Innovation in Legal Education Award
The LSGL Innovation in Legal Education Award (ILEA) addresses professors, scholars and researchers who have successfully conceived and implemented an innovative idea related to legal education. For the first year of the project, the theme is “the use of technology in classrooms”. The best applicant will be awarded with an honorable certificate of Innovative Leader and will be invited to attend the LSGL Annual General Meeting with full expenses covered.

The main goals of this LSGL project are: (i) stimulate integration, interaction and continuous follow up on inside innovation between the members of the League; (ii)  raise awareness and encourage debate on how to foster legal innovation, disseminating the innovative spirit and democratizing the innovation impulse; (iii) set benchmarks on legal education innovation, creating a backlog of best practices,  “mapping” successful experiences and setting new paradigms.

LAWARDS: Innovation in Law Awards
EVALUATION RESULTS

In the first year of our new initiative, we are very proud to inform that we have received a considerable number of excellent applications from many countries. The Evaluation Committee has also carefully considered any electronic or audio-visual materials explaining in more detail the product, as well as examples of its use or explanations of potential uses. After careful consideration and in dept evaluation of all applications in light of the guidelines prepared for that purpose the below projects have been decided to be awarded

Winner: “LAWBOT” (Ugochukwu Nnaemeka, Egbuna Linda, Adebukola Fatunde, Nigeria)

Finalists (ex aequo): “LAWMATE” ( Gautami Raiker, India)  and “Preventing human rights violations in the context of large-scale infrastructure projects: the need for an early alarm system” (Flavia Silva Scabin  and  Isabella Jagg, Brazil)

We wholeheartedly congratulate each projects on their successful applications and look forward to celebrating this at the Award Ceremony to be held at ITAM on July 20th, 2017.

About the Award

The Law Schools Global League is an association that brings together law schools from all over the world that share a commitment to the globalization of law in teaching, research, and practice. One of the core goals of the LSGL is to engage in a debate with stakeholders in all fields of legal practice, and to stimulate and facilitate international cooperation and mobility of legal practitioners.

To pursue these goals, the LSGL has decided to launch LAWARDS, an award that recognizes innovative ideas in the legal industry. In this first edition, the award will recognize actors within the legal sector that standout for their efforts to develop technology-based, innovative solutions that serve to bring justice closer to those that traditionally have been underserved by the legal system.

The main objective that the LSGL pursues with the award is to provide both visibility and an exclusive access to a global network of academics, students, alumni and public and private organizations to those excellent innovators. The winner of the award will gain visibility by having exposure and special access to the websites and social media platforms of all member schools and websites of LSGL and Ontier, exclusive sponsor of LAWARDS.

Additionally, the LSGL will take specific actions to ensure maximum visibility and exposure of winners of the Award.

Award Criteria

For the first edition of the Award, the scope of the prize shall focus on legal practice, technology and the cause of justice. The Award aims to identify and recognize solutions that promote and improve the cause of justice at the early innovation stage, after the proof of concept stage, but before the growth phase.

It is essential that the solutions devised are innovative and have a strong technological component.

LAWARDS is open to any individual or organization around the world that has developed an innovative, tech-based solution to promote access to justice to the disadvantaged.

Applications shall consist of a 2,000-word document explaining:

  • The vision underlying the solution.
  • A justification of the originality or uniqueness of the solution, by comparing to other existing solutions that have already been deployed in the market.
  • The impact that the solution has already had and may have in the future.
  • In addition, the application may include electronic or audiovisual materials explaining in more detail the product, as well as examples of its use or explanations of potential uses.

More details about the criteria that shall be applied by the evaluation committee to grant the award can be checked in the LSGL website.

Procedure:

  • The deadline for applications is 31 May 2017.
  • Applications should be sent to esraozcan@ku.edu.tr and Isabel.Garces@ie.edu
  • The applicants should add to the application: Full names of the applicants, affiliations, email addresses and phone numbers.
  • A declaration stating that the applicants are the owners of the product/solution.

Evaluation:

The applications shall be evaluated by Committee composed by representatives of the LSGL members with expertise in the field of law, technology and entrepreneurship.

The Committee shall evaluate the applications against the following criteria:

  1. Social impact and sustainability of the product/solution (50%)
  2. Originality and uniqueness of the product/solution (25%)
  3. Vision underlying the product/solution (25%)

The decision of the Committee shall be final and thus not subject to review. By submitting their products or solutions, applicants fully accept this requirement.

The Award Ceremony

The winners of the Award will be announced by 30 June 2017. The Award Ceremony will take place during the annual conference of the LSGL at the headquarters of the ITAM, in Mexico City on the evening of 20 July 2017. Two representatives from the winner and finalist group will be invited—travel and accommodation fully covered for three nights at Hotel Camino Real Polanco—to attend the Award ceremony.

About Ontier

In this first edition, the Award is fully sponsored by Ontier, a global law firm that fully shares LSGL´s vision and mission on spreading the cause of justice at a global level.

Ontier, headquartered in London, has a presence in 14 countries and is currently the international firm with the largest footprint in Latin America, which makes Ontier the best legal partner for any company with interests in the region.