very similar, they are very research based and there is a lot of scope for training and development.


“Some of the things I have learnt during my time with the firm are things that I could never have imagined when I started the job. If I had followed that structured path that I had set out for myself, then I probably wouldn’t have ended up in this sector and wouldn’t have had that oppor- tunity to expand my knowledge.”


Be inspired


That willingness to learn and develop on the job was evident right from the start, providing inspiration for Jake’s disserta- tion, which looked at the impact of Artifi- cial Intelligence on the legal information profession.


Jake Hearn.


for around six months. As soon as the taught aspect was finished and I was working on the dissertation, I went back up to five days a week.”


Jake says that having that support at the start of his career while still studying was important. He said: “They were very keen and enthusiastic and supportive of giving me that help when they made the offer of the job. That gave me a lot of hope that I was going to be able to do both my job and my degree, and was going to have the best of both worlds. That support continued through the degree and I had regular chats about my workload and how I was keeping up with the demands of the job itself. I was completely supported throughout. “UCL are also aware that a lot of the students on the MA are either in full or part-time employment and they are very accommodating in making sure that our student workload is manage- able and that we are not being caused any undue stress, anxiety or worry. They can be flexible with deadlines if there are mitigating circumstances. It was a really good experience on both sides.”


Balancing education and employment has had other benefits for Jake, who says: “During my first Master’s degree I would be fairly relaxed about deadlines. Because I was doing that full time, I gave myself a lot of leeway in terms of completing tasks.


“The switch between that and the MA at UCL while working full time meant that I had to be much more structured in my approach to studying and per- sonal timekeeping. That has definitely carried through into my professional


September 2021


role. I am now full time and do not have the MA aspect any more, but I am still very focused on deadlines and making sure I am utilising my time to its maxi- mum capacity. I look at a task and think about how I can use my time effectively – to not only complete it, but also see where I can take on other things and support colleagues. It’s important that I have a structured approach to the tasks.”


The right direction


Although Jake has recently taken up a new position with a different legal organisation he says that he has learnt a huge amount from his first job in the sector. When he first made the decision to become an information professional he wasn’t sure about which direction to take, but was interested in government services. However, he now feels that veering from that defined career path to move into the world of corporate legal information has allowed him to develop new skills and understanding.


He says: “When I started at library school I didn’t really have an idea of where I wanted to end up after my degree. I think a lot of people do have a clear path and know exactly where they want to go. But there are probably more graduates than there are jobs, so my big bit of advice would be to keep an open mind as to where you could find employment within the information profession.


“About two weeks before my interview for my last position, I had no idea that corporate law firms existed, and was not aware that this was an area of library work that I could do. It was only when I was going through a recruitment agency that the idea of law libraries was brought to my attention. They said there is this area of work that has lots of opportunities for someone who may want to get into government libraries. Law libraries are


“Technology and law was an area that I had never considered before,” he says. “My dissertation was focused on the im- pact that new technologies are having on legal information professionals. I noticed there was a gap in terms of academic and commercial literature. Most of the writing on the subject focused solely on the legal profession itself – lawyers, paralegals, partners and even professors of law, but there was very little on the role of AI on the information profession and I was interested to see why that was the case. I wanted to make a case for the profession to be involved with AI tools.”


And serendipity also plays a role in any career, providing unexpected opportunities, and for Jake that came through CILIP’s recently published Research Report written by Dr Andrew Cox, The impact of AI, machine learning, automation and robotics on the information profession (www.cilip.org.uk/researchreport). Jake explains that he had been in contact with CILIP’s Chief Development Officer Jo Cornish over social media, but when the two met face-to-face at an event “we struck up a conversation and she was aware of my interest in AI. She reached out and said this report is happening and we need contributors and I was really happy to get involved and represent the Legal informa- tion sector.”


Jake sees a role for information profes- sionals in the implementation of that AI technology, saying: “I can imagine that in the UK there will be a need for librarians, information professionals to upskill and get more involved in understanding some of the basics – such as coding. As more law firms begin to adopt AI technology – machine learning and automation – We are professionals well placed within the organisations we work to show end-users how to use these technologies and under- stand them better.


“We are there to not only provide information, but also to evaluate and scrutinise it. We want to make sure that


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