#17: Lessons From A Leading Legal Tech Founder - with Mary Bonsor

Mary Bonsor was a property litigator in a top city firm before starting Flex Legal in August 2016. Flex is an online platform which connects pre-vetted lawyers and law students to law firms and general counsel for a flexible, on demand service. Flex has over 5,000 candidates on its platform and over 250 clients including magic circle firms, FTSE 250 companies and SMEs. In 2020 Mary was recognised as one of Management Today's 35 Women under 35. 

Mary is passionate about the future education of the profession and how tomorrow's lawyers will qualify.  She sees the SQE offering a huge opportunity to law students to get relevant work experience during their studies and is also very interested in how law firms can retain and attract the future generation.

We talked about:

Being a new mum whilst running your own business
Flex Legal and the rise of legal consultancy
How platforms like Flex can help someone transition into a completely new area of law
How to help lawyers have more autonomy and control over their workloads
Starting a tech platform without any tech expertise
The importance of trying to solve problems by yourself first
Some of the lowest moments of starting a company
The importance of looking after employee mental health
How the pandemic has shaped Flex’s attitude to wellbeing
Reforming how we train solicitors
And don’t miss the moment Mary offered to mentor me (and I OBVIOUSLY said yes)!

If you’re keen to keep up with Mary and Flex legal you can find out everything you need via their website.