UK top 50 law firm Travers Smith has promoted its head of legal technology Shawn Curran, and head of central technology David Cassidy, to become directors within their departments. Curran will move away from delivery and build towards a more strategic role, with a heavy focus on AI.
According to chief technology officer Oliver Bethell, the promotions reflect the huge progress that Curran and Cassidy have made in building and leading their respective teams. They are also said to demonstrate the strategic importance the firm has placed on technology.
Bethell told Legal IT Insider: “If you look at the size of our IT team and the level of service and talent that we are trying to attract and retain, directors leading those teams is where we should expect a market leading team to be and we are getting to the stage where we need to be able to influence internally and externally to deliver change.”
Curran has been responsible for helping to solve many of the problems around legal services delivery and his role included product software engineering, eDiscovery, and more recently AI. He led the release in May of open source project, YCNBot, which is an alternative to ChatGPT built in collaboration with 273 Ventures, led by former LexPredict founders Mike Bommarito and Dan Katz.
Bethell said: “Shawn is so fantastic at engaging internally, externally and with clients, and the director role is empowering him further, particularly now we’re facing huge opportunities but also threats around AI, in what is a board level conversation.”
Cassidy is responsible for the firm’s infrastructure and core systems and Bethell said: “We have made huge progress in modernising our infrastructure but there is still more to do to deliver as much value as possible. A key part of that will be our move to Stonecutter Court in 2026, which is reflective of the firm is going aspirationally, and being able to influence really knotty debates and problems is a director level conversation.”
Curran told Legal IT Insider: “This is a recognition that we are now a fully formed and well-oiled department within the wider the department, balancing operational delivery of core systems like DMS and eDiscovery services with internal software development and bleeding edge AI.” He added on a LinkedIn post: “As I transition into this new role from my current position as Head, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude towards our entire legal technology department. Their hard work, dedication, and innovative thinking has played a significant part in my journey. It is an honour to step into this new role, and I am immensely looking forward to the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.”