Expert Analysis

• Legal Leaders Are Asking The Wrong Questions About AI

  Artificial intelligence is already woven into everyday work for attorneys, so beyond questioning whether AI was used and approving such tools, legal leaders need to create a shared foundation for what good AI use looks like on their team, says Alex Denniston at Factor.

• In-House Leaders Can Turn Contract Data Into Growth Insight

  A company's contracts contain final, negotiated commercial commitments that reveal important growth, revenue and strategy insights, but for organizations that aren’t making two key structural changes, the information tends to remain within the legal department — untranslated and unused, says Shimane Smith at NerdWallet.

• PE's Path In UK Legal Market Offers Playbook For US Firms

  The U.K. offers 14 years' worth of data on private equity's involvement in the legal market, demonstrating for U.S. firms what worked, what didn’t and why, and illustrating several lessons about operational readiness, cultural fit and timing, says Tom Lenfestey at The Law Practice Exchange.

• 8 Mistakes That Derail Law Firms' Sector Strategies

  When firms attempt to deliberately organize their expertise, client relationships, business development, and thought leadership around specific industry verticals – sometimes called industry sector programs – several missteps commonly arise, but with discipline and alignment any firm can successfully grab market share, say Heidi Gardner at Harvard Law School and David Harvey at Harvey Global Consulting.

• Making Legal Cents: A Strategic Plan For Lateral Partner Hires

  Firms of all sizes are accelerating lateral hiring of experienced partners because investing in senior expertise can pay off big — but for such an investment to work, firms need a disciplined strategy for vetting candidates, supporting their integration, and ensuring they'll generate real returns, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

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  Legal Tech Talks: Advocacy's Téo Doremus On AI Skepticism

  Téo Doremus, CEO and co-founder of Advocacy AI Inc., discusses strategies for finding the right tech tools and rolling them out, mastering artificial intelligence complexities, and the lack of consistent framework for what's acceptable when using AI in legal work.

• 5 Firm Structure Changes To Adequately Address Atty Burnout

  While wellness programs, flexible schedules and mental health resources are meaningful steps toward addressing burnout in the legal industry, a more effective approach must involve a redesign of law firm incentive structures, says retired attorney Jason Ward.

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  Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Be An Industry Expert

  Although taking the time to fully invest in a client and its industry is a big ask, it is well worth it for attorneys to understand the pressures, trends and constraints of a client's industry in order to build enduring business relationships, says Nonnie Shivers at Ogletree.

• Talking Mental Health: Fostering Cultures Where Women Excel

  Sylvie Rodrigue at Torys discusses why authenticity is essential to women's career growth, why burnout is not the result of a lack of resilience, how the legal industry can better support women's mental health needs, and how firms can address gender gaps in senior roles.

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  Legal Tech Talks: Litera's Eric Friedman On Integration

  Eric Friedman, board member and strategic adviser at Litera, discusses driving meaningful adoption and integration of new technologies, like generative artificial intelligence, across an organization's daily workflows, rather than letting them sit alongside existing systems.

• The Augmented Lawyer: Countering 4 AI Efficiency Myths

  Perceived efficiency gains from artificial intelligence can create unsustainable workload expectations for in-house legal departments, so general counsel must proactively educate executives, reframe assumptions and tie legal judgment to business outcomes, say Karineh Khachatourian at KXT Law and Catie Cambridge at Docsum.

• AI-Generated Doc Ruling Guides Attys On Privilege Risks

  A New York federal court's ruling, in U.S. v. Heppner, that documents created by a defendant using an artificial intelligence tool were not privileged, can serve as a guide to attorneys for retaining attorney-client or work-product privilege over client documents created with AI, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

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  Notes From A Partner-In-Charge On Lateral Hiring Strategy

  In regional recruiting, firms that stand out to laterals can articulate a clear vision that connects local insight with global opportunity, demonstrate a culture that is lived rather than stated, and offer genuine room for growth, says Jason Novak, leader of Norton Rose's San Francisco office.

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  Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Team Up With Marketing

  There are several ways attorneys can engage with resources already at their fingertips in the form of their in-house law firm marketing departments, which can help you gain some visibility, earn kudos and build a solid book of business, say Ada Kase and Liz Lindley at Jaffe PR.

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  Legal Tech Talks: Co-Founder Of Federate On Change, Risk

  T.J. Henry Jr., co-founder and managing partner of Federate, discusses navigating a culture that equates change with risk, and how the key to success is working with firms as they are, not as we wish them to be.