Latham & Watkins has become the latest major firm to join the Global Legal Blockchain Consortium (GLBC), a group of industry stakeholders focused on ‘enhancing the security, privacy, productivity, and interoperability of blockchain technology’ for the legal market.
Its membership now means there are 125 large companies, law firms, software pioneers, and universities – across 20 countries – that have joined the GLBC to develop standards to govern the use of blockchain technology in the law.
The consortium focuses on a range of issues, including: data integrity, authenticity, security, and privacy for contracts and documents, and interoperability.
In short, it’s doing everything it can to make the use of blockchain technology a working reality for lawyers and their clients. A significant barrier to blockchain tech is that to make best use of it you need plenty of parties to be involved, at least in terms of setting standards, if not to exploit the real benefits of distributed ledger technology.
In which case, having reached 125 members is an important step forward. While having major firms such as Latham & Watkins on board helps to convince clients that blockchain tech can be made to work for them.
Ken Heaps, Chief Information Officer at Latham & Watkins, said: ‘Blockchain technology is creating enormous opportunities for business in almost every industry, including the legal sector, and we are delighted to join the GLBC and collaborate with other leaders to advance the debate in this fast-evolving and far-reaching area.’
Vivian Maese, Global Co-Chair of Latham’s Financial Institutions Group and FinTech Industry Group, added: ‘Latham is a leading authority on blockchain matters, and we are pleased to add our voice to the conversation and share our expertise and know-how in support of GLBC’s important mission to unleash blockchain’s full potential in the legal field.’
And, David Fisher, founder of the GLBC and blockchain platform Integra Ledger, told Artificial Lawyer: ‘We are excited to welcome Latham & Watkins to the GLBC. As one of the most technologically advanced law firms in the world, their contribution to the development and application of blockchain technology in the business of law will be invaluable. We look forward to working with Vivian, Ken, and their respective teams of attorneys and technologists.’
Thanks for this post. As a result, Intraspexion has submitted its application to join the GLBC too.