Innovation in Saudi Arabia

Professor Richard Susskind CBE KC (Hon) is author of ‘How to Think About AI: A Guide for the Perplexed’, a speaker and independent adviser to international professional firms, general counsel, judiciaries, and national governments. His main area of expertise is the future of legal service, with particular reference to the impact of information technology. He has specialised in legal technology since the early 1980s and his views have influenced a generation of lawyers and legal technologists around the world.

He has written numerous books, including Expert Systems in Law (Oxford, 1987), The Future of Law (Oxford, 1996), Transforming the Law (Oxford, 2000), The End of Lawyers? (Oxford 2008), Tomorrow’s Lawyers (Oxford, 2013), and (co-author, Daniel Susskind). The Future of the Professions (Oxford, 2015). He has written around 150 columns as a columnist for The Times and he is Founding Editor of the International Journal of Law and Information Technology. His work has been translated into 12 languages.

Richard is President of the Society for Computers and Law and, since 1998, he has been IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. From 2003 until 2008, he was Chair of the UK’s Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information (a non-departmental public body set up by the Cabinet Office in 2003, and now part of the Ministry of Justice). He is Chair of the Advisory Board, and Visiting Professor in Internet Studies, at the Oxford Internet Institute in the University of Oxford. Richard is also Chair of the Online Dispute Resolution Group of the Civil Justice Council of England and Wales, Special Adviser to the Canadian Bar Association, and IT Adviser to the Jersey Legal Information Board

Richard has been widely recognized by the legal industry, he is an Honorary Professor at the Law School in University College London, Emeritus Law Professor at Gresham College in London, and a part-time law professor at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

Richard has a first class honours degree in law from Glasgow University and a doctorate in law and computers from Balliol College, Oxford. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was awarded an OBE in the Millennium New Year’s Honours List by Her Majesty the Queen for services to IT in the Law and to the Administration of Justice.

Omar Almudarra is a distinguished lawyer and expert in corporate governance. With an illustrious career spanning over two decades, he has held key roles such as Chief Governance & Legal Officer at Al Rajhi Bank and General Counsel at Samba Financial Group. 

Omar’s legal career is distinguished by the progression through various significant positions, including Senior Associate at Abdulaziz AlGasim in association with Allen & Overy, and Senior Legal Advisor at the Committee for Settlement of Banking Disputes, Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). His career is marked by his commitment to delivering comprehensive legal solutions, enriched by his deep understanding of business operations and legal technology.

Laura Reynaud is an associate director at Cognizant. She is a US-qualified corporate and commercial lawyer with 16 years of experience in the Middle East. Reynaud specializes in commercial contracts, mainly technology contracts, IP, AI, cloud computing, and data protection. Reynaud holds an LLM focused in International Corporate and Commercial Law from King’s College London. She is based in Dubai.

Catherine has been with the firm for over 15 years and is a member of the firm’s executive Board. She relocated to the UAE in May 2019 to facilitate the continued development of Pinsent Masons’ Middle East business including its association with Saudi law firm AlSabhan & AlAjaji.

Catherine is highly experienced in the infrastructure sector across the Middle East, Europe and Asia. She has acted for Government bodies, consortia, operators and lenders on major infrastructure schemes and Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in relation to airports, ports, hospitals, schools, roads, waste and real estate redevelopment.

Catherine is a strong advocate of gender diversity and acts as a role model for female progression. Catherine is also a regular participant in the firm’s Middle East Female Future Forums, a series of networking events for female professionals to promote diversity and inclusion in the region.

Jack Diggle is the global lead partner for Deloitte’s Legal Management Consulting practice, based in London. He specialises in the transformation of law department and law firm operating models. Prior to Deloitte, he was global head of consulting for one of the leading ‘New Law’ companies. He trained as a strategy consultant with PwC Consulting and spent the first part of his career in financial services improving the efficiency of banking operating models.

Amir is the former Global CIO for Legal & Head Office Technology at Barclays Bank where he managed a team of over 250 staff across multiple locations to support the 800 strong in-house Legal team. Amir’s responsibilities also extended to key areas including Procurement, Internal Audit, Corporate Secretariat, and Corporate Real Estate, encompassing a workforce of 5000+ personnel. Prior to this role, he implemented transformative IT strategies within prominent law firms such as Clifford Chance LLP and Ashurst LLP.