Legal Geek is compiling a ‘hack-book’ of lawyers and legaltechies who code. If you code, or are learning to code, we would love to include you in our ‘hack-book’. Drop us a line via [email protected] [yes it is .co].
Vincenzo Lalli is the founder of LawyerLinguist.it, a network of legal professionals offering legal advice and translation services to non-Italian businesses and individuals in Italy. He started “messing with programming languages” five years ago.
What kick-started your interest in coding?
“My interest in computer science, in general, has always been there; I had the chance to learn to code while working in the legal department of an import-export business: I had the idea to set up a database and make it available via a web interface, and that’s how I got started; other tools followed for handling newsletters, websites feeding a web database…and so on…”
How does coding help you as a lawyer?
“I think the first and most general gift a lawyer gets out of coding skills is the improved reasoning ability. Personally, coding also gave me the chance to envision possible solutions, and the related tools, to address some shortcomings in the market of legal services in Italy. In addition, coding is empowering: in my case, it’s given me the ability to craft and maintain the web tools needed for starting my project.”
What advice would you give someone learning to code?
“Programming languages can be intimidating at first, but don’t be afraid. Start with the basics, trial and error while aiming at some practical application of the concepts you learn: chances are you’ll get hooked.”
