Under the program, dubbed ‘Fintech Fast Forward’, Slaughters will offer legal services to the value of £30,000 to each of 10 handpicked UK-based fintech startups every year, including legal advice, access to model legal documentation and tailored coaching in areas such as pitching and presentations. The 10 lucky startups will be chosen each year by an expert panel that includes Slaughters’ own head of technology and outsourcing Rob Sumroy and financial services partner Ben Kingsley. Also on the panel are Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch, Santander UK head of innovation Sigga Sigurdardottir, DeepMind Technologies general counsel Trevor Callaghan and seed-focused venture capital fund LocalGlobe partner Ophelia Brown.   

Building relationships with the ‘next generation’

Slaughter and May is the latest in a suite of firms who have invested in the burgeoning fintech and legal tech markets through free service schemes for startups. In June, global megafirm Dentons’ NextLaw Labs venture partnered with pre-seed and seed-stage investor Seedcamp to offer training, mentorship and investment from early-stage legal tech startup companies. Meanwhile, Simmons & Simmons announced the launch of the £100,000 S&S FinTech Fund to support UK-based fintech startups through free legal advice. In a statement, the firm made clear that the intention behind the fund was not to collect capital from startups in return for advice, but rather to ‘build strong relationships with the next generation of exciting FinTech businesses.’

Source: Legal Week