Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the legal profession – but two experts warn that many are struggling to keep pace, risking being left behind in the accelerating digital race.
Speaking on a recent episode of LawTech Talks, CJ Saretto, Axiom’s chief technology officer, and Heather Paterson, Legora’s go-to market in APJ, discussed the widening gap in AI adoption between law firms and in-house legal teams.
While law firms have been quick to experiment with and invest in AI tools, Saretto emphasised that in-house teams are “less armed” to implement the change at the same pace.
Through his close work with legal teams navigating this technological shift, Saretto explained that the gap largely comes down to the limited resources and support in-house teams have compared with law firms.
“You think about the typical size of an in-house team and the support they’ve got from their IT colleagues versus the size of most large law firms and the very large IT teams focused only on the legal department, if you will. It’s a big difference,” Saretto said.
It’s not the first time in-house teams have been caught on the back foot with technological change, as Saretto pointed to the arrival of legal research tools decades ago that transformed how legal work was conducted.
“Just think back to the legal research wave, right? All the law firms picked up Lexis and or TR long before the in-house teams were adopting those products,” Saretto said.
“There’s some maybe natural evolution that happens as folks find their way from firms into in-house departments, and there’s some natural knowledge transfer, but that just, that sort of takes too long for, for this wave that we’re in the middle of.”
Unlike past technological shifts, Saretto explained, the rapid pace of AI development and its visibility across the legal profession have left everyone clamouring to figure out how to adopt AI into their work.
So how should in-house teams respond to avoid falling behind the rest of the legal profession?
Saretto stressed that the answer is surprisingly simple: start by talking with those around you and learning from your peers about what is working for them and how they are personally approaching AI adoption.
“One way for lawyers to figure it out is to just go talk to their peers, especially their peers at firms or at companies,” Saretto said.
“I always suggest picking tools that your friends like. I do that in my personal life. I need a recommendation for a new product. Who am I going to call? My buddies and just ask them, Hey, what are you using? Tell me about it. Let me learn from you.”
But adopting a tool is only the first step. Saretto emphasised that real transformation comes when in-house teams focus on integrating AI into everyday workflows.
“Once you’ve made the decision, you’ve got to establish community practice within your company, within your group,” Saretto said.
“You [have to] just keep trying to apply every day because one day, this aha moment will just hit you like an anvil, like from the sky in a cartoon. At that point, you’re going to be hooked; it’s hard to know when that moment’s going to be.”
However, the path from exploration to adoption is far from straightforward. Paterson noted that the sheer number of AI providers competing for attention makes it challenging for both in-house teams and law firms to identify the right solution.
“The AI hype is high, and what we experience and what we observe in the market is that it’s so difficult for whether it’s in-house or law firms to evaluate the AI jungle of providers that exist out there. There are so many,” Paterson said.
Paterson stressed that even when an in-house team decides it is ready to invest, choosing the right tool is far from straightforward due to the constantly shifting AI landscape and weekly changes in functionality.
“You’ve gone through that journey, you’ve made a commitment, this is what we’re going to do. But which one are we picking?” Paterson said.
“Future functionality is changing weekly. This is not something you can go right. Here’s my typical software buying, purchasing cycle goes. These are our requirements. These are the nice-to-haves, these are the must-haves that are changing weekly because the models are bringing out new capabilities.”
For Paterson, the key is to focus less on the flashy features of the technology and more on how it can be practically implemented to improve workflows and transform the way you work.
“Our advice is always not just to look at the technology, but to look at how you’re going to bring it to life in your firm. That’s like the bridge you have to cross with that moment that goes, oh, gosh, this is something that’s really going to change how I’m going to work. I can see the value,” Paterson said.
