Al Hounsell teaches in the area of legal service design, innovation and legal technology. He is an innovation director and senior lawyer responsible for leading strategic innovation, legal service design and the innovation solutions development team at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. Mr. Hounsell works at the intersection of law and innovation, directing strategic and legal advice to clients and lawyers in matters such as: the drafting and automation of legal contracts for technology and financial services clients, A.I.-assisted due diligence, regulatory compliance management and architecture, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies in the legal tech space. Leading the solutions development team – a cutting-edge team of legal engineers and full-stack developers – he has overseen the production of numerous legal apps, leveraging innovative technologies and artificial intelligence. He has also played a significant role in developing bespoke solutions both internally and directly for clients in the areas of document automation, data analysis and visualization, and workflow process innovation.
He is a 2023 and 2022 winner of the Canadian Law Awards’ “Best Use of Technology in a Law Firm” award, a 2021 Fastcase 50 award recipient as well as 2019 and 2020 recipient of the ILTA (International Legal Technology Association) Distinguished Peer Award for “Young Professionals to Watch.” Under his direction, his team’s work in client solutions development was recognized as “highly recommended” at the 2019 Legal Week Innovation Awards in the category of International Law Firm Innovation.