Powered by
MOMENTUM
MEDIA
With much of the legal profession Down Under moving from experimental use of AI to having it be more foundationally embedded, there are numerous trends now on the horizon, says Harvey’s Australian country head.
In a recent episode of LawTech Talks, Harvey country manager and head of GTM in ANZ, Ashleigh Whittaker, spoke about presenting a “fantastic opportunity” to deliver legal services in exciting and innovative ways, as the use of artificial intelligence increasingly becomes foundational for lawyers’ daily operations and processes.
When asked what predictions she has for lawyers’ use of AI in the new financial year, and how attitudes and approaches will continue to evolve, she pointed to three “key shifts” she anticipates.
Firstly, Whittaker said, we’ll start seeing key work streams being picked up by AI to “run the first pass”. Instead of task-based work, she said, AI will increasingly conduct the full work stream, with the lawyer orchestrating and steering that work, then reviewing the output before it is finalised.
Secondly, she went on, “we’ll start seeing teams of agents”. Harvey expects that, by the end of this year, every lawyer using the platform will be working with teams of agents on whatever work they do. This, she said, is a “fundamental shift from what we’ve seen historically”.
And the third shift that Whittaker predicted is that new ways of collaborating will open up for external providers and in-house teams. “We’re seeing a shift from sending instructions or key, sensitive documents via email; now, [teams and their providers are] working through a shared space, or a matter and project-aware space, that enables everybody to have transparency over what you’re doing, but also surface the relevant insights in real time,” she said.
Looking ahead to FY2026–27, “I think it’s a great time to be a lawyer,” Whittaker said.
The profession is moving away from thinking about how AI can make a lawyer’s work more efficient and more towards how to make the job more engaging, and allow them “to get to that deeper work faster”, she said, adding that the emerging capabilities to both surface what one is doing and identify ways to go deeper are incredibly important.
What excites her most about this, she continued, is the new types of work that lawyers will be able to deliver to clients across the spectrum. “Lawyers have this fantastic opportunity to be delivering legal services in a way that [is different from] what we did historically. Rather than just sending out an email of advice, we can actually actively collaborate with agents in real time,” she said.
“This shift to the ways that we operate is really exciting, because it’s a new way of doing business, which is always an exciting place to be in.”
The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Ashleigh Whittaker, click below:
Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of professional services (including Lawyers Weekly, HR Leader, Accountants Daily, and Accounting Times). He is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in New South Wales, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
You can email Jerome at:
