Preparing for the transformational impact of Generative AI on the legal ecosystem
Legal Innovation Forum speakers on mitigating risks and seizing new opportunities for collaboration in the era of Gen AI
By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB Insights
As generative artificial intelligence disrupts business models around the world, professionals from across the legal ecosystem are cautiously preparing for the potential opportunities that it brings - not only in regard to efficiency, but also in terms of acting as a catalyst for collaboration.
Experts at the recent Legal Innovation Forum in Toronto discussed the paradigm shift they are anticipating and offered advice on optimizing Gen AI tools, without creating unnecessary risk for the business.
In a panel discussion focused on the use of Gen AI and its impact on the legal industry, our speakers agreed that education is key to ensuring a smooth integration of AI tools into the workplace.
“There’s a huge need for education around the firm, and you need to have champions within your firm to be able to promote those concepts and field questions because there are varying levels of understanding”
said Alan Votary, head of product at LexisNexis Canada. Votary’s team offers thought-leadership and training in this space to clients.
Tania Djerrahian, Senior Director, Innovation + Knowledge Management, Davies.
Alan Votary, Head of Product, LexisNexis
It is also essential to consider the framework within which you are working, according to Tania Djerrahian, senior director, innovation and knowledge management at Davies. This includes examining the availability of the IT department, the privacy framework of the firm or organization, and any data residency restrictions that may apply.
“We put a lot of work not just into looking at the right tools to solve the problems, but also looking at whether or not these tools fit into our framework. Do they fit into our data security and privacy framework?”
From an in-house counsel perspective, Sacha Fraser, general counsel at IBM noted the importance of understanding the credibility of your vendors, and also ensuring a clear governance policy is in place. Not only is IBM a supplier in the AI space, but Fraser’s legal department also makes use of these tools.
“Turn your privacy impact assessment into an AI impact assessment.You probably want some sort of governance at the top levels of your company so you can test new use cases and think about how you want to involve your board and other stakeholders in setting policy around AI.”
Sacha Fraser, General Counsel, IBM
Lawyers navigate many ethical traps with regard to data and data privacy, so it is important to understand how vendors will use company data before sharing with them.
“Is a Large Language Model grabbing on to your data and potentially using it and developing it, or is it going to use that data and then wipe it from its servers?” asked John Rizner, head of AI legal drafting at Filevine.
“These are important questions to think about when deciding what data you’re providing to an LLM, how you’re providing it, and what type of LLM or technology provider you’re working with.”
John Rizner, Head of AI Legal Drafting, Filevine
Kyle Turner, attorney and legal technologist at iManage - and panel chair - noted that
“data is the central driver to a good generative AI output.”
Kyle Turner, Attorney + Legal Technologist, iManage
According to Votary, many firms lack a clear grasp on what data they have, so the vendor must have a clear understanding of the source and value of the data before directing it to a Gen AI tool.
“You can’t just point a model at a particular set of data. There’s almost a housekeeping exercise that has to go on,” Votary said.
The regulatory framework in Canada surrounding Gen AI use is slowly evolving, with each law society taking a slightly different approach. The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act is also going through a clause-by-clause review.
Collaboration is key to building a strong framework, according to Lisa Chamandy, chief knowledge and information officer at BLG.
“We’re going to have to keep the conversation going among all the relevant parties,” said Chamandy. “In our context, it’s the clients, the vendors, the people in operations and people on the front line in the practices. It’s really a time for collaboration to develop a framework together. We can’t just rely on a law society,” she added.
Lisa Chamandy, Chief Knowledge + Information Officer, BLG
The speakers discussed strategies for helping clients with the AI integration process and making them feel comfortable with regard to risk concerns. Having conversations to understand emotional drivers and nuances behind the needs and concerns of the client is recommended.
“We’re consulting on the legal framework and what tools we’re using, and explaining to our clients what framework they have to operate within to use those tools,” said Djerrahian.
Rizner noted that it is important to discuss with clients which AI tools will work best for a specific problem and which problems are better solved by a human - or a combination of the two. Experimenting with the tools in a safe way can be helpful to determine which are most useful, he said.
Chamandy added that every organization should implement a responsible use policy and an education program to ensure that AI experimentation is conducted safely.
“It’s about so much more than productivity,” said Fraser. “You have to think about the halo effect of using AI. There’s a real benefit with some Gen AI products around risk management, governance and knowledge management.”
The panelists agreed that educating clients is key to helping them understand how to reap the potential benefits of Gen AI. For example, clients should be aware that results may not immediately be perfect, so a little trial and error may be needed at first, Djerrahian said.
“It’s about teaching them that in order to save time in the long run and have more time to do the things that you really enjoy doing - which is reasoning and advising - then you just need to invest a bit of time now, and it’s going to save you time in the long run,” said Djerrahian.
Passing information between clients and internal groups to help share best practices is helpful to all parties, Rizner added.
In fact, generative AI may be a catalyst for deeper communication within the legal industry.
“This isn’t an era where we’re really competitive with each other,” said Fraser. “We should be creating communities of practice and sharing, and that includes the triangle of the legal department, the law firm, and the legal tech supplier. We should learn together.” Working together to find a community can also help to bridge the divide between junior, intermediate and senior employees, Fraser said.
Votary added: It’s important for us to hear from our customers and to understand their clients’ needs, and to be able to build on that, so it really is an exciting time.”
