On Tuesday I had the pleasure to be on the judging panel for the #TransformLaw KWM Prize! The event featured six teams made up of UQ students who scored the best in the written portion of the competition.

The 2-4 person teams needed at least one Law student and one non-law students and were looking at the role of technology in addressing the a law and justice issue. Of the six teams that pitched, three pitched an issue and solution that was a bit “generic” in the sense I could see these startups feature in any startup event. These three teams were addressing what I would consider “sticky” problems because the underlying issue lies with human psychology and behaviour. That’s not to say their ideas couldn’t work, just that the go-to-market case would be more difficult.

The other three teams did address problems that required insider knowledge of the justice system. Two of the teams overlapped in that they were trying to improve access to legal access by improving the intake and assessment process of the not-for-profit legal sector.

The clear winner was Team PEAM addressed issues around mediation where the emotions of one or more parties can hinder the mediation process. It was clear that they had done a lot of research into the problem. They also had customers ready to take up their product. They had run trials with their prototype and while their solution will probably need a few more iterations to perfect, what they had accomplished in eight weeks was truly impressive.

They won by a huge margin and apparently, were a bit of a Cinderella story as they barely made it into the final pitch based on their performance in the written portion of the competition. I am glad they did make the cut and won on the night. I can see them being successful with this idea if they stick with it and get the right guidance, connections and mentoring along the way.

Anyway, it was a fun event and I am glad to have been invited. This was my first role as a judge and I got a gift of a Tirtyl starter pack to go with my evening of pitches!

I am back at UQ this weekend as a mentor for the weekend of startups. So watch this space for more on that!