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An award-winning boutique firm manager has outlined the dangers of young lawyers falling into the trap of relying on technology.
In an increasingly complex legal landscape, decision making is a skill that requires time, experience, and effective supervision.
Talking to Jerome Doraisamy on The Lawyers Weekly Show, Elit Lawyers managing partner Danielle Snell explored how junior lawyers can develop confidence in their judgement, recognise genuine urgency, and avoid overthinking difficult decisions.
A winner of Managing Partner of the Year in 2023 and leading Elit Lawyers to win Boutique Firm of the Year in 2022, Snell has a passion for empowering lawyers who are very new to the profession.
As AI evolves, Snell highlighted the importance of preserving practice learning opportunities that help young lawyers build the expertise required to be successful lawyers.
While AI undoubtedly improves efficiency, Snell warned that an overreliance on the technology can risk undermining independent judgement.
From trying to balance competing pressures to maintaining essential legal skills, experienced practitioners have an important role in preparing the next generation of lawyers.
Recognising urgency and making confident decisions
Snell noted that developing adequate legal judgement means knowing when to gather more information and when to trust your assessment and make a decision.
“The skill isn’t just finding more information, it’s knowing when you have enough to make a good decision and being confident enough to back your own judgement,” Snell said.
“That means recognising what kind of decision you’re actually dealing with.
“A junior lawyer should really stop and think why? Why 3pm? Is there a court deadline? Is there a commercial consequence? Does waiting change our client’s position? Does the other side simply want an answer by then?”
“The partner who makes a decision in 30 seconds may have spent like 15, 20, 25, 30 years developing the judgement behind that 30-second decision. So fast judgement is actually built slowly.”
Beyond managing external pressure, Snell encouraged junior lawyers to distinguish ambiguity from the discomfort that comes with making difficult decisions.
“Sometimes the urgency is real, but sometimes it isn’t; so I think as a junior lawyer, my biggest tip to junior lawyers would be to think about whether or not the level of urgency is actually real.
“Am I uncertain about the decision, or am I uncomfortable with the consequences? They’re two very different things,” she said.
Importance of preserving practical legal skills
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into legal practice, Snell acknowledged that lawyers must comprehend how to use the technology effectively without losing critical thinking and independent judgement.
“I think AI makes good judgement even more important rather than less important. The decision is no longer simply should I use AI, but it’s which part of the problem could I assist with? What do I still need to work through myself?” Snell said.
“The real opportunities to use AI [are] to test and improve your judgement rather than outsource your judgement and ask AI to make the decision for you.
“Researching the issue, writing the first draft, getting something wrong, having a partner pull it apart, and realising that the fact that you thought was critical wasn’t, actually wasn’t. Those tasks are actually how you learn.”
Snell recognised that this can create a broader challenge for law firms, ensuring that the efficiency of AI does not come at the expense of the practical training junior lawyers need to develop their skills.
“The question for me here isn’t whether or not we should let AI produce a better first draft; it’s of course that we should use technology where it can genuinely improve the work,” she said.
“But the harder question is, if AI makes the juniors work better, is it also making the juniors better?”
