From 13 – 15 March 2026, Bucerius MLB student Anara Balgabekova took part in the three-day LWOW Sprint event held at the NOVA School of Business and Economics in beautiful Carcavelos, Portugal. During 3 intense and challenging days, participants were assigned to talented and multidisciplinary teams composed of a mix of intergenerational legal and business professionals, academics, and law/business school students from around the world. The teams were sponsored by corporate legal departments, law firms or law/legal tech companies and worked together to solve real business-of-law problems or social responsibility challenges.
The Law Without Walls Sprint 2026 was taught with the innovative and now established 3-4-5 method (3 Phases-48 Hacking Hours-5 Stages) and included collaboration exercises, intensive hacking as well as a mini-composium. Anara spoke to us about her experience.
What attracted you to participate in Law Without Walls?
I have always been fascinated by how law operates outside traditional boundaries. Law Without Walls (LWOW), a global, interdisciplinary program where students, professionals, and mentors collaborate across borders promised exactly that: a space where legal thinking meets business strategy and technology, a chance to work on real problems with entrepreneurs, lawyers, and innovators, and to see law as a tool for building solutions.
What´s the first thing that comes to your mind when thinking about your LWOW experience?
Intense. In the best sense. I was placed in a room, given a complex problem, and expected to deliver something meaningful in three days. There is no time to overthink or hide behind titles. You learn to listen fast, trust your teammates, and prototype ideas even when they are not perfect. It is intense, sometimes chaotic, but incredibly rewarding.
How intensive was the preparation for the pitches?
The preparation was intense not only in terms of time, but also in focus and commitment. In the weeks before the sprint, we spent hours refining our understanding of the problem, conducting research, and iterating with our mentors. When the sprint weekend arrived, it was days of non-stop collaboration, pivoting, and refining under pressure. It pushed us to think clearly, communicate concisely, and turn abstract ideas into a story that actually resonated!
Tell us more about your LWOW Sprint challenge…
Our team worked on a challenge sponsored by a fast-growing healthcare company. The core problem: as organizations scale, commitments made to clients often get lost between sales and delivery ownership becomes unclear, follow-through then breaks down, and visibility gaps appear across departments. We developed a solution focused on clear handoffs, real-time visibility, and lightweight tools that integrate into existing workflows. The goal was to make accountability visible without adding complexity. What made it really exciting was the mix of perspectives in our team legal, business, and tech and the chance to build something practical that could actually work in a real-world setting.
What inspired you most in this competition?
The people. I went into LWOW expecting to learn about legal innovation, and I did. But what stayed with me was the energy of the group, mentors who challenged us to think bigger, teammates who brought perspectives I would never have considered, and peers who genuinely wanted to collaborate rather than compete. Seeing how much you can create when you combine different skills and a shared sense of purpose was the most inspiring part.
Will you stay in touch with your team members?
Absolutely! Going through this experience together building something from scratch under real pressure creates a bond you don’t forget. LWOW gave me not only a new way of thinking about law, but also a network of people I genuinely want to stay connected with.
