Government backed-initiative the LawTech Delivery Panel will focus on six key areas as the group seeks to encourage use of legal technology within the sector.

The group, which launched earlier this month and is comprised of eight industry professionals including Vodafone and Bank of England general counsel, aims to reduce regulatory obstacles and barriers for new market entrants, and will work with government to ensure the right regulatory regime is in place to support innovation and encourage greater investment.

Law Society president Christina Blacklaws, who is chairing the group, told Legal Week that members of the panel will lead taskforces dedicated to six areas: ethics, jurisdictional matters,  education, investment, regulation and disputes.

Plans for the LawTech Delivery Panel were announced by Lord Chancellor David Gauke earlier this year. It is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Justice and the Law Society of England and Wales.

Blacklaws said: "It's vital that we as a representative body do our very best to ensure all solicitors are well equipped for this brave new world. We want to demystify lawtech to empower solicitors, help them acquire the right skills and to better enable them to meet with their clients' technological needs. All businesses are facing the issues we're facing. If you're not au fait with digital issues, you might face difficulty in advising your clients."

She added: "I think it's absolutely vital that the legal profession in the UK embraces and owns the technology solutions and new methods of service delivery, otherwise we really risk our relevance as a jurisdiction. It's incredibly important, perhaps the most important issue, to tackle in the near future."

In addition to Blacklaws, the panel includes Lords spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice Rt Hon Lord Keen of Elie QE, chancellor of the High Court Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Vos, Bank of England general counsel Sonya Branch, Vodafone general counsel Rosemary Martin, University College London's Dr Anna Donovan, technology adviser to the Lord Chief Justice Professor Richard Susskind, and managing director at TheCityUK Gary Campkin.

The group is also establishing a technology community forum, which will allow the panel to engage with the industry on any issues and challenges that arise.

This year, the Law Society also partnered with Barclays to launch a dedicated lawtech incubator at the bank's Eagle Labs space in London. Sixteen lawtech startups and 14 law firms, including Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Clyde & Co, DWF, Gowling WLG, Latham & Watkins, Norton Rose Fulbright, Simmons & Simmons and TLT have signed up to the project.