Peer to Peer: ILTA's Quarterly Magazine
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/1538025
24 must shape how we evaluate AI tools, vendors, and their product roadmaps now, not later. Sarah Pullin explains: "Our decisions regarding AI at Baker McKenzie are grounded in a firmwide vision that integrates our client needs and our content, data, and expertise strategies. This vision is operationalized through various initiatives, including collaborating with trusted third parties. We continuously assess shifts in the views of our clients and the legal and business landscape, asking a fundamental question: how will this drive measurable value? That lens informs our approach to content and data quality, governance, and risk transparency, ensuring that our data and business systems are optimized for compliance and efficiency and primed for AI enablement. We define success through tangible outcomes and ultimately our ability to deliver high-quality, insight- driven services to our clients." Clearly, all three firms represented by the co-authors of this article employ well- defined frameworks and governance models supported by mature, forward-looking strategies that allow for rapid but responsible technological change. This structured, deliberate approach ensures they can adopt technologies that deliver real, tangible value to legal workflows. At the same time, the human dimension remains central. Cross-firm communication, interdisciplinary task forces, and dedicated committees are vital to ensure that issues like ethics, sustainability, strategic alignment, and competitiveness are appropriately weighed. At K&L Gates, Carolyn Austin has led several initiatives to establish strong collaborative networks across the firm. From formal committees and small working groups - focusing on specific GenAI use cases, reviewing challenges and feedback - to PUG (Power User Group) teams where the next generation of lawyers are encouraged to engage. Carolyn says, "Because of the great interest in GenAI right now, we have a rich opportunity to engage our community of legal professionals, including senior partners, new associates, and allied professionals, in practice innovation. Involving task forces with intentionally diverse roles, multiple skill sets, and complementary expertise tends to surface fascinating insights. We're interested in seeing if new roles develop out of this creative collaboration. As a global firm, getting a broad, international view from across the firm is important for us, and we believe this will help us keep our AI initiatives grounded, human-centered, and responsive to our clients."