Building Trust in Legal Tech: Weightmans and the TiPS Challenge

This is the second episode of a four-part mini-series of our Beyond the Capital podcast, in partnership with the TiPS Accelerator—a programme helping regional law and accountancy firms adopt new technology.

In this episode, host Hilary Smyth-Allen speaks to Dr Catriona Wolfenden, Director of Product and Innovation at Weightmans, a top-40 UK law firm. She shares insights from Weightmans’ participation in the TiPS accelerator programme, focusing on how trust plays a pivotal role in the successful adoption of legal technology, especially emerging tools like generative AI.

The conversation explores how the legal innovation team at Weightmans balances tech enthusiasm with risk awareness, pilot fatigue and stakeholder engagement. Listeners will hear how trust varies across teams, projects, and client relationships. Plus why thinking critically before launching a pilot is more important than ever.

They discuss:

• How to think long-term: today’s pilot affects tomorrow’s culture

• The importance of transparent communication

• Why trust isn’t binary—it varies by project, person, and context

• Starting with the problem, not the technology