You participated in the first summer program hackathon this year. Can you tell us about the experience?
The Hackathon was a perfect capstone event to unify the various themes in the course material. As teams, we had to assess the legal landscape and its most pressing needs, create a legal tech startup concept to serve those needs, select the appropriate machine learning and natural language processing tools to execute the startup's main idea, then use accessible coding programs to mock-up and test how it all works.
Seeing it all come together while working in cross-functional, multinational teams (with a tight deadline!) was an ideal reward for all the effort.
How was studying in such a diverse group beneficial to the learning experience?
Everybody perceives and solves problems differently. The best part about having a diverse group of people is that you can test how various ideas and solutions appeal to a wide range of perspectives and experiences. Sometimes entrepreneurs can't get out of their own way, and they deliver products or solutions that other people just don't want.
My classmates at Bucerius allowed me to pressure test ideas and assumptions beforehand, making the final product more reflective of the needs of a broader market.
What new knowledge are you going to put into practice?
Knowing which natural language and machine learning tools are available to solve problems.
What is the most interesting thing you learned academically and personally during the summer program?
Casey's talks on the uncertainty and chaos of legal operations were a refreshing change of pace from the more common (and more wrong) "we all know exactly what we're doing" mantra. It was helpful to understand that context as we all explore the jagged frontier of machine capability. No one has it all figured out. And that truth creates its own opportunity to contribute to what the future will look like.
Who would you recommend the program to?
This program is a great start for law students and early practitioners, but it's critical that firm leaders understand these tools too. IT projects require sponsors and champions who understand the business's strategic objectives, objectives that likely form the basis for tech adoption and deployment in the first place.
If they aren't exposed to what's possible, they won't be able to drive change in their organizations (or even know what to expect on the path to progress).
If Bucerius was willing to form cross-functional classes, then EU business leaders could be another target. Some of the legal tools we studied have a clear business application but others aren't as apparent. Because attorneys tend to have more depth than breadth in business needs, while business leaders don't always have the domain expertise to make legal solutions most profitable, the two groups working together could result in exciting cross-training and shared insights.
Bucerius could explore similar cooperative training classes with computer science, medicine, or the arts.
How did you enjoy Hamburg? Was there anything that was particularly noteworthy?
I brought my family (my spouse and two preteen daughters) with me, so we went hard into cultural events: we saw a chamber orchestra at the Elbphi, moved along to animal dances at Der König der Löwen, walked the city's gardens, tied knots at the maritime museum, climbed the steps of St. Michael's, and took a weekend trip to see the German countryside. Hamburg is full of energy and there is always something to do.
Is there anything else you would like to share with future international students at Bucerius?
If you're still trying to decide, take this as your sign. You should come. You'll have a great time, and you'll walk away with a treasure trove of information and international contacts.
Chase, thank you for the Interview.
