Beyond The Capital

How Thorntons is using design to drive legal innovation with TiPS

Listen on

Episode notes

This is the third episode of a four-part mini-series of Beyond the Capital from SuperTech WM, in partnership with the TiPS Accelerator, a programme helping regional law and accountancy firms adopt new technology.


This episode features leaders from Thorntons, a full-service Scottish law firm, who speak to host Hilary Smyth-Allen about their journey on the TiPS Accelerator. 


Sarah Blair, Jane McCance, and Lewis Quinn unpack how the firm used service design thinking to drive digital transformation, foster AI literacy, and unveil the real human challenges behind legal tech adoption.


From co-creating solutions with colleagues to embracing “messy” innovation, they share their people-first approach to change - and how that’s shaping the firm's internal transformation programme.


They discuss:


  • Why adoption is a human, not just technical, problem
  • How service design and the Double Diamond framework guided discovery
  • Building AI literacy and safe experimentation across the firm
  • Creating a firm-wide cultural shift, one post-it at a time
  • How the TiPS project laid the groundwork for a firm-wide change programme


Chapters:


00:00 – Introduction to TiPS and Thorntons

01:45 – Thorntons’ structure, services, and innovation roles

04:20 – The trap of tech-first thinking and why adoption lags

06:30 – Identifying human problems before implementing solutions

08:00 – Shifting project scope: literacy, service design and the “AI Sandbox”

10:14 – Building transformation roles from scratch

12:00 – Starting with discovery and asking the right questions

15:00 – What the project uncovered (and what it changed)

17:17 – What is the Double Diamond? A primer on service design

19:15 – From AI requests to deeper diagnostics and real solutions

22:00 – Aligning innovation with strategic priorities

24:25 – Wellbeing, time-saving, and what “impact” really means

27:00 – Culture change and playful innovation techniques

29:00 – AI roadshows, Jedi groups, and safe experimentation

31:15 – Upskilling junior colleagues and early-career catalysts

33:42 – Final takeaways: messiness, experimentation, and mindset


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.