Women in LegalTech: Unpacking Legal Design in Action – Event Recap

Admin ILTN
4 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

On 23rd August 2025, we had the privilege of hosting an inspiring session under the Women in LegalTech initiative- “Unpacking Legal Design in Action” with Lavanya G. as our speaker and Vaishali Gopal as the moderator.

This session was not just a discussion on theory, but a real-time demonstration of how design thinking can reshape the practice of law, making it more transparent, empathetic, and impactful for clients. Lavanya, drawing on her journey from informal advisory work to structured design thinking experiments, showed us how legal design is not a buzzword but a practical tool to solve everyday challenges faced by lawyers and clients alike.

From Design Thinking to Legal Design

Lavanya first encountered design thinking in 2018, and what struck her was its focus on the human experience. Instead of beginning with statutes or precedents, design thinking starts with empathy: What does the user (in this case, the client) actually feel, expect, or misunderstand?

She shared how she translated this philosophy into legal design, applying user-centered thinking to contracts, disputes, and client communications. Inspired by global models and the Stanford design thinking course, she began experimenting with ways to make law more accessible, transparent, and emotionally manageable.

Simplifying Contracts with Design

One of her most striking contributions was in contract simplification. Rather than producing dense documents filled with intimidating jargon, Lavanya prototyped agreements, starting with NDAs, that were:

Written in plain, clear language.
Enriched with hyperlinks to explanatory videos or resources (e.g., arbitration clauses linked to venues, or force majeure explained through visuals).
Structured in a way that clients could navigate like a roadmap, rather than wade through like a maze.

This wasn’t about diluting the law, but about ensuring that clients actually understood the commitments they were entering into.

Mapping Legal Processes

Lavanya also spoke about her use of visual maps and roadmaps to guide clients through complex procedures. For instance, she created CPC and CrPC process maps that highlighted each stage of litigation, from filing to final arguments.

Clients often believe their matters are further along than they are, leading to frustration and misplaced anger at lawyers. By showing them where they truly stood, “stage two: summons issued” rather than “almost resolved”, she corrected misconceptions and helped clients prepare emotionally and strategically.

She extended this approach to business incorporation by designing color-coded charts that showed timelines, license requirements, and agreements. These weren’t just internal tools: they empowered clients to track progress collaboratively through WhatsApp groups and checklists.

Managing Emotions Through Design

One of the most powerful insights Lavanya shared was that law schools do not train lawyers to manage emotions, yet much of legal practice depends on exactly that.

Clients come with anxiety, impatience, and anger. Without structure, these emotions are directed at lawyers. But through legal design — using transparency tools, live updates from the e-Courts app, and consistent records of representation — she was able to shift that emotional burden. Clients saw the system, not the lawyer, as the source of delay, and began to trust her role more deeply.

This emotional management is as valuable as drafting skills. As Lavanya put it, legal design helps lawyers preserve their own mental health while fostering trust and collaboration with clients.

Lessons from Stanford & Beyond

Lavanya also highlighted her learnings from the Stanford design thinking course:

The real payoff is mindset, not immediate financial ROI.
Design thinking applies beyond law, it’s a way of solving problems creatively.
Even small details, like naming client WhatsApp groups with consistent branding, can improve trust and clarity.

Her broader message was clear: in an age where AI is automating technical tasks, lawyers must differentiate themselves through empathy, clarity, and design.

Closing Reflections

This session was a reminder that law cannot be practiced in isolation anymore. To truly serve clients, lawyers must go beyond statutes and judgments to integrate design, empathy, and emotional intelligence into their work.