-app video consultations with an approved list of lawyers, appointment bookings, lawyers’ professional profiles, legal document downloads, artificial intelligence legal assistant and integrated payments for consultations.
The company is currently developing its latest technology platform, eSign 365, a Qualified Electronic Signature app (QES) with built-in NFC-based ID verification to verify the person signing a legal document, which will launch in October 2022.
The company’s head office is in Stratford-upon-Avon, U.K., with virtual hubs and strategic partnerships in Dubai, Toronto, Qatar, Brisbane and Bahrain, and currently in the process of setting up hubs in New York and San Francisco.
Lawtech 365 Advisory Board Members are:
Mohammed Al Fardan. Bahrain. Mohammed comes from a very well-known family in the Arabian Peninsula (origins in 1785), spread over all GCC countries and involved in many global businesses and enterprises. Mohammed is a visionary with futuristic thinking, serial entrepreneur, hard worker and result oriented. He specialises in ICT, Software, International Business and Investments. Previous, he worked with IBM, Lexmark, Microsoft and other top ICT multinational firms. He has more than two decades of ICT experience. He introduced the new “Venture Capital” concept to the Middle East region as well as “Entrepreneurship”. In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious “Entrepreneur of the Gulf” award. He has been involved in many global business acquisitions and has created venture capital funds focused on ICT industry in the region. He attracted many ICT firms to Bahrain and the MENA region under his leadership. He created the concept and master plan for MENA ICT Hub City, which is the first fully integrated Smart City in the world.
Amrit Johal. United Kingdom. Amrit Johal is a solicitor and director of a Midlands-based law firm. He has been qualified as a lawyer for over 20 years and has substantial experience in the running of law firms. He is also a qualified Notary Public which is a branch of the legal sector that regularly undertake verification of individuals and corporations. His current law firm is a dynamic, forward-thinking firm which embraces IT with a passion. In addition to working on some extremely high-profile cases, he is also part of a management team tasked with ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements at his law firm. He brings with him a wealth of experience in management and knowledge of the legal sector.
Mariana Hagstrom. Estonia. Mariana Hagstrom is a lawyer and legal tech start-up founder who has been practising corporate and information technology law for more than 10 years before the transition from legal practice to legal tech in 2016. She studied law in Tartu and Stockholm Universities, where she obtained a master’s degree in Information Technology and Law. The decision to make a career turnaround started to evolve from the managing partner position and from the need to find more efficient methods for delivering and packaging legal services for clients with scalable new pricing models. Her mission has been to build a bridge between legal and business operations and make it cost and time-efficient for both sides. Mariana has published several white papers on legal innovation and automation and helped to shift legal mindsets to efficiency, digitisation and legal automation among lawyers in law firms and in-house legal teams.
Gurpreet Bhatia. United Kingdom. Gurpreet has been a partner at Harbans Singh & Co Solicitors in Birmingham since 2000, practising in Commercial and Residential Property Law and Immigration Law. He is currently expanding an international arm of the business in India, focussed on clients looking to invest in the UK. He works closely with the Indian Consulate to promote business and social connections between India and the West Midlands for the benefit of the region. Gurpreet has a passion for community work and serves the West Midlands as a Deputy Lieutenant and a Sandwell Business Ambassador. He is a Trustee of Legacy WM, and Executive Member of the Sant Nirankari Mission, a registered charity which works closely with the National Blood Service promoting blood donation initiatives. Gurpreet serves on the Your Trust Charity Community Committee of the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, and the Advisory Board of the Centre for Sikh and Panjab Studies at the University of Wolverhampton. He is also a member of the Academy Transformational Trust and has recently been appointed as a trustee of the Commonwealth Sports Foundation.
Damir Fazlic. Canada. Damir is a founder of Q One Tech. His experience spans consulting, technology, market research and strategic business development. He has extensive international business experience and networks, having worked in over 20 countries.
Penny Raby. United Kingdom. Penny has practised as a lawyer since 1980. She was a partner with Armitage Sykes & Hinchcliffe in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, until 1994. Penny Raby & Co. was set up in 1995 in Pershore, Worcestershire. She has appeared on television and radio on behalf of local and national Law Societies in Yorkshire and Worcestershire. She was the first Lady President of Worcestershire Law Society in 1995/96 and served a second term as President in 2003/04. She is currently Chair of the National Sole Practitioners’ Group for solicitors. She is a member of Resolution, the national family Lawyers’ Association, and has served as President of the West Yorkshire and Worcestershire committees.
Samera Mohammed. United Kingdom. Sameera is an experienced immigration lawyer in the UK. She runs her own law practice, Law & Justice Solicitors with extensive experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to immigration and asylum law.
Hockham Suthi. United Kingdom. Hockham is a solicitor and director at a Midlands based law firm. He is a tech investor and a qualified lawyer with substantial experience in running law firms and tech businesses. His law firm is a dynamic, forward-thinking practice which embraces IT with a passion. He brings with him a wealth of experience in management and knowledge of the legal and tech sector.
Adnan Supuk. Slovenia. With more than 20 years of international experience in the software industry including CRM, ERP and HRMS solutions, Adnan is an expert in legal technology. Having solid business management and leadership skills, he has years of experience of working in Qatar, Sarajevo and Ljubljana. Adnan is an exceptional leader who made his mark in the business world with an outstanding knowledge of IT and software.
Suezanne King. United Kingdom. Suezanne founded SMQ Legal Services in Oxford with the aim of providing the best possible advice to clients 24 hours a day, placing the quality of assistance as a paramount objective above financial constraints. She is an experienced solicitor advocate who has a varied practice in law. She is an established advocate enjoying rights of audience in the Crown Court and is Duty Qualified. Suezanne is a fully accredited Police Station Representative, advising and representing clients in the Police Station, and prides herself on providing a robust defence for suspects being questioned by the police. Suezanne is part of many pro bono projects in Oxfordshire and is also a Resolutions Committee member to help raise money for children-law centres.
Mike Gordon. United Kingdom. Mike qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in 1984. He had an early career in a wide range of accountancy and financial management roles with major PLCs such as British Leyland, Black & Decker, and Unigate. He progressed to a number of private ventures, mainly involved in distribution and logistics in the period 1990 – 1996. He established the initial administration and back-office systems for Penny Raby & Co. and as the firm developed a niche practice in money cases, he joined as a full-time consultant in 1998. He was instrumental in achieving Lexcel status for the firm in 2004. Mike plays an active role in the Pershore business and social community and is an active networker both locally and nationally, online and off! For leisure, he enjoys gardening aka the grunt work for Penny’s many thriving fruit and vegetable beds in Wick. And for pleasure it has to be his lifelong passion for GOLF! Handicap permanently 9.9, just into single figures.
Michelle Qume. United Kingdom. Michelle is an accountant and a founding partner at SMQ Legal, with offices in Oxford, Luton and Bedford. Michelle has a PhD and possesses excellent business management and accountancy skills. She spent many years in clinical trials and data management and employs best practice methods to ensure an exceptional standard of service.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Advisory Board at Lawtech 365,” said Samera Mohammed, lawyer and angel investor from Birmingham.
“Lawtech 365 has developed incredible technology and it’s what the legal sector needs. It’s been developed by lawyers for lawyers, which is very important for me as an investor. I am also very excited about the new Verify 365 features in particular, which includes a unique ID and client onboarding verification app developed specifically for the legal sector and the only system in the world which is fully compliant with all the major legal and financial industry regulators, including Her Majesty’s Land Registry Safe Harbour Digital ID certification, the Financial Conduct Authority’s and the SRA’s AML Compliance Standards. I am looking forward to supporting Rudi, Mev and Azeem and to the company’s continued global expansion.”
“Verify 365 has grown at a phenomenal pace over the past 6 months and the platform is generating significant monthly recurring revenue. This is an incredible achievement for a lawtech start-up,” added Hockham Suthi, one of the business angel investors backing the venture.
The new non-executive members have taken up their roles from 1 July 2022.
