Director, Centre for Legal Technology, Ulster University

John is Director of the Centre for Legal Technology at Ulster University, a qualified Barrister and accredited Mediator. His research focuses on the governance and adoption of artificial intelligence in judicial and legal systems, online and digital dispute resolution, and the ethical and constitutional dimensions of legal technology.

Research Interests

John's research sits at the intersection of law, technology and justice. His principal areas of interest are agentic AI in judicial decision-making, AI safety, constitutional governance and algorithmic accountability, privacy-preserving AI systems and zero-knowledge proof applications in legal contexts, online dispute resolution and access to justice, and the regulatory and ethical frameworks governing legal technology in courts and public sector institutions.

Funded Research and Projects

John is Principal Investigator on an AI Security Institute and EPSRC funded study into the responsible use of agentic AI in judicial decision-making, the only legal project awarded funding under the UKRI Systemic AI Safety programme in 2024. The project has produced the Hercules proof-of-concept, a first-of-its-kind agentic AI judicial decision-support prototype, alongside original empirical evidence on judicial expectations regarding AI governance, constitutional frameworks for algorithmic adjudication, and the conditions for safe and legitimate AI assistance in courts and tribunals.

John is Co-Investigator on a research project titled Privacy-Preserving Governance and Ethical Assurance Framework for Decentralised Agentic AI in Pre-Litigation Analysis (2026), which builds directly on peer-reviewed published work on agentic AI marketplaces and zero-knowledge proof integrated ethical verification, and is generating a further programme of research and publication in this area.

John leads a high-impact collaboration between the Centre for Legal Technology, the Labour Relations Agency and TalkTerms, a Northern Ireland legal technology start-up, piloting AI-driven solutions for mass case management. The project is deploying an AI-powered case management system to address a backlog of more than 250,000 registered cases involving 30,000 anticipated claimants arising from the UK Supreme Court ruling in Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland v Agnew [2023] UKSC 33, representing one of the most substantial real-world deployments of AI-assisted dispute resolution in the United Kingdom. The collaboration has produced an interim research report currently under discussion regarding publication and dissemination.

John leads a research and innovation collaboration with Lawri AI, a Northern Ireland legal technology start-up, examining how AI and automation can improve the efficiency, accuracy and accessibility of residential property transactions, with a focus on legal data modelling, ethical AI deployment and improved user experience.

He has led the design and piloting of two Online Dispute Resolution solutions aimed at improving access to justice in small claims and consumer disputes, combining theoretical rigour with direct practical impact.

Advisory, Policy and Public Engagement Roles

John advises the judiciary and court services on the adoption of AI and legal technology, engaging with senior judges, court administrators and policy communities in Northern Ireland and England and Wales. He was appointed in 2021 by the Office of the Lord Chief Justice to the Judicial Steering Group on Digitisation in Northern Ireland. He has engaged with the Department of Justice Northern Ireland, Ministry of Justice policy communities and the Law Society of Northern Ireland on legal technology governance and AI guidance, including co-leading the Legal Practitioner Roadshow on Artificial Intelligence with the Law Society of Northern Ireland in 2025.

Teaching

John has fifteen years of teaching experience at undergraduate and postgraduate level, covering International Commercial Law, Commercial ADR, Corporate Law, Equity and Trusts, and Land Law. His contribution to legal education extends well beyond delivery, encompassing curriculum design, programme leadership and the creation of innovative pathways that integrate professional practice qualifications with academic study.

In 2018 John designed and launched the LLM in International Commercial Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution from the ground up, the first programme of its kind in the United Kingdom and Ireland to award students both a postgraduate academic qualification and a professional mediation accreditation from the Civil Mediation Council on completion. The programme has since been selected as a Halo Programme by the Ulster University Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, recognising it as a flagship example of curriculum excellence, and in 2025 began delivery at Ulster University's international partner campus in Doha, Qatar, welcoming its first cohort of students to Doha in 2026.

In 2023 John created the Professional Mediation Summer School, an innovative short programme awarding participants both a Postgraduate Certificate and a Civil Mediation Council professional mediation qualification, bringing the same integration of academic rigour and professional accreditation to a wider audience of practitioners and graduates. The Summer School typically qualifies between twelve and eighteen participants annually and has established itself as a distinctive and high-value offering within the Northern Ireland and wider legal education landscape.

John's teaching draws on practitioner involvement, industry partnerships and live dispute resolution contexts, reflecting his belief that legal education should be grounded in the realities of professional practice. This philosophy is reflected in partnerships including a teaching collaboration with DWF, one of the UK's leading legal businesses.

He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and serves as External Examiner for the undergraduate law programme at London South Bank University and for the law programme at Applied Science University Bahrain.

Policy Analysis and Public Commentary

Keers, J., McCord, J. and Buick, A., 'It's Unethical Not to Examine Judicial AI Including the Possibility of AI Decision Making' (Centre for Legal Technology Blog, Ulster University, October 2025).

Keers, J. and Buick, A., 'Assuring AI: Trust, Law and a UK Approach' (Centre for Legal Technology Blog, Ulster University, January 2026).

Keers, J., 'Agentic AI and the Law: Innovation Grounded in Ethics and Access to Justice' (Centre for Legal Technology Blog, Ulster University, July 2025).

Keers, J., 'AI behind the bricks and mortar of the Courtroom: Balancing Innovation, Ethics, and Trust' (LinkedIn, 2025).

Keers, J., 'AI Arbitrators: Could a Non-Human Decision Decide Your Case?' (LinkedIn, 2025).