Sir Ray Avery will deliver the opening keynote speech on "Innovation in a Disruptive World" at the 2018 legal innovation and technology event LawFest.

Sir Ray is a pharmaceutical scientist, innovator, author and social entrepreneur.

"Sir Ray will share his considerable knowledge and priceless advice on how to build a creative, game-changing business culture, including personal and corporate innovation skills, and how to build unassailable winning teams," LawFest founder Andrew King says.

He says the 2018 event, to be held in Auckland on Thursday 8 March 2018, is not just for lawyers, as it is designed for all legal professionals with an interest in innovation and technology.

"The one-day conference provides a platform to learn about how to innovate and adopt technology into your practice. There will be the opportunity to learn, connect with innovators in the legal industry, establish relationships, and discover technology that matters to you and your organisation," Mr King says.

Sir Ray Avery is one of over 20 speakers. The MC for the day will be Australian law firm CEO Warrick McLean from Coleman Grieg.

Among the other speakers, Mr King says, Uber will share their disruption story, and Mai Chen will explore disrupting the law and what she is doing with MyAdvice.Legal.

"MinterEllisonRuddWatts share their innovation journey with the AI joint venture with McCarthy Finch. Russell McVeagh's Craig Columbus tackles cyber security and how to better protect your staff and your organisations sensitive information," Andrew King says.

Alongside the speakers will be four practical workshops, which are designed to provide an opportunity to discuss topics of interest. These will include workshops on In-house Innovation, People process and technology, Is Disruptive Legal Practice the New Normal? and Technology for Law, ADR and practice.

Over 200 delegates are expected to attend the event, which will also include a new "innovation zone" to provide an opportunity for New Zealand tech start-ups to showcase their products. These start-ups will join 30 other tech providers involved and exhibiting at the event.

Further details of the LawFest programme are available at www.lawfest.nz.