Trowers & Hamlins hosts fifth annual legal hackathon with Summer Vacation Scheme candidates.
This year’s event saw candidates from both schemes engage in an immersive, time-pressured challenge designed to simulate real-world client issues and showcase how technology can be leveraged to drive better legal outcomes.
In addition to the Summer Vacation Scheme candidates, Business Services interns also participated in the hackathon.
The Challenge
Participants were introduced to a fictional client—a nationwide real estate company managing hundreds of rental properties. The client faced persistent operational issues in managing tenant queries and complaints, including inconsistent administration methods, loss of deadlines, insufficient detail capture, and duplicated information.
Teams were given just 90 minutes to create a digital solution using TrowersEvolve portal, with support from the firm’s Innovation team. The goal was to design a system that streamlined communication, improved oversight of requests, and provided a consistent and reliable tenant experience.
Winners
Two winning teams were selected—one from each vacation scheme cohort—each recognised for their creativity, practical thinking, and use of technology.
Scheme 1 Winner: Hannah Sykes, Harry McGuirk, Jason Lio and Nadia Cheng Developed a centralised portal designed to categorise tenant requests and automatically track resolution timelines, with the goal of streamlining the management of information for the client.
Scheme 2 Winner: Abi Falade, Damy Adekoya, Ellen Faysse, Kriss Krishnani and Stewart McCutcheon Developed a portal with workflows for real-time updates among tenants, property managers, and legal teams, minimising delays and duplication.
Trowers & Hamlins Legal Technologist Hannah Copley King commented:
“I was impressed by how quickly the candidates learned portal design and applied it in team-based, real-world challenges. Their teamwork and creative problem-solving were clearly evident.”
Trowers & Hamlins Senior Product Manager Gagandeep Dadial commented:
“The hackathon is always a standout moment in our summer calendar. It not only introduces candidates to legal technology but encourages fresh thinking about client service and efficiency. The energy and quality of ideas we saw this year were truly impressive.”
Congratulations to all who participated.
