LegalTechTalk 2026: The Future Laywer Isn’t Who You Think It Is - Henry Nelson-Case - E02

0:00What happens when the brightest minds in legal, technology and innovation come together to shape the future of our profession? Welcome to the Legally Speaking Podcast Legal Tech Talk 2026 miniseries. As the UK's number one legal podcast and show ranked in the top 1 % of podcasts globally, we're delighted to be returning as the official media partner for Legal Tech Talk for the third time. Having supported this event since the beginning, we've witnessed firsthand how it has become Europe's largest legal technology conference, bringing together the people, ideas and innovations transforming the legal industry.

0:37Across this special series, we'll be speaking with some of the world's leading legal professionals, founders, technologists, change makers to explore what's next for law. Because our mission remains the same, inspiring legal minds, transforming legal futures. Let's get into it.

0:58Welcome to the Legally Speaking podcast sponsored by Clio, recording live here at Legal Tech Talk 2026. And I'm joined by a very dear friend and fantastic guest, returning guest, name, title, and organization,

1:11Henry Nelson-Case:please. Hello, Rob. Thank you for having me. My name is Henry. I am a non-practicing lawyer, a content creator, and a well-being advocate. You absolutely are. and it's incredible the work that you do and I just want to sort of say plus one to the great work you do, the authenticity you bring in and around the world of law. We're here at Legal Tech Talk 2026. You and I were both here on year one. What's brought you back? Obviously the Legally Speaking podcast. No, that aside, there's just so many amazing people here to speak to, good friends to see what's going on in the world of legal tech and as always a fun day out to see everybody.

1:49Yeah, absolutely. and it's great to see you here in the media area with us. This year Legal Tech Talk is all about transformation. In your view, what's the single biggest shift happening in legal industry right now that people perhaps can no longer afford to ignore? The obvious answer is obviously AI.

2:06Henry Nelson-Case:Everybody's talking about AI in the legal space and the legal tech space and how it's being implemented across different firms at different times is really interesting to see. And here at Legal Tech Talk, there's so much innovation going on. It's just about then how do we actually take this innovation and these solutions that are being put on offer and out to market? How do we actually bring them into the law firms and actually see the benefits of that? And also, how does that help sort of young talent, the next generation of talent? And what does their roles look like with the implementation of all of that?

2:40Yeah, very true, because things will change. Things will evolve naturally. I know you talk very openly and do great work on well-being so I'd probably like to channel in on on this because what's one legal problem or challenge perhaps it is well-being that you're really passionate about solving and why does it truly matter?

2:56Henry Nelson-Case:For me one of the biggest things is looking for and advocating for junior talent because when you are sort of that end of the profession the power dynamic is very much stacked against you and we are often taught just to get your heads down, grin and bear it, get on with it. And we've all heard the horror stories from our supervising partners that would say, oh, when I was a junior, we'd be doing X, Y, and Z. And it's almost kind of that, because it happened to us, it needs to happen to you, and we need to keep going through that. So it's harder for juniors to kind of advocate for themselves. But those that are more senior in the profession, they have the power to make change, they sign the checks, they make the decisions.

3:37Henry Nelson-Case:So it's actually about speaking with those higher up in the profession saying come on let's actually do something how can we help um sort of what changes can we actually make yeah because if nothing changes nothing changes and i strongly agree with that that generations gone past why should it stay and why should people suffer why should people forego um family events or you know why should they have such high anxiety levels coming to a sunday evening that they're worrying about going to work why can't we and change and bring that enjoyment. And you speak very openly about this as well. Just tell us more about the real sheer importance of this.

4:14Henry Nelson-Case:Yeah, I think people will leave the profession. We will see great talent leave the profession, which is really unfortunate. We're seeing it at the moment. We've got these amazing juniors come in, amazing trainees qualified, but actually they go off and leave. They go off and do other things because they think, is it actually worth it? where is the value? Where was what I was promised? And I don't have that. I don't see that in my future. I'm not going to tolerate that anymore. And it's really disappointing because these people could have had incredible careers. But if they're not given the correct support, if they're not given the safe space to kind of learn and grow, then that's unfortunately what's going to happen.

4:53Henry Nelson-Case:But I guess aside from that, you have the obvious that people will burn out, people's mental health will take a toll. People's physical health will take a toll. And we're seeing it in the legal press. People are lawyers taking their own lives. It's sad. And that's the ultimate cost of how stressful and how sort of aggressive this profession can be. So true. And I know you do a lot of work with law care. And we've had former CEO Elizabeth Rimmer come on to great work as well. And we know how under pressure they are in terms of being oversubscribed, you know, and the resources that they need, the extra funding to support the profession.

5:30So I think this is a point that we can no longer, you know, we need to continue to stress. Okay, the human impact now, we're at a conference, which is all about technology, innovation, automation, but what's the real human impact here? How will this potentially improve life of the lawyers, hopefully looking at it from a more optimistic perspective, life for legal clients and overall society, if we get it right with tech?

5:51Henry Nelson-Case:Well, I think if you take Legal Tech Talk, for example, what is that? Like 5 ,000 attendees? That's a lot of people. And I do think there is a real value in in-person events like this. I think we're seeing a growing shift towards community. Obviously, you know with the Legally Speaking podcast. Yeah. And the incredible communities that you're building. People really value that connection. But connection outside of the traditional sense. Yeah. outside of just sitting around having beers and talking about pipeline and stuff, it's actually getting to know people, getting to know what their problems are in terms of the workspace, kind of what could the solutions be, and actually really developing those relationships so we're not kind of operating in kind of isolation.

6:35Henry Nelson-Case:And I think that's where we're going to see events like this have such a huge importance because not only are there lawyers here, there are clients here, there are future clients here. and I think it's just that collaboration and as you always say collaboration is key actually collaboration is domination is your your your line and I fundamentally agree with that yeah no and that's why we've been so aligned through over the years and it's been great to see you carry that through into other cross-industry work that you do as well which is super well received okay staying in your legal hat if you had the attention of every managing partner every law firm leader general counsel legal operations professional watching and listening to this podcast right now what's one action they should take over the next 90 days to prepare themselves for a better future talk to your juniors okay that'd be my biggest thing ask them what they can do to support them not just in terms of like well-being and stuff but also around sort of actually practicing what tools uh what solutions would they like um and how can they kind of benefit from that.

7:36I think no one appreciates more being seen, heard and valued so listening to them and actually then showing them that they have. And actually do something

7:43Henry Nelson-Case:don't just say oh what can we do at the end to be like lol joke we're going to ignore you actually implement changes. Yeah very well said. Okay a conviction question now. You can be as controversial as you like. What's one belief about the legal profession, legal technology future of law that you hold very strongly that most people will disagree with? Oh that I hold very strongly that most people would disagree with i don't think people would disagree with um what do i think i think the biggest thing i would say is that you can be successful without being a dick and i think that's not controversial i think people wouldn't necessarily disagree with that but in the legal profession it's so kind of cutthroat or it's so even from a training contract it's you're on a two-year job interview when you're applying for training contracts on your lpc it's why have they got one why don't I have one and you're just kind of against each other all the time and actually it doesn't need to be like that yeah yeah switch the narrative and actually if you do good things happen as a result of it and the point of nothing changes nothing changes let's change those old habits those old ways and create a nicer environment where we all can win together okay final question you know the show is all around inspiring legal minds transforming legal futures on the legal speedy podcast so what's one behavior mindset or skill you believe will separate tomorrow's legal leaders from everyone else?

9:05Henry Nelson-Case:Aside from you can be successful and kind, they're not mutually exclusive. I think we're at Legal Tech Tool, so utilising technology in a way that actually adds value and not just using it for the sake of using it, I think can really go a long way. Yeah, well said. Okay, before we let you go, where can people... I'm not going anywhere. I've sat here all day. Yeah, I mean, we could chat the breeze. I mean, you've done so many incredible things over recent months, but I want to let people know where they can find you if they've been living under a rock, particularly on socials, because you're doing so much wider work as well around the world of law.

9:36So where can people find you on social media? Feel free to share any websites, shout them out, and we'll share them with this episode for you too.

9:42Henry Nelson-Case:Yeah, you can find me on LinkedIn and my website, which is just my name, Henry Nelson Case, or you can find me on TikTok, Instagram, at thatcorporatelawyer. Absolutely. Just leaves me to say, welcome back. Thank you for joining us once again. Thank you for having me. Live at Legal Tech Talk. Look forward to more conversations in the future. But for now, from all of us, over and out. Thank you for listening to this week's episode. If you like the content here, why not check out our world leading content and collaboration of the Legally Speaking Club over on Discord. Go to our website, www.legallyspeakingpodcast.com.

10:17There's a link to join our community there. Over and out.