He left school at 16 and made millions revolutionising courtroom technology — here’s Graham Smith-Bernal’s advice for entrepreneurs

British inventor Graham Smith-Bernal revolutionised the global legal industry by pioneering live courtroom stenography technology.

Smith-Bernal left school at 16 and became a court stenographer by 18. Seeing the possibilities of technology in the antiquated field, he created software that provided live court transcripts and deposition videos in digital formats. The breakthrough set the standard for legal technology in the 1990s, first in the UK and then abroad.

His success led Thomson Reuters to buy his LiveNote technology in 2007 for more than £75 million. He has gone on to lead other ventures.

Here, Smith-Bernal discusses his “Aha moment” in building his business and offers advice for entrepreneurs today.

Join the conversation about this story »

Read More