The Quarterly Breakthrough Webinar: How UNHCR's Legal Team is Harnessing GenAI

Join our free, expert-led webinar on Innovating with Purpose: How UNHCR's Legal Team is Harnessing GenAI.

In this 45-minute session, we interview Lance Bartholomeusz, General Counsel of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in a wide-ranging discussion about how his global legal team is embracing generative AI to transform the way they work. From translation to research and case management, the team is proving that innovation doesn't require bespoke tools, just creativity, curiosity, and a willingness to explore what's already available.

Lance has been nominated as Most Innovative General Counsel by Financial Times for 3 years running (2023, 2024, 2025), and his 25-person legal team has been shortlisted three consecutive years for the Financial Times Most Innovative Legal Team Award, most recently for its ambitious digital upskilling efforts.

This webinar will cover:

  • Practical GenAI Use Cases - How UNHCR's legal team is saving time with translation, building a searchable database of UNHCR decisions, and exploring case management solutions, leveraging technology already at their disposal rather than specialised legal tech
  • Culture of Curiosity - With the team's theme of inform, inspire, and excite, learn how Bartholomeusz encourages lawyers to be curious and experiment with new ways of working
  • Upskilling for the Future - Discover how to ensure your team understands the ‘art of the possible’ with AI, equipping them with the skills and mindset to navigate the future of legal services
  • Innovation Without Investment - Why successful AI implementation doesn't require expensive bespoke solutions, just creative thinking and willingness to explore existing tools
  • Leading Digital Transformation - Insights from one of the world's most recognised innovative legal teams on driving change in traditional legal environments
     

Date: Tuesday, 4th November 2025

Time: On-demand access from 12pm (AEDT - Sydney time) 

Register for access

The session will be recorded and made available after the event. So please register even if you are unable to attend live. You will receive a link and be able to view at your convenience.

Meet your webinar presenter

Lance Bartholomeusz, General Counsel, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Lance Bartholomeusz is an Australian national who joined UNHCR as the General Counsel in October 2016. Lance was listed in 2023 as a Financial Teams in-house legal leader. The in-house legal team at UNHCR has been highly commended two years in a row at the 2023 and 2024 Financial Times Innovative Lawyers awards in the categories of “legal department: innovation in responsible business” and “sustainability and impact.” Before joining UNHCR, Lance was the Director of Legal Affairs of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), where he worked for 12 years. He has some 30 years of legal experience in the United Nations, private commercial practice, a domestic appellate court and a government regulatory agency. He has published extensively on various topics of public international law, including the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, amicus curiae before international courts and tribunals and the mandate of UNRWA. 

Nick Abrahams, Futurist & Global Leader Digital Transformation, Lawyer

Nick is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Technology. He has been a partner at international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright for over twenty years, spending the last seven years in global technology and innovation leadership roles. His team won the Technology Law Firm of the Year award. Nick co-created the world’s first AI-enabled privacy chatbot and won the Financial Times newspaper’s Asia Innovator or the Year Award. He is a member of the NSW Law Society AI Taskforce and has been a judge on the AMCHAM Alliance AI Awards and the Women in AI Awards. He was an advisor to Berkerley Law Executive Education (USA) on their GenAI for Lawyers course.  He is the Co-founder of Lawpath, an online legal solution which has served over 400,000 customers, and was one of the first companies globally to roll out a legal GenAI app. He is the author of the Amazon best selling books Big Data, Big Responsibilities and Digital Disruption in Australia.

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