Dream destinations

As new ways of working, disruptive technologies and growing pressure to prioritise sustainability all bear down on law firms, forcing the traditional legal sector to adapt, how are firms ensuring their workplace strategy strikes the right note? For our feature story, Freeths and Clyde & Co share how their firms are navigating a sea change at work to arrive at the dream destination office space.

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Dana Denis-Smith, founder and CEO at Obelisk Support, discusses the importance of being a responsible business in an age when talent is increasingly valuing purpose over profits; and at Linklaters partner Ian Callaghan and innovation lawyer Tanya Sadoughi describe how the firm is upskilling its people with prompt engineering.

In the spotlight, Damien Behan, innovation and technology director at Brodies, discusses how firms should look to balance the trade-offs between innovation and risk to remain trusted advisors to clients in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

As we approach Briefing LIVE 2024,  our speaker David Rowlands, global head of AI at KPMG, argues that organisation must aim beyond ‘do no harm’ when unlocking AI’s potential.

Meanwhile, Ben Wightwick at Autologyx gives us a crash course in workflow automation and the organisational change it requires; and Paul Suffield at Attest Group highlights the importance business service functions in a market undergoing client demand-driven transformation.

And for our brain training feature, Dr Elizabeth Stephens, managing director of Geopolitical Risk Advisory and instructor at Aalto University Executive Education and Professional Development, outlines key global challenges businesses must face today to manage the rocky ride ahead.

Elsewhere a broad canvass of legal business perspectives and chronicles include:

iManage global search and AI product lead Alex Smith says this is the year generative AI will have to prove itself — and knowledge is central to setting firms up for success.

Principle knowledge engineer Sam Grange, also at iManage, discusses how careful curation can help firms navigate information overload in the age of large language models.

Aderant president and CEO Chris Cartrett describes how AI will bolster the backbone of law firms — the back office — to manage and enhance client experience.

Pinsent Masons director of knowledge Tim Dale, Peppermint and Microsoft explain why they are joining forces to harness AI and mine vast value from the firm’s vast database of documents.

Elite CEO Mark Dorman paints the vision of supporting firms’ journey to a tech-enabled tomorrow in the cloud, as the business embarks on a new era.

BDB Pitmans IT director Will Robertson explains how an intuitive template solution from Novaplex slashes time the firm’s lawyers spend creating and formatting documents.

Bundledocs global director of customer success Miles Osborne discusses how the e-bundling provider is working with firms to help them get the most value from their technology.

Fulcrum GT senior vice president of product and strategy Drew Blazaitis, and SAP human capital management lead Krishna Reddy, discuss how a firm’s people are a strategic asset in transformative times.

Harbour director of legal finance and sales planning Maurice MacSweeney says that with economic uncertainty potentially inhibiting growth in the year ahead, firms might need to take some calculated risks.

Thomson Reuters Institute director ESG content and advisory services Natalie Runyon outlines how AI is poised to alter the future of professionals and transform the talent model in legal services delivery.

BEYOND THE HYPE: A HUMAN-CENTRED APPROACH TO AI

Damien Behan, innovation and technology director at Brodies, discusses how firms should look to balance the trade-offs between innovation and risk to remain trusted advisers to clients.

HOW TO NAVIGATE THE NEW GEOPOLITICAL DISORDER

Dr Elizabeth Stephens, managing director of Geopolitical Risk Advisory and instructor at Aalto University Executive Education and Professional Development, who outlines key challenges businesses must face today to manage the rocky ride ahead.

DESIGNING THE FUTURE-READY LAW FIRM

Paddy Linighan and Andrew Jones at Clyde & Co, and Karl Jansen at Freeths discuss how they are reshaping the workplace with destination offices designed to attract and enable talent for the future of legal work.