The inside Word: Canva & Atticus discuss tech, law, and the people in both

David and Saul discuss the trials, tribulations and lessons learnt from their combined years in legal operations, technology businesses, and law firms.

From managing a high-performing legal operations function at Canva—to bootstrapping a legal tech business from scratch at Atticus—they’ll compare notes on the future of AI, the best and the worst of technology adoption, as well as the tools they use and why.

And, they’ll ask the question: What’s with the grip Microsoft Word still has on legal teams? In the pursuit of innovation, looking back to legacy tech can teach us lessons about how we can create great workplace cultures and (avoid) institutional inertia.

Key Learnings

1. What legal practices can learn from technology companies about digital transformation (and vice versa).
2. AI: What keeps us up at night, what gets us excited, and how it’s changing the focus of our teams.
3. Why Word isn’t going anywhere… just yet.

About Saul

After law school Saul started his career as a high school teacher, before jumping into corporate law. After ‘being tasked with one too many verifications’, Saul joined his two co-founders to develop Atticus in 2017.

In the early years, Atticus focused on the verification of disclosure documents in the Capital Markets, M&A and Funds space.

Atticus’s subsequent move into the verification of corporate reporting was driven by the market; initially being approached by FTSE100 companies, like National Grid, followed by ASX100 companies, like major supermarkets, infrastructure companies & food producers, for annual reports, half-year results, investor presentations, sustainability & other ESG reports.

Atticus is now adopted by:

• Over 17,000 professionals across five continents
• 90% of Australian corporate law firms
• 30% of the UK Top 30 law firms, including the Magic and Silver Circle
• 46% of the ASX50 and 40% of the ASX100.

He is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Atticus.