Legally on the Move: Mercedes World – Stefano Pratesi – E03

Welcome to a special, brand new mini series of the Legally Speaking Podcast, legally on the move Mercedes world, powered by Clio, the engine driving the future of legal tech and innovation.

On our third and final minisode, we get to round off this miniseries with Stefano Pratesi. He is the founder of SP1 IT Solutions, specializing in legal tech solutions and Duckworth migration for law firms. With experience as an IT director in the legal sector, he has collaborated with Clio since its entry into the EMEA market and is recognized for his innovation and leadership within the legal technology space. Stay tuned after this episode, as we have more exciting Clio content planned for you soon, over and out!

So why should you be listening in? 

You can hear Rob and Stefano discussing:

– Driving Innovation in Mid-Sized Law Firms

– Embracing Automation and Legal Technology

– Advice for Future-Proofing Legal Practices

– Cybersecurity and Client Feedback: Key Challenges

– Event Highlights and Inspiring Experiences at Mercedes Benz World

Connect with Stefano Pratesi here – https://uk.linkedin.com/in/stefanopratesisp1itsolutions

Transcript

Robert Hanna  0:00  

Welcome to a special, brand new mini series of the legally speaking podcast, legally on the move, Mercedes world, powered by Clio, the engine driving the future of legal tech and innovation. I’m your host, Rob Hanna, and in this three part mini series, we’re coming to you live from Mercedes Benz world for drive to thrive the future for mid sized law firms. Mid sized firms are the powerhouse of the legal industry, but with rising client demands, fast moving tech and fierce competition, how can they stay ahead? We’ve lined up an incredible cast of legal leaders, innovators and special guests including Rally Champion Penny Mallory, all tackling one big question, how can mid size firms drive real innovation and sustainable growth. Across this series, we’ll dive into breaking tech barriers, building change ready cultures and creating future proof strategies, all with a little adrenaline on the side. So buckle up, folks. It’s time to drive to thrive right here, right now in Mercedes Benz world. Welcome. To the legally speaking podcast recording live from Mercedes Benz world. I am joined by name, title and organisation, please. Hello.

Stefano Pratesi  1:12  

My name is Stefano protesi, and I’m the MDM founder of SP1 IT solutions,

Robert Hanna  1:17  

absolutely and just a true legal community champion of others, and we’re big fans here at links podcast. It’s nice. We’ve actually been able to do this, but first things first, tell us a little bit more about your

Stefano Pratesi  1:28  

business. Yes, sure. So we’ve been working with Clio for a long time, since they came to the EMEA market, and we specialise in Duckworth migration and legal solutions for law firms. We work with them, and I’ve worked in the legal space for a few years. You could tell from Murphy’s, and it’s been really interesting to see the

Robert Hanna  1:51  

changes perfect and yourself, background wise, Give us a bit of a high overview.

Stefano Pratesi  1:55  

Yeah, so myself, I’ve been in the legal market for a while. As you know, I was an IT director for a law firm for a while, and then had this brilliant idea set up on my own five, six years ago. And that’s how SP 1 IT solutions started.

Robert Hanna  2:09  

Yeah, and it’s been a huge success story, and we’ve had a chance to go around the world together for some of these clear events from Austin, Nashville, and we’ve got Boston coming up. But today we’re focusing around driving innovation, of course, because we’re here at Mercedes Benz world. So what does driving innovation mean to you in the context of mid to mid sized law firms?

Stefano Pratesi  2:29  

Yeah, so this is a particularly amazing venue, as you can see. We’re Mercedes world, the mecca of technology and innovation for cars. And I think for a lot of the legal space, the automation and the way that law firms now can optimise what they do and how they do things, and the type of customer service they sort of deliver. I think that’s probably what is most important for a lot of them?

Robert Hanna  3:03  

Yeah, and, you know, it’s competitive because everyone’s looking into technology. So how can law firm leaders and lawyers who see legal technology as something they need to embrace, but embrace it so they stay competitive?

Stefano Pratesi  3:17  

That’s a good question. I think at the moment, there’s a big hype about AI and how technology can make law firms more efficient, more productive. I think the main thing at the moment is there are a lot of startups, scale up, a lot of companies that they push products. I think the important thing is, like people like Cleo that they have a really good foundation and good sort of backing in terms of financial so they can develop their products and services in a way that allows them to just build on what they have and continually growth, instead of just doing something and then pausing it because they might run out of money or they might run out of ideas.

Robert Hanna  4:04  

Yeah, no, what? Well said, we’re always looking forwards and, you know, an innovative drive to thrive event. So what again, can you give us maybe one or two pieces of advice for law firm leaders, particularly that mid size, looking to future proof their practice? What would you say to that.

Stefano Pratesi  4:21  

Yeah, so I think the main drive at the moment is about speed of which, you know, documents can be reviewed, so especially within the legal contract reviews. So we see products that are coming out here, and they just have the type of analytics that it will take a lawyer a long time to do, and this is all like computer driven, and also, I think, in terms of a part of the automation, so anything that is a repetitive task, if you can automate and you can get a machine to do it, I think that will save the lawyer the time. Time to invest in customer care and also think about what they need to do for their clients

Robert Hanna  5:06  

and for your clients. Then what are like the most common questions or problems they have that you’re specifically solving? Again, for folks listening in that might be having similar pain points?

Stefano Pratesi  5:17  

Well, top of the list is going to be cyber security. It’s a big topic. So, you know, innovation and legal is good, but I think cyber security is key. And you know, again, companies, big companies, they invest heavily in their securing the system. They’ve got an advantage a The other thing is about making sure that they have a pulse on what the client wants and the feedback, because it’s all good having a good service, but if you don’t get feedback from the clients is always difficult to to measure.

Robert Hanna  5:50  

Yeah, and what’s your view generally on the legal technology market? As someone who’s obviously members in this space, you know, there’s new things cropping up all the time. Again, if you’re a law firm owner, or you’re a lawyer, and you’re thinking about this, you could probably get a little bit overwhelmed. So just talk us through your thoughts and maybe some steps people should think about if they’re going to engage with

Stefano Pratesi  6:09  

legal technology providers. I like the overwhelms, well chosen words. I think, yes, it is a minefield. And as you know, we all know there’s mergers and acquisition. There’s people buying different companies every day. Some are quite transparent, some less transparent. There is a lot of movement around the legal market because of the markets getting tougher. AI is made, you know, different products bit more efficient. So I think, do your due diligence. Don’t stop at the sale pitch. Just make sure you invest the time and resources to look at the product. Look at the roadmap, not only what they can do today, but what they can do in the future, but also make sure that those people or those companies can deliver what they saw preach for because a lot of people, they say, Oh, he’s in the roadmap, but then it never happened. So make sure that you trust the company is around, has been around for a while, and then you can just have that type of confidence that they’re going to deliver in the future. Yeah,

Robert Hanna  7:11  

no, well said, Okay, now talking about the event. You know, what have you most enjoyed about being here at Mercedes Benz world? You know, Cleo seemed to keep putting on a great event after great event.

Stefano Pratesi  7:20  

Yeah, Clio has always been amazing for the choice of venues. I think the talks, I thought they were really quite enlightening, in a way that they were so come from the heart, right? The clients truly authentic. I know the partners. The authenticity of it is really good. It’s nice to hear that not everything goes smooth, but there are things could be improved. And you know, if you trust a partner, that’s how partnership work, right? Yeah, with things, right? I think the lady about mindfulness and how strong minded you need to be to be successful, that was interesting the rally driver for me, you know, it’s a good spot, because I love cars, and I can resonate in what she was saying about, you know, being the only female rally driver ever to make it to the competitive and the new product, Cleo has got nice products. We’re not going to do a spoiler, because, you know, there are some in the pipeline, but also for people to see what is been developed, how it’s been developed, and how much the product has come along. I think is really, really good for people to have,

Robert Hanna  8:33  

yeah, and really well said. And I thought Penny was a wonderful speaker. And we’ve had Trevor stern and come on to the show before. Who runs the be the ladder. You know, if you can’t see the ladder, be the ladder. And she was very much the ladder for her world in terms of the rally racing side of things. So sticking with cars, then you love cars. Are you looking forward to going on track day? Is this something you’ve done before? What are you most excited about?

Stefano Pratesi  8:53  

On that front, I’m not going to say anything, because, you know, when you say you rubbish. Yesterday, we were an event on a simulator. When I was in the fastest. I was always some but yes, really looking forward to it is a brilliant venue. I’ve been here before. I’m a Ferrari fan, so you know the red behind me here is my favourite colour. But yeah, no, for sure, is going to be a really interesting venue. 

Robert Hanna  9:18  

And yeah, no, definitely. We’re big fans of red, as you can say here at the League of Zoe, can podcast. This has been awesome. So good to finally make this happen. If folks want to know more about you, or indeed, your business, where can they go to find out more? Shout out any websites from your social media

Stefano Pratesi  9:30  

handles. Yeah. So you can have a look our website. SP, one it solutions.com. That’s where you find all the informations what we do and why we’re good at what we’re doing. And otherwise, you can reach me. Stefano protesi, there are many Italian on LinkedIn and yeah, reach out, ping me a message. Rob, thank you very much for having us on your amazing podcast, and people keep following because it’s interesting. Yeah, no. Thank

Robert Hanna  9:54  

you so much from all of us here recording live at Mercedes, World Over and out. That’s a wrap for legally on the move. With Mercedes world powered by Clio, over the past three minisodes, we’ve explored how mid sized firms can stay ahead in a world of rising client demands, fast moving tech and shifting competition from breaking down legal tech barriers to building change ready cultures to embracing strategies for sustainable growth, our guests have shown that innovation isn’t optional. It’s essential. And of course, we couldn’t leave you without a nod to the AMG track and the legendary G wagon off road challenge proving that law like driving is all about skill, adaptability and daring to take the wheel. A huge thank you to our guests, to Mercedes Benz world for the adrenaline drop, and to our partners at Clio, the engine driving the future of legal tech and innovation. If you enjoyed this special series, don’t forget to subscribe to the legally speaking podcast, wherever you listen, and join us on our journey to inspire legal minds and transform legal futures until next time, keep driving change, keep pushing forward, and remember, the future of law is already here, over and out.