BRYTER Center for Digitalization & Law

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The BRYTER Center for Digitalization & Law accompanies the digital transformation of the law and addresses the issues raised by digitalization in teaching and research. To this end, the BRYTER Center combines scientific with practical expertise and works at the interface of law and technology.

The purpose of the Center is to train students of the law at EBS Law School in this field and to prepare them for the challenges of their professional careers. Furthermore, the Center conducts practice-oriented, interdisciplinary research projects on the legal issues raised by the phenomena of digitalization and organizes events.

Julia Schönemann

Office Coordinator

julia.schoenemann@ebs.edu + 49 611 7102 2229

Vision and mission

The generic term “digitalization” can be used to describe a far-reaching economic and social transformation that is driven by technological innovations and has a lasting impact on almost all areas of life. Like all revolutionary trends, the digital revolution raises numerous legal questions. However, a unique characteristic of the digital revolution compared to previous transformation processes such as the industrialization is that not only the objects of law, but also the law and legal work itself are subject to the digital transformation. Therefore, on the one hand, the law has the task of providing a normative framework for this transformation and addressing the phenomena that occur. On the other hand, however, it must also relocate itself within this change.

The BRYTER Center for Digitalization & Law accompanies the digital transformation of the law and addresses the issues raised by digitalization in teaching and research. To this end, the BRYTER Center combines scientific with practical expertise and works at the interface of law and technology.

The purpose of the Center is to train students of the law at EBS Law School in this field and to prepare them for the challenges of their professional careers. Furthermore, the Center conducts practice-oriented, interdisciplinary research projects on the legal issues raised by the phenomena of digitalization and organizes events.

Focus areas

The BRYTER Center’s teaching and research focuses on current issues in the field of digitalization and law. On the one hand, the legal framework for the use of new technologies is addressed (“Law in Tech”). Here, the focus is on the governance function of law for the phenomena associated with digitalization. In addition, the effects of digital transformation on the law itself will be examined.

On the other hand, another major topic of the BRYTER Center’s activities is the impact of the increasing use of technology in the legal profession (“Tech in Law”). A particular focus is on the changes in legal working methods and the resulting requirements for legal education and training. Furthermore, the potential of automation in the legal sector is one of the center’s core competencies.

The BRYTER Center aims to train students of the law at EBS Law School in the field of law and digitalization and to prepare them for the challenges of their professional careers in this area. For this purpose, the Center supports the study programme with specialization in “Law & Digitalization” in particular.

Legal Engineering

The range of lectures will include an introductory course on “Legal Engineering” from 2023. The new course is one of the first university event formats in which students dedicate themselves to the interdisciplinary topic of law and software development.

The main focus of the course is on key competencies from software development and project management as well as the respective (market) economic contexts. In addition to conveying abstract knowledge, references to practical implementation are always made and examples from experts from the legal market are used.

Workshop „Legal Tech – Status Quo and Influence on the Legal Industry“

Since 2019, the workshop on Legal Tech offers students insights into legal workflows using legal tech applications. One focus here is on the potential of legal automation, through which legal expert knowledge and workflows can be modeled and automated with the help of software. A theoretical introduction with a current overview of legal tech tools is followed by a practical part in which students can build modules themselves using the BRYTER toolset.

This course also examines the economic benefits as well as the increase in efficiency of such applications for the different areas of legal work. Furthermore, it provides a fundamental understanding of how digital transformation is changing the legal industry and how digital business models in legal, tax and compliance can be successfully developed and scaled.

At the BRYTER Center for Digitalization & Law, research projects are conducted that address current issues in the field of digitalization and law. These projects have a legal focus, but also include interdisciplinary aspects and practical experiences. For this purpose, a constant exchange takes place. At the same time, the BRYTER Center promotes dissertations with a topic at the interface of law and technology and provides a legal education and training program in this area.

The four pillars of the research at BYTER Center

The first pillar is formed by questions of the governance function of law, in particular public law, for the digitalization and the phenomena associated with it. Other affected legal areas will also be covered. In addition to the legal research methods, approaches from the fields of economics, comparative law and law & economics are applied as well.

Currently, research activities in this area include, in particular

questions of platform economy and regulation,
problems of privacy & data protection and communication on the Internet,
developments in the field of big data and data economy in a European and international context as well as
challenges in dealing with artificial intelligence (“AI”) and algorithms (e.g. “algorithmic bias” and “political online microtargeting”).

The second pillar is dedicated to the question of how law itself is changing as a result of the digital transformation. Here, the research methods include legal theory and comparative law as well as the “critique of law”.

With the third pillar, the BRYTER Center addresses the impact of the digital transformation on the legal profession. Emphasis lies on the automation of legal work and the impact of the increasing use of technology on the legal market as well as in public administration (“GovTech”) and the judiciary.

Finally, the fourth pillar builds upon the impact of the increasing use of technology in the legal profession. It is changing the way legal professionals work in the long term. Given this background, the Center develops education programs and trainings that can be integrated into the legal education. One of the core tasks of the BRYTER Center is to train students of the law programs at EBS Law School in the field of law and digitalization and to prepare them for the challenges of their professional careers in this area. For this purpose, the Center supports the study program with the specialization in “Law & Digitalization”.

Since we are amidst an ongoing digital transformation with fast-paced developments in all those areas, future and practice-oriented research requires a constant exchange with academia, legal practice and politics. Therefore, the BRYTER Center supports the “Innovation Talks” of the student-run EBS Legal Innovation Lab, which take place regularly at EBS Law School. In addition, the BRYTER Center also offers its own events; in particular, the Center hosts a conference on current issues in the law of digitalization every two years.

BRYTER is the leading no-code automation platform helping professional services to digitize and scale their knowledge. The intuitive toolbox enables experts in law, finance, tax and compliance to build, manage, and distribute interactive applications – in short time and without the need for programming skills. The platform helps consultants, enterprises, and public administration across the globe to participate and thrive in a digital world. BRYTER’s offices are located in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, London, Paris and New York City.

Check out open positions here.