On 25 October, around 30 senior IT, knowledge and law firm leaders met at the London office of DAC Beachcroft to discuss their views and approaches to generative AI technology. Organised and chaired by Legal IT Insider’s editor Caroline Hill and DAC Beachcroft’s IT director David Aird, the ambition for the meeting was to share ideas and create some joined up industry thinking around these technological advances, at a time when law firms are facing unprecedented challenges in how they adopt the technology; the way they charge clients; and the way they train future staff and lawyers.
2023 has seemed to be a vendor’s paradise, with multiple announcements around new generative AI products, long waiting lists, and, arguably, a lack of transparency around which firms are selected for beta projects.
Law firms have in some instances been quick to publicly discuss the work they are doing with generative AI vendors, but where the public perception outweighs the reality, this drives the hype cycle further.
The meeting aimed to dispel a few myths and achieve some clarity, as well as set the stage for further discussion and, possibly, standardisation around the way law firms are interacting with generative AI technology.
Take a look at the key findings and also some important calls to action for the industry.