At Optimal Solicitors, we’ve always strived for excellence in everything from internal processes to client experiences. Our founding members have also been strong believers and active investors in technology since way before the AI boom.
By being ahead of the curve and embracing new technologies early, Optimal has had the foresight to lift historic barriers faced by the sector – barriers that suppress the rich human interactions and strong communications that form the cornerstone of law.
In this article, you’ll hear directly from our IT team leader on what Optimal Solicitors’ digital transformation journey looks like. He also explores why we’re at the forefront of the sector when it comes to technology, and how he finds the balance between respecting traditional ways of working and deploying transformative solutions.
Introducing Wojciech Iwo Duda, Information Technology Team Lead at Optimal
Driving our initiatives forward, solving sector-wide problems, and leading our IT team is Wojciech. He joined us fresh from his degree in Computer Science (specialising in Systems Architecture), keen to help shape a business from the ground up. And that’s exactly what he’s done over the last 10 years!
Within just a month of joining Optimal in 2015, he deployed his first major end-to-end automated process, and since then we’ve grown exponentially in both size and approach. His rich technological skill set and innovative vision, combined with our leadership’s ambitious tech-first mindset, has contributed hugely to our evolution.
Wojciech fulfils a multi-faceted role of product ownership, research and development, and system architecture. Outside of work, he gravitates toward interests that follow a similar pattern: design a system, implement it, and review the results – from cooking to MMA training. He’s extremely data-driven and unique in the way he engages with both his personal endeavours and Optimal business developments.
We sat down with him for a Q&A to unpack this further…
How do you work with the leadership at Optimal to drive digital transformation?
Since I joined Optimal in 2015, when we had around 15 employees, we have grown exponentially. Technology has been at the forefront of this growth the entire way, and I really respect the ownership I’ve been given to address problems and create solutions.
I’ve had the privilege to design, build, and maintain systems that have scaled with the business, forming the digital backbone that supports every department.
My career here has been one of constant learning – from hands-on development to strategic planning – and it’s the collaborative culture within Optimal that has allowed me to grow alongside the firm itself.
The founding members of the business are tech-minded, so that really helps – and it gives me more freedom to explore what is possible. We have:
- Pawel (Founder), who is very high-level and ambitious when it comes to what he believes can be achieved. He often brings up the latest tech and tools, which really gets the wheels spinning.
- Edyta (Head of Marketing), who identifies edge case scenarios and potential problem areas when discussing ideas. That helps me flesh out the designs.
- Chris (Director), who is very meticulous and detail-oriented. His focus is case management and he quite often comes up with detailed workflows, which we then dress up in system components.
They’ve always invested in and supported technology advancement – tackling problems that are faced by legal practices with a tech-first mindset.
What is your opinion on embracing AI in the business and what are the challenges?
AI is not just a trend on the horizon for us – it’s already a key pillar of our roadmap and an integral part of how we operate today. We’ve seen firsthand how it can streamline workflows, unlock new capabilities, and elevate the quality of our output. The opportunities it presents are immense, and many have already moved from theory to practice within our processes.
I’ve learned that technological change is as much about people as it is about systems. That empathy has shaped how I now approach AI integration and team development.
Two years ago, it was highly underdeveloped, and it’s still far from perfect – so there is a lack of trust that we have to overcome. But from our perspective, the potential far outweighs the drawbacks – provided we embrace it thoughtfully and responsibly.
From a software development perspective, AI has taken away a lot of the clicking and typing, and demanded us to work at a more complex level with more critical thinking. AI can take on a lot of the manual tasks and minutiae, leaving developers like us to put more complex thought into the problems we’re solving and the behaviours we want to build. This is what I’m currently drilling into our junior developers.
When it comes to achieving buy-in from the wider team, we essentially need to think of ourselves as the HR department for AI. It requires professional, human conversations and a deep understanding of the ethics involved and the psychology of those who will use it.
While the leadership can see a clear business case for certain things, it’s important for us to take the feelings and emotions of the team into account. By properly considering pushbacks and working with everyone to address them, we can move forward with AI in the right way. Leading a team has taught me that success isn’t just about implementing the right tools — it’s about nurturing the people who use them. I put a lot of heart into training and developing my team, encouraging curiosity and confidence. It’s incredibly rewarding to watch them grow, take ownership of their projects, and see how their skills and ideas contribute to the bigger picture.
Tell us about some new technologies that you have driven within Optimal…
For new business enquiries, we’ve made great progress in recording data and simplifying data access. We’ve streamlined our process of client acquisitions in ways that are well ahead of the sector, allowing our first response team to manage prospects through advanced visibility and automation.
This became one of the most formative experiences of my career. What began as a simple request to build a data-entry tool quickly evolved into a fully integrated system that connected directly with our lead sources and transformed how new enquiries were handled. It laid the foundation for the systems that now power much of our daily work.
Optimal is also a very mindful practice, especially when it comes to the environment. As soon as I joined it was clear that one of Pawel’s main objectives was to go paperless, and this has been a large part of our digital transformation. We introduced barcodes on documents for instant digital processing and electronic signatures for client documents. This helped minimise large stacks of documents that would take hours to rifle through, while massively reducing the time it takes to retrieve documents from clients – removing all the manual steps of retrieval, identification, sorting, and scanning.
We were early adopters of the e-signature and have done so in a way that is more seamless than others within the legal sector. We integrated it within our practice management system to require minimal input from our case handlers – saving huge amounts of time and paper, reducing the room for human error, and increasing our client response rate.
Why is it important to interact with individual colleagues about potential technology solutions, and how do you manage this?
Legal practices are inherently traditional. Old ways of working are buried deep, so it can be difficult to introduce new solutions to this environment. This is why, whenever I bring new proposals to employees and colleagues, I always come loaded with research and data-driven justifications. I’m very scrupulous by nature anyway, but I also understand that if you’re suggesting that someone change an element of their day-to-day process, you need to come with more than just opinions.
This has been a constant learning process for me. One of the key lessons I’ve taken from my time at Optimal is to treat these conversations as an exchange of ideas. I’ve learnt not to take pushbacks personally, always see things from their perspective, and treat oppositions as useful intel into whether a solution has the potential for positive uptake or not.
Digital transformation is a balance – one that I see as triple-faceted. On one hand, there is the technical vision of whether a new system will work. Then there is the human aspect, about whether potential users will align with it. Finally there is the business case, considering what is best for the company and what is most efficient. Our job is to balance all three, prioritising people and having human conversations at every single stage.
What is coming in the future?
One of Optimal’s core values is ‘objectivity’, and we’re currently in the process of deploying a solution that helps build a management culture into the business. This is something we’ve been working on since I first joined back in 2015. I believe that, to grow effectively, we need to think like a big business – making data-driven, standardised decisions that pave the way for continued expansion.
Looking back, what I value most about my time at Optimal is the trust and continuity that have defined my journey. Seeing both the firm and my colleagues grow has been incredibly fulfilling, and I’m proud to have played a part in that shared success.
Another focus of our roadmap is refining our case management processes to help case handlers work more proactively, reducing backlogs and giving them the tools to plan ahead.
Ultimately, I’m excited by the next wave of technological transformation – especially with the rapid rise of AI-driven solutions. It’s an incredible time to be a systems designer, full of opportunity, but it also requires maturity and ethical consideration. The challenge lies not only in adopting these new tools, but in using them responsibly to empower people and create sustainable business value.
Looking forward with Optimal Solicitors
Wojciech and his team have been instrumental in driving Optimal’s growth and digital transformation. By taking a tech-first approach and applying this to age-old problems in the legal sector, we have evolved into a highly agile business that is ahead of the curve and ready to enhance experiences for both our colleagues and clients.
Thank you to Wojciech for sharing his insights and experiences. His journey is a powerful reminder that when used with thought and purpose, technology has the power to bring people closer together. We look forward to continuing this journey of innovation with you by our side.
Follow us on LinkedIn to see what our IT and wider Optimal team get up to, like the time our junior developer stepped outside of their day-to-day to upgrade their machinery!
Wojciech Iwo Duda
IT & Digital Transformation Leader | Optimal Solicitors
Wojciech Iwo Duda is the driving force behind Optimal Solicitors’ digital evolution. As IT and Digital Transformation Lead, he has spent the past decade designing and refining the systems that make our firm one of the most forward-thinking in the UK legal sector.
He joined Optimal in 2015, shortly after graduating with a degree in Computer Science and a specialisation in Systems Architecture. Within his first month, he developed and launched our first fully automated process, setting the tone for years of innovation to come. Since then, Wojciech has led with vision, precision and creativity, overseeing everything from system architecture and product development to automation, research and AI integration.
Beyond his technical expertise, Wojciech is a natural leader and mentor. He invests deeply in training and developing his IT team, fostering a culture of curiosity, collaboration and continuous improvement. His leadership style combines high standards with genuine care, encouraging his colleagues to think boldly, challenge assumptions and deliver impactful solutions that support every department across the firm.
Outside the office, Wojciech brings the same energy and focus to his personal passions. He loves cooking and experimenting with flavours, often spending hours perfecting a dish. A keen motorcyclist, he believes every ride should have a destination, even if it means travelling 100 miles for a great meal. He’s also a devoted dog owner and a committed athlete who enjoys MMA training and endurance events like Europe’s Toughest Mudder. In quieter moments, he works on a book that explores the connection between science, philosophy and creativity, reflecting the same curiosity that drives his professional life.
Reliable, dedicated and deeply trusted within the firm, Wojciech embodies the spirit of Optimal Solicitors: forward-thinking, human-centred and always striving for excellence.
