Welcome to the July issue of Briefing! In this edition, we explore the evolving world of risk management within the legal market, taking an in-depth look at how law firms are crafting the right defence to best protect their business from a myriad of multi-faceted threats.

For this issue’s cover story, risk and compliance leaders from Irwin Mitchell, Pinsent Masons, Freeths, Bevan Brittan, Bates Wells, and Excello Law share their unique strategies for developing effective risk registers, covering everything from structure and scoring methods to the key individuals driving these efforts forward.

We’ve also prepared a whole range of insightful and exclusive thought leadership pieces from Jeff Westcott, director of practice technology and AI innovation at Akin, Clyde & Co’s chief sustainability officer Paddy Linighan, leadership consultant Katie Best and more!

Industry views

Elsewhere, a broad canvas of other legal business perspectives and case study chronicles include:

• Foot Anstey’s head of software and data engineering shares how its initial choice to replace a decade-old case management system turned into a long-term partnership with Peppermint Technology — and how the vendor’s case and matter management system is helping the firm soar.
• Nigel Williams, product director at LexisNexis Enterprise Solutions, advises an approach to investment that results in modernising your firm for the future but with a minimum of disruption.
• Vanessa Cathie, client services advocates at Miller Insurance Services, dives into the key risks the use of generative AI (genAI) can pose to law firms.
• Paul Suffield at Attest Group highlights two particular risks that may fall off firms’ radar — and why these threats should actually be front of mind.
• Tina Harkins, product director at Litera, outlines why information governance deserves a seat at the legal strategy table.
• Anthony Rojas, cloud specialist at Iomart, explains why law firms must rethink cybersecurity and disaster recovery as a strategic priority in 2025.

MAPPING THE RISK MINEFIELD

In today’s ever-evolving legal landscape, the risk register can make or break a firm’s defence — but what does the perfect register look like? Briefing editor Andreea Dulgheru speaks to six risk and compliance experts from Irwin Mitchell, Pinsent Masons, Freeths, Bevan Brittan, Bates Wells and Excello Law to explore their firms’ approaches to building the risk register — from structure and scoring, to the key people keeping everybody on the right page

BACK THE TEAM, BET ON THE STACK

With so many options available in the legal tech vendor market, what makes the right tech tool for a firm to invest in? Jeff Wescott, director of practice technology and AI innovation at Akin, outlines the four key factors firm leaders are now considering when choosing which tech to implement.

IS AI A MAJOR THREAT TO SUSTAINABILITY

AI is promising to deliver many benefits to law firms. However, as this technology can have a harmful impact on the environment, could the extensive use of AI undo the hard work firms have done to become more sustainable? Paddy Linighan, chief sustainability officer at Clyde & Co weighs in.