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P E E R T O P E E R M A G A Z I N E · W I N T E R 2 0 2 5 35 L aw firms and corporate legal departments are rushing to adopt AI at a remarkable speed. But whether in a global law firm or a corporate law department, the same challenge arises: AI maturity is impossible without a foundation of information discipline. As agentic AI systems proliferate across legal workflows, the enthusiasm is understandable: efficiency gains, competitive pressure, and client expectations are all pushing firms to modernize quickly. McKinsey's analysis of over 50 agentic AI implementations reveals that companies are rapidly deploying AI agents across everything from document review to contract analysis. But beneath the excitement lies a troubling reality. Gartner predicts that by 2027, three out of four AI platforms will include built-in tools for responsible AI and strong oversight—yet companies that lead in ethics, governance, and compliance will gain a significant competitive edge precisely because so few are prepared. Only four percent of law firms report full compliance with their own Information Governance (IG) policies, according to Mattern Associates' 2024 Information Governance Survey. That gap reveals a structural vulnerability that threatens to undermine every technology initiative firms are pursuing. The truth is, technology cannot fix what governance has left undone. And as firms accelerate their digital transformation, many are discovering that their biggest obstacle lies within the chaos of their own data. THE POLICY-PRACTICE DIVIDE Most law firms have IG policies. What they do not have is meaningful compliance in practice. Years of growth, mergers, and competing priorities have created a patchwork of systems, repositories, and behaviors that policies alone cannot reconcile. Corporate legal departments face similar strains. Years of decentralization, shadow IT, and matter-driven work patterns create fragmented repositories and inconsistent ownership models that mirror what law firms experience. The symptoms are familiar: documents scattered across drives and email. Retention schedules that exist on paper but are not enforced. Legacy records are accumulating with no clear ownership. And a persistent "save everything forever" mentality that makes risk exposure inevitable. The consequences are real. Firms face subpoenas for matters that closed decades ago—storage costs balloon. Client audits become scrambles. And when firms attempt to deploy AI tools on ungoverned data, they risk amplifying inaccuracy and exposure rather than reducing it. THE EXPANDING REGULATORY LANDSCAPE The urgency of governance has intensified with the proliferation of privacy and AI regulations. As of 2025, 19 states have enacted comprehensive privacy laws, creating compliance obligations that flow directly into law firm

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