About
Our Philosophy
Innovation is more than just advances in technology — it is the pursuit of improvement. For us, innovation means developing new approaches to design, advancing creative approaches problem-solving and promoting imaginative delivery of legal services and access to justice.
Our Mission
The Legal Innovation Centre at Ulster University brings together research into the application and impact of new legal technology and opportunities for the education and training of current and future lawyers in essential legal tech skills. We seek to innovate in three main ways, by:
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Providing education and training to equip law students and legal professionals with the tools to become active innovators in the legal services market;
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Undertaking research for industry clients, the public sector and the academic community, to explore and better understand how innovation can improve legal service delivery and access to justice; and,
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Engaging in collaborative research and development through partnership with stakeholders in order to capitalise on the benefits of innovative approaches to legal practice.
The Legal Innovation Centre is at the forefront of understanding and facilitating the innovation of legal services. We welcome opportunities for collaboration, partnership and knowledge-exchange, and look forward to working with you to enhance the work of the legal services profession and to promote access to justice.
Our Team
Prof Eugene McNamee
Executive Director
Prof Kevin Curran
Executive Co-Director
Eugene McNamee has been Head of the School of Law since 2012, having joined the School as a lecturer in 2005. Eugene is Executive Director and founder-member of the Ulster Legal Innovation Centre, a centre of collaboration between the Law School and the School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems. He has a strong interest in the direction of travel of technology-driven legal services innovation in the public and private sectors.
Kevin Curran is a Professor of Cyber Security at Ulster University, Executive Co-Director of the Legal Innovation Centre and group leader for the Ambient Intelligence & Virtual Worlds Research Group. He joined the School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems in 1999. Kevin's primary research and teaching interests is in the areas of Cyber Security.
Dr Niall McCarroll
Co-Director,
Research Fellow
Dr Niall McCarroll is a Research Fellow and Co-Director of the Legal Innovation Centre. He specialises in Legal Language Identification Intelligence. He has been working with Allen & Overy LLP on a research project on automation of fact-checking legal documents.
Jane Hollway
Co-Director
Jane Hollway is Co-Director of the Legal Innovation Centre and a Corporate/Project Finance lawyer. She qualified as a solicitor in 1997, having spent training periods in the Dublin and Brussels offices of top tier Irish corporate firm, McCann FitzGerald. She was Partner in its Project Finance Group, before joining Arthur Cox as Partner to lead its Projects Team in Belfast. She has extensive transactional and regulatory experience, prior to joining the University.
Dr William Duffy
Research Associate
Dr William Duffy joined the Legal Innovation Centre in 2021, with a specialism in machine learning and pattern recognition. He will be working with Allen & Overy on a research project related to legal document analysis.