Recently, I’ve been tasked with two major projects at work. In fact, I’m currently so immersed in them both that they have become passion projects in their own right. The first is implementing M42’s “Legal Digital Transformation” process, and the second is launching our organization’s first in-house training contract. When I first took these tasks on, they presented as separate initiatives. But the more I delve into each, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the success of one is intrinsically linked to the success of the other.
There is a real synergy here – both in the digital transformation of my legal team and in training the next generation of in-house lawyers. With the implementation of legal technology for my team, I am committed to creating lasting and tangible change. When I think about the outcome of what successful tech adoption looks like for the M42 legal team, my vision isn’t just of a more efficient function – it’s of one which is renowned across our organization for being truly collaborative, impactful and valued.
And when I think about training the next generation of lawyers, I see the success of our training contract through the same lens. It’s so important that trainees have an experience which isn’t just focused on mastering legal theory. They also need to be equipped with the tools to develop their in- house legal superpowers: the ability to navigate complex stakeholder relationships, prevent legal problems before they arise, and speak the language of the business.
The work we do with our trainees today lays the foundation for their future careers, and it’s not something which we can take lightly.
So why does the success of our digital transformation project promote the success of our training contract scheme? Firstly, because by implementing legal technology, we make it much easier for trainees to create work which is free from error. There are tools out there that can redline documents and complete full cross-reference and definition checks. There are systems that can help with drafting, prompting negotiation points based on your playbooks. Aspiring lawyers have an advantage now in that they can ensure their final work product is delivered in a polished, professional and efficient way – to put it simply, tech helps them to become good lawyers faster.
“To put it simply, tech helps our trainees become good lawyers faster.”
Yet this is where a delicate balance emerges. Technology is an ally to our trainees and can help them create wonderful work, but it cannot – and should not – take away from the foundation of a good legal education. There is a risk that, as we empower our trainees with these tools, we also lose sight of some of the core lessons they need to experience. Tech and AI should be used to enrich legal education, not bypass it.
Like many of us in the in-house community, my own training contract was completed in private practice – and it was pretty gruelling. And while I’m definitely not of the belief that all lawyers need to repeat that grind just for the sake of it, I look back at that time with appreciation, knowing that my experience gave me the solid foundation I needed to grow my legal career. I wanted my work to be excellent in all aspects, because that was expected – and I still carry that expectation with me today.
At the core of this standard of excellence, for me, is attention to detail. I’m not talking about typos here (we’re all guilty of those, especially in today’s world of quick turnarounds). I’m talking about the ability to hone legal arguments in negotiations. The ability to zoom out and see the bigger picture of what your workstream is trying to achieve. The skill of accurately assessing business risk by getting into the weeds. It’s in these areas that I think legal tech could get in the way of legal development.
But what if it doesn’t? What if we could integrate legal tech in a way that enhances trainee development, rather than detracts from it? As a trainee, I can’t tell you how many times I had to manually alter word documents to choose between “it” or “they”. How many times I had to add the counterparty’s details to every highlighted yellow blank space. Did this add anything to my legal toolbox? Absolutely not. To the contrary, having tech to automate that admin would have removed distraction and actively helped me become a better lawyer.
To the same end, what if tech could free up trainees to focus on developing their legal thinking, their judgment and their ability to connect with clients and colleagues?
That’s the balance we’re aiming for at M42. We want to empower our trainees with the tools they need to do their work efficiently, but we want to protect their growth as “human” lawyers, too.
There’s a lot of hesitancy (and fatigue) in the legal world at the moment when it comes to AI. Personally, I am convinced that AI is an ally to lawyers, not an adversary, and I can’t help but feel that the fear factor is being extremely overplayed. We’re not in a battle with machines, we’re in a partnership with them. And if we lean into that partnership, it could help us grow in ways we probably haven’t even thought about yet.
To this end, a huge part of our training contract will focus on developing our young lawyers’ so called “soft skills”, the skills that will help them refine their legal superpowers. As Simon Sinek so aptly summarises: “Skills like effective confrontation, empathy and patience are not soft skills. They are human skills, and they must be learned.”
In Big Law, I wasn’t taught how to manage my workload in a healthy way, nor how to communicate with clients and colleagues effectively. There was no emphasis on leading with empathy or building meaningful connection. That approach doesn’t work anymore. For the legal profession to thrive, we need to help junior lawyers explore their curiosity, lead with courage, and build the resilience they’ll need to navigate the complexities of the ever-changing legal world.
I really do think that this is the future of the profession. Technology and AI will continue to evolve, offering an opportunity that we must all take advantage of. But our true legal superpowers lie in our ability to connect with one another, to lead with integrity and to nurture the human side of the law.
And that’s something which a machine can never replace.
