Ulster University has launched a new research and educational collaboration with StructureFlow, the platform for mapping, modelling and managing complex legal structures. Led through Ulster University’s Centre for Legal Technology, the collaboration is focused on research, teaching and skills development rather than commercial sponsorship activity. The partnership will embed StructureFlow into teaching, research and applied legal innovation activity, helping students develop the practical technology proficiency and structural intelligence needed to navigate the rising complexity of practicing law.
The research-led partnership forms part of Ulster University’s wider drive to rethink legal education for the age of AI, ensuring students are prepared to enter the legal profession and help shape its future.
AI-enabled legal technology platforms are already transforming how lawyers conduct research, review documents and generate legal analysis. However, as the scale and complexity of the legal, business and regulatory environment grows, students and practitioners also need new ways to organise, interpret and present that information in a form that can be trusted and acted upon.
Through the collaboration, students will explore how visual modelling tools can support the interpretation and communication of complex legal, regulatory and organisational information. In practice, this means breaking down legislation, mapping legal relationships, presenting complex arguments and understanding how changes in one part of a structure affects the wider picture.
Dr John McCord, Senior Lecturer and Research Lead for the Centre for Legal Technology, said: “StructureFlow gives students a powerful way to cut through complex and often fragmented information, analyse their legal arguments, and present them in a way that can be understood, challenged and verified.
“That matters because law is built on trust, and trust depends on being able to provide clear advice, while showing how conclusions have been reached. This partnership will help our students build the practical proficiency and confidence they need for the future of legal work.”
Professor Liam Maguire, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research at Ulster University, said: “Partnerships between higher education and industry are increasingly important in helping universities respond to the pace of technological change across professional sectors. By working collaboratively with innovative organisations, we can ensure our research, teaching and student experience remain closely connected to emerging challenges and opportunities. Initiatives such as this support the development of future talent while also helping drive responsible innovation across the wider legal and technology ecosystem.”
Through the partnership, the Centre for Legal Technology will explore how StructureFlow can support students across legal education, including advocacy, presentations, legal clinic work and industry-linked projects. The Centre also intends to evaluate how students use the platform, including its impact on efficiency, understanding, communication and the development of professional skills.
Tim Follett, CEO and Founder of StructureFlow, said: “The Centre for Legal Technology at Ulster University is taking exactly the kind of forward-looking approach legal education needs. As legal, business and regulatory environments become more interconnected, the challenge for future lawyers is not simply more information, but compounding complexity: understanding how different obligations, structures, relationships and risks interact.”
He added: “AI platforms are becoming incredibly powerful, but their outputs still need to be interpreted, tested, structured and explained. StructureFlow helps students and practitioners move from information to understanding by making complex legal and structural relationships visible. We are excited to work with Ulster University to help prepare the next generation of lawyers for a profession where legal knowledge, technological fluency and visual reasoning will all be essential.”
The research-led approach is central to the Centre for Legal Technology’s wider mission. The University aims to help create a new generation of savvy professionals who can act as ambassadors for responsible legal technology adoption inside law firms, in-house legal teams, public bodies and other organisations.