vLex <https://vlex.com> transforms legal workflows through AI solutions engineered for lawyers. Our flagship platform Vincent, powered by an unparalleled database of one billion legal documents from 100+ countries, delivers tailored insights and automates complex tasks. Built on 25+ years of legal expertise, vLex helps lawyers unleash their ingenuity and achieve more.
Kuan Hsieh, Senior Research Scientist #judge #firstround LIGHTNING TALK: ‣
Jake Rutherford, Senior Research Engineer LIGHTNING TALK: ‣
Dan Hoadley, Director of R&D
Imagine you’re a junior solicitor, a paralegal, or even a litigant representing yourself in a civil dispute. You’ve drafted a claim and you're ready to take it to court, but now you're asking:
“What’s the exact process for issuing this kind of claim?”
“Which form do I need to complete?”
“What track will my case be allocated to — and what happens next?”
You’re not looking for legal advice or case law, you just need to follow the right steps. But finding those steps means sifting through hundreds of pages of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), Practice Directions, and a maze of GOV.UK forms and guides. The information is out there, but it’s buried, fragmented, and hard to search.
Meanwhile, the civil justice system is undergoing rapid change:
Even experienced practitioners can feel stuck trying to piece together what steps to take from the maze of rules, guidance and forms.
With the rise of generative AI, we have a unique opportunity to make procedural law not only searchable, but actually navigable. Imagine if a someone could simply ask: "I have a £75,000 breach of contract claim against a company in Manchester — walk me through the entire process" and receive a step-by-step roadmap tailored to their specific situation.
If procedural law is the map, the vLex challenge is about building the GPS and navigation system. We challenge you to reimagine how legal professionals and self-represented litigants interact with procedural law by prototyping an AI assistant that transforms static rules into dynamic, personalised guidance — getting practitioners exactly where they need to go.
Transform the mechanics of civil litigation from a maze into a guided journey by prototyping an AI legal assistant that can answer real-world procedural questions using official legal sources (like the CPR, Practice Directions, and official court forms).
Your tool should be able to: