In Thomson Reuters’ AI and Change Management in Legal Tech Vodcast, Catherine Roberts, Senior Director, AI and Legal Tech, Asia & Emerging Markets, Thomson Reuters explored how legal tech and professional grade genAI have become a conduit for change management.
Stephanie Abbott, Organisational Development and Legal Transformation Advisor, and Director at Pickering Pearce, and Petra Stirling, Director, Operations, Risk and Transformation, Legal at Westpac were special guests on the program.
Can AI create new value?
Since ChatGPT’s debut in late 2022, AI’s transformative potential for knowledge professions has gained traction. Over half of professionals (51%) want AI to help them minimise administrative duties (see the Future of Professionals Report – AEM Edition). This would allow for more focus on higher-value work.
“Our practice spans technology, retail, business and institutional treasury and corporate, so quite a broad range of legal use cases,” said Petra.
“Right at the other end, our institutional practice has some fantastic models that they are testing around document validation in the funding process for our customers.”
“So that creates a whole lot of different opportunities, and lets us rethink, what does legal services look like?”, she added.
Petra believes law firms can offer in-house teams new value by bringing multi-stakeholder partnerships together.
“I think there is an interesting challenge for our law firms in considering, well, what new value do we create through our partnerships with certain technology providers, and how quickly can we bring that value to market for the benefit of… that group and then and that organisations’ customers as well.” – Petra Stirling, Director, Operations, Risk and Transformation, Legal at Westpac.
“So, thinking about that ecosystem, the value creation, and who will benefit from that value, I think, is a fascinating part of being part of changing the industry, and one of the reasons why I want to work in a big in-house team to have enough levers and opportunities to hopefully contribute to significant change,” said Petra.
Driving change management in legal tech
How easy will it be to drive change in LegalTech for the typical legal department? A 2024 survey may provide some clues. Nearly two in five in-house counsel (38%) surveyed for the Tech, AI and the Law 2024 Report said they would leave their current role for a more innovative workplace.
Perhaps it is in the DNA of the in-house lawyer to turn towards innovation. Petra has been working with AI since she was a junior lawyer.
As a strong advocate for AI and tech discovery workshops, Petra encourages AI competency at Westpac. Despite two decades of experience founding teams with deep experience in eDiscovery, she still finds AI technologies “terrifically exciting.”
“Imagine my delight when AI became such a fantastic tool for legal teams and in our personal lives,” Petra added.
Digital transformation from the top
Identifying uses for genAI has become a strategic business objective for many. Business leaders have increasingly taken charge of innovation to empower teams to work more effectively.
Stephanie Abbott, Stephanie Abbott, Organisational Development and Legal Transformation Advisor, and Director at Pickering Pearce, has worked through countless iterations of tech disruptions. How leaders respond to disruptive times matter. Leadership during significant times of change can help an organisation bounce back from setbacks.
“There are people who are leading in different areas, but no one really has a handle on what the bigger picture is going to be,” said Stephanie.
Stephanie has over 20 years of experience in law and organisationsal change. Recently the Director of Knowledge, Learning & Research at Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), she has observed that “human skills” are essential to influence and implement large-scale change.
“That skill to steer people through that and reassure and give permission to try and to think and be curious is absolutely vital.”
After seeing waves of technological advances, disruption and adoption, Stephanie believes cultivating mindsets and clear communication is key. The mainstream debut of genAI almost three years ago is no different. The legal industry is steadily shifting the ways of working by including LegalTech and genAI support business processes.
“The role of leaders and leadership throughout a disorienting couple of years is to cultivate mindsets and leadership skills that are going to allow people to navigate, focus in on purpose and have that understanding of context.” – Stephanie Abbott, Organisational Development and Legal Transformation Advisor, and Director at Pickering Pearce.
How businesses operate in future must consider practice management systems focused on improving two key factors – internal and external user experience and improving customer experience. Stephanie believes a clear purpose is key to drive change and build organisational capability.
“Purpose matters, motive matters, what you decide to value, where you decide to go or not go, is so important,” said Stephanie.
Business leaders must develop a fundamental understanding of LegalTech, generative AI, and machine learning. To enhance a department’s capabilities, you need to build a tech stack that improves service delivery once implemented.
“Communicate that clearly and compellingly. You don’t have the ability or bandwidth to directly control and micromanage your employees across an organisation,” Stephanie added.
As AI transforms legal practice with the promise of a more streamlined way of working, the legal industry will need to adapt. Specialised, professional grade AI legal solutions like CoCounsel can help lawyers progress through legal tasks faster.
