Briefing Live: AI adoption in legal: a multi-faceted affair
John Sewell, Head of Account Management, and Gemma Taylor, Key Account Manager, share their take on the topics discussed at this year's Briefing LIVE conference, including invaluable insights on AI adoption in the legal sector.
Ever wondered about what dreams professionals in the legal industry set aside on their journey to the corporate office, courtroom and IT world?
During this year’s Briefing LIVE event, a simple dice-roll icebreaker at a roundtable revealed the road not taken by some of the stalwarts in our sector. Two IT leaders confessed to having forsaken their acting ambitions, while another’s aspirations as a barista went cold. One attendee’s early passion for law enforcement as a police officer led them to a career as a solicitor, while a hopeful veterinary doctor discovered that another path was needed after learning about the profession’s more serious (and perhaps less cuddly!) requirements. The session in question also sparked possibly the most controversial question of the day — how do you eat your scone, with cream first or jam?
Great conversations were had, full of interesting life insights and arguments made with passion and enthusiasm from thought leaders, professionals and industry experts of the legal sector. Throughout the day, the evolving legal landscape was brought into consideration. From the critical role of technology — particularly AI — in shaping the future of our industry, to highlighting the importance of adaptability, continuous learning, and collaboration in navigating the challenges and opportunities ahead, there was a lot to discuss.
AI adoption — key insights into legal and the wider sectors
PwC shared some interesting analysis, suggesting a dramatic shift in AI perception among business leaders. While 79% of CEOs reported minimal generative AI (genAI) impact on profitability last year, the company’s latest data shows that 36% now anticipate increased profits from genAI implementation. This optimism extends to the legal sector, where 83% of the top 10 law firms expect AI to boost profitability.
Despite this enthusiasm, PwC’s analysis emphasised that successful AI integration requires prioritising people over technology. Its “AI playbook” advocates for clean data practices, strong leadership when implementing AI, careful risk management, and thoughtful workforce and technology integration. Additionally, PwC highlighted the need for careful scaling of AI and understanding its potential impact on the workforce to ensure gainful implementation and success.
Interestingly, this aligns well with LexisNexis’s own research findings. With nearly 90% of lawyers either using or planning to use AI, firms must move quickly beyond basic experimentation. The real differentiator will not be whether firms adopt AI, but how they embed and measure it effectively.
Around 49% of respondents in our study said their firm or legal team is slow or very slow at implementing new technology, and 13% would consider leaving if their organisation didn’t adequately invest in AI — potentially because overwhelmingly, three quarters of the respondents believe that the top benefit of genAI is working faster, while 49% feel they can offer better client service, and 46% think it gives them a competitive edge. As such, firms must act now and embed AI in their work practices in a strategic and people-centric way to ensure success — otherwise they risk losing talent and being left behind.
Navigating pricing and AI adoption challenges
While these lawyer viewpoints are valid, there’s tension on a business level. Clients are demanding enhanced value at reduced costs, scrutinising the traditional hourly billing models and putting on significant pricing pressure. However, using the hourly billing model, lawyers bill identically for routine tasks and complex court arguments — after all, firms are driven by turnover.
While on a business level, firms may not have a crushing incentive to implement productivity-enhancing technologies that may reduce billable hours, lawyer and client expectations around AI implementation and reduced fees are creating competing priorities that threaten firms’ business viability.
This was a significant talking point of the day and echoed broader concerns in the market, with over a third of CEOs questioning their organisations’ long-term economic sustainability without significant reinvention.
Case management — the foundation for business and technology transformation
In this situation, the case management system (CMS) can serve as the foundation for legal practice evolution, nicely balancing organisational priorities with client expectations, while strategically planning for AI adoption. Often overlooked, the CMS is not merely an operational tool, but a comprehensive framework that enables a data-driven business. For example, by using a CMS to track matter-level profitability while automating repetitive task, firms can identify their most lucrative work. This insight can also facilitate the development of packaged offerings for repeatable work and data-driven pricing models for other work, thus better aligning with client expectations.
Alongside this, integrating AI into case management offers a path toward creating efficient workflows so that legal professionals are able to focus on high-value activities — in turn, transforming how the firm delivers legal services and value. This is because CMSs conceptualise AI, not as a separate application, but as an integrated functionality within the broader automation philosophy, creating a seamless technological environment that evolves with organisational and client needs.
The importance of true focus
The legal industry’s evolving landscape of AI implementation and pricing pressures doesn’t just demand technological solutions but also changes in the way work is conducted. Research suggests that task switching — often mischaracterised as multitasking — reduces efficiency by approximately 40%, significantly undermining the productivity gains technologies promise.
The importance of focus was powerfully illustrated by Sarah Furness, former RAF combat helicopter pilot, in the closing keynote of Briefing LIVE. Furness recounted a helicopter incident where she hit power cables that badly damaged the aircraft. Her panicked state nearly led to disaster until her co-pilot’s clear directive to “fly the aircraft” refocused her attention on the single most important task at that moment in time — flying the aircraft! This experience parallels the legal profession’s challenge, as lawyers and firms must simultaneously manage value-based pricing pressures, client demands for efficiency-driving technologies alongside top-notch service and business profitability and viability.
The path forward, therefore, requires proper focus — i.e. tackling critical priorities first rather than spreading attention across multiple activities, objectives and initiatives. Firms are better off sequencing priorities and maintaining focused attention on the most important aspects of service delivery to provide value to all stakeholders — clients, legal professionals, and the business. This will help optimise the effectiveness of both human capital and technological investments.
