LegalTechTalk Uncovered 2025 - Matthew Mayes - E03

3 Jul 2025 · 7 min · 6 chapters

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In short

LegalTechTalk Uncovered 2025 mini-series from Legal Tech Talk London, featuring Matthew Mayes on legal innovation—specifically scalable witness preparation using human-centered AI and emotional intelligence.

Guest background

Matthew Mayes is co-founder of ADAPT International; he launched testmywitness.com. He previously worked in education, marketing, and learning before entering legal tech.

Key claims

witness prep is too costly (US cited at about $10,000 per case); witnesses largely determine case outcomes; legal tech often misassumes humans don’t need support; 96% of US cases go without witness prep; democratizing preparation improves access to justice.

Notable examples

deposition training, preparation, and familiarization using emotional intelligence; UK work via a leading witness familiarization partner; US product launch.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

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Introduction of Matthew Mays

0:46 to 1:40

Matthew Mays discusses his background and the product he co-founded.

“Welcome to the Legally Speaking podcast, recording live here from Legal Tech Talk 2025.”

The Problem of Witness Preparation

1:41 to 2:15

Matthew explains the challenges of traditional witness preparation and its costs.

“I would say the big assumption is around humans.”

The Legal Tech Event Experience

2:16 to 3:38

Matthew shares his insights and experiences from the Legal Tech Talk event.

“And I think you're doing a great job of it.”

Vision for the Future of Law

3:39 to 5:02

Discussion on the future of witness preparation and the importance of democratization in legal tech.

“best possible way when they give evidence.”

Standout Moments and Networking

5:03 to 6:06

Matthew reflects on standout moments from the event and the value of networking.

“Yeah, we're staring down the barrel of the gun with AI taking jobs away.”

Closing Remarks and Call to Action

6:07 to 6:20

Matthew shares where to find more information about his work and thanks the host.

“We're trying to build a kind of more collaborative, future-focused community.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Matthew Mayes:Welcome to the Legally Speaking Podcast Legal Tech Talk Uncovered Mini Series 2025 sponsored by Clio. We're back with our red mic for a behind the scenes series all about legal innovation at Europe's largest legal tech event. So we're granted access to meet some of the greatest speakers, sponsors, brands in the whole legal tech world. We've got 300 speakers with over 70 sessions with over 4 ,000 attendees from all across the globe hitting us here over the next two days at Legal Tech Talk live in London. From AI to access to justice to smart compliance, you name it, we're covering it all. This isn't just another conversation or another conference.

0:41Matthew Mayes:It's a blueprint for community and transformation. So buckle up. We're speaking with some incredible people about policy change, change makers, legal innovation, and so much more over and out. Welcome to the Legally Speaking podcast, recording live here from Legal Tech Talk 2025. Could you please kindly introduce yourself, name, title, and organization? Robert, hello. My name is Matthew Mays. I am co-founder of ADAPT International, and we've launched a product called testmywitness.com. There we go. And I loved what it was all about. That's why I wanted to get you on the show. So in one sentence, what problem are you actually trying to solve in the world of law?

1:22Making witness preparation scalable. We put emotional intelligence into deposition training, preparation, familiarization, all for a fraction of the cost of traditional witness prep.

1:34Matthew Mayes:I love that. And I think it's so needed as well. What's one assumption about legal tech you think most people still get wrong? I would say the big assumption is around humans. Right here, right now, legal tech is changing. It's about AI into documentation. What about the witnesses? The witnesses, you win or lose cases based upon the performance of the witnesses. Currently, witness prep is costly. In the US, it's about$10 ,000 per case. So many people are losing the opportunity to come across well and prepare properly to give evidence. And that's what we do. Yeah. And I think you're doing a great job of it.

2:17Matthew Mayes:And I believe you are pitching or you have a session today. Do you want to tell people about that? Yes, we're thrilled to be pitching today as one of the 30 or so startups. It's a great event. It's an amazing platform for us to show our very disruptive technology that we're introducing to the Law Tech space. and somebody who's come into the sector, working in education, is working in marketing, learning, learning. I'm just being stood around here. I've already had like 10 amazing conversations and follow-up. So I just love the energy. Yeah, and that's what it's all about. As I always say, come to a conference, bring energy, network, be open-minded.

2:58Matthew Mayes:And look, this year's theme cuts across a few different themes. Law and tech, evolution, revolution, access to justice, purpose-driven law, collaboration and smart compliance which of those speaks loudest to you right now and why i say access to justice if we can democratize witness preparation we can make it consistent we can make it scalable we can help people particularly if they're from disadvantaged backgrounds come across better obviously it's quite different in the uk in terms of how you can prepare witnesses we have a fantastic announcement in that we're working with the uk's leading witness familiarization and we launched witness preparation in the US, which is a slightly different market.

3:37We believe everyone should benefit from being able to come across in the best possible way when they give evidence.

3:44Matthew Mayes:Yeah, love that. And so what's the biggest surprise so far for you in terms of Legal Tech Talk 2025? Well, I think the poet, Joshua, um sorry joshua there's an amazing thing this morning it's very disruptive it's not absolutely not what you would expect at this event um and it's so good i love the i love the energy even just working here in the morning there's a dj just on the corner playing music to get you in the mood so um you know i i've been in like the creative sector creating events this feels like a creative event yeah very much so and i think you know bradley said himself coming from a non-legal background, but with his events background, he put on great events.

4:26Matthew Mayes:And I think this is very true to what you're saying there as well. And also you coming from a different background into the legal space. Okay. So let's fast forward to 2030. What do you hope will be gone and done better finally within the world of law? Well, I'd say witness preparation. I think it's currently, as I said, very expensive. 96 % of cases in the US go without that. Yeah. It's it's an 11 billion market that's there for going into. I think the democratization piece is really, really important. As I said, we're a human centered AI format. And I think what's really good to echo London Tech Week, the prime minister said, actually, we're looking for human centered AI.

5:09We want AI to benefit people. Yeah, we're staring down the barrel of the gun with AI taking jobs away. entry-level jobs for people so our view is if we can make human-centered ai accessible and help humans be better humans because eq skills are more important than hard skills yeah i love that and

5:29Matthew Mayes:that's why i really wanted to have this conversation today okay before i let you go what's been your biggest aha moment or a standout moment you obviously mentioned the poet earlier any other standout moments or a big aha moment for you well discovering you i was i was going to the bathroom walk past and thought, oh, this looks interesting. And just looking at your LinkedIn feeds, I mean, well done. I mean, you've created this vehicle. It's incredible. And for a startup like ourselves and new to the sector, we've pivoted into the sector. Just being able to connect with your network is fantastic.

6:05Well done. I appreciate it.

6:06Matthew Mayes:No, thank you. And we're very community first. We're trying to build a kind of more collaborative, future-focused community. So we want to have these conversations and spotlight people actually producing interesting, helpful things for the broader, wider public and the world of law. So it just leads me to say, thanks so much for coming on the show. Where can people find out more about you and what you're getting up to? So you can find us at adaps.com, so a-dapt.com, or go to testmywitness.com, which is our US product. Thank you. Perfect. Well, Matthew, thanks so much once again for joining me on the League of Speaking Podcast, but from all of us, over and out.

6:36Matthew Mayes: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 hub, The Legally Speaking Club, over on Discord. Go to our website, www.legallyspeakingpodcast.com for the link to join our community there. Over and out.

From the publisher

On today’s episode of LegalTechTalk Uncovered 2025, we speak to Matthew Mayes. He is the co-founder of A-dapt International and the driving force behind TestMyWitness.com, an innovative platform revolutionising witness preparation through emotionally intelligent, scalable, and cost-effective technology.


🔍 We Discussed the Following Questions:

❓ What is your background and experience?

❓ What assumptions do people still get wrong about legal tech?

❓ What’s one assumption about legal tech you think most people still get wrong?

❓ Are you pitching or presenting today—can you tell us more about that?

❓ Which of this year’s Legal Tech Talk themes speaks loudest to you and why?

❓ What’s the biggest surprise so far for you at Legal Tech Talk 2025?

❓ What do you hope will be gone or done better in law by 2030?

❓ What role do you see human-centered AI playing in the future of legal tech?

❓ What’s been your biggest “aha” moment or standout experience at the event?

❓ Where can people find out more about you and your work?


So why should you be listening in? 

You can hear Rob and Matthew discussing:

- Solving Critical Problems in Witness Preparation

- Driving Easier, More Inclusive Access to Justice

- Avoiding Misconceptions Regarding Legal Tech

- Human-Centred AI as the Future

- Positive Reception and a Vision for 2030
Connect with Matthew here - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/matthewmayes

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