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The Shift: Don't Be an Ostrich: Understand (and Embrace) the Benefits and Risks of AI

Legalweek NY is less than two weeks away, and for legal departments Generative AI is going to be front and center in many conversations around efficiency, value and risk. If your head is still in the sand, now is the time to pull it out and learn what role Gen AI can play in your business strategy.

“Simply refusing to get involved or pretending it doesn’t exist is not a strategy for success. Embracing it wholeheartedly without examining potential pitfalls and mitigating risks is also not a strategy for success. It’s that middle ground, which is where legal teams succeed in all aspects of what they do that will likewise ensure success with the employment of AI,” says chief legal officer of Relativity Adam Weiss.

The Conversation

Talking to in-house counsel about the use of AI comes with a definite interest—specifically around how to tackle the relentless “do more with less” banging of the drum from the business. But it also comes with a raised eyebrow for good reason. It is Legal’s job to detect and mitigate business risk—and there are some significant reg flags with Gen AI.

“Legal should be excited but cautious, as every good legal team should be with everything that comes in. I won’t say suspicious. There’s the healthy skepticism that is always advisable—but to look at the facts, as we have with everything else,” Weiss says.

He goes on to say that AI is not going away and can bring significant value to the legal department and the business.

“This is transformative. It is likely to be so for the foreseeable future. There will probably be other transformative initiatives and technologies that come in the future, and legal should continue to approach each of them with enthusiasm and excitement but also due caution and care.”

There is also a significant opportunity for legal ops teams, with AI helping to bring more efficiencies to contract and litigation work—two of the largest places of legal spend for many companies.

“As legal departments rethink the way they manage risk and drive strategy heading into 2024, there will be a greater focus on using GenAI and other legal technology to address core legal work like contracting and mid-complexity commercial litigation. This work represents the lion’s share of legal spend and conventional methods of tech enablement or process standardization have not moved the needle. That all changes as GenAI can be embedded into legal operations to reshape the approach to core legal work,” According to Varun Mehta, Chief Executive Officer at Factor.

The Significance

One of the top challenges for any size legal department is how to demonstrate measurable value to the business. According to Stephanie Corey, Founder & CEO at UpLevel Ops, AI could be a significant help in that area.

“In response to technological advancements, lawyers are predicted to take on more consultative roles. Rather than dedicating extensive time to analyzing laws and regulations, lawyers will leverage Generative AI for this, freeing up time for them to become strategic advisors, enhancing their business insight and soft skills. This shift in the landscape will encourage General Counsel and Chief Legal Officers to move beyond mere management of incoming work, prompting them to develop strategic plans for their legal departments,” Corey says.

In addition, legal departments will face increasing pressure to provide a robust and data-backed view of their performance and business impact.

“Legal will rely on tech solutions to quickly measure how well they are helping the organization gain efficiency, while reducing risk and costs. Additionally, lawyers will get better at using various types of new technology to up-level the performance of the legal team, deliver a more consistent body of work to the organization, and further show the team’s impact on the growth of the business,” said Tim Parilla, Chief Legal Officer, LinkSquares

The Information

Want to know more? Here's what we've discovered in the ALM Global Newsroom:

• 'Don't Do as You're Told': 2 Legal Ops Luminaries Share How to Fix Problems Lawyers Don't Know They Have
• 'Pig Butchering' and Other Cybercrimes Preying on Human Psychology Rising Fast
• As Billing Rates Soar, Law Firm Clients Move to Spread Work Around
• Plaintiff Seeks 'No Less Than a Lump Sum' Up to $7.01B Against Google in Trial Over AI Accelerator Tech
• FTC Offering Cash Prizes for Ideas to Crack Down on Voice Cloning
• AI Chipmaker Cerebras Gets New Legal Chief
• In-House Hiring Poised for Growth in 2024 as Legal Chiefs Navigate Budget Pressures

The Forecast

In 2024, legal departments are going to really need their law firms to step up and realize that advice around tech transformation and utilization is a must have in their service delivery needs.

Legal departments will “increasingly look to partner with their law firms on digital transformation initiatives, seeking guidance to achieve their strategic objectives and increase their value to the business,” according to Bill Koch, Chief Knowledge & Innovation Officer, Womble Bond Dickinson (US). And “in addition to the good judgment and dependable guidance in legal matters that clients expect from their trusted advisors, in-house leaders will focus on tapping into the capabilities of their law firms in such areas as technological innovation, knowledge management, collaboration, and data optimization.”

Anne Post, CEO, North America at Xakia summed it up best: “Notwithstanding some skepticism, the in-house legal market understands that AI is here to stay, and that the march toward it will be relentless now until its value and adoption are proven. For those who are yet to start on their in-house legal technology journey, they interpret the message as: we are at risk of being left behind.”

In short, AI is now part of the legal world and there is no time to be an Ostrich.

Heather D. Nevitt is the Editor-in-Chief of Corporate Counsel, Corporate Counsel Advance and Global Leaders in Law. Email her at hnevit@alm.com and find her on Twitter @HeatherDNevitt