Baker McKenzie: The Legal Sector Must Prepare for AI Disruption

For any client-facing business, the front-runners of the future will be those who can adapt to the changing needs of clients. This fact is now starting to sink in for the legal sector, who have been slow in embracing transformative technologies up until now. Indeed, some have commented that the working practices of many in the industry have changed little since the time of Charles Dickens. In their 2017 report on the sector, PwC claim that clients have long been frustrated with the rising cost and speed of legal service delivery and many have responded by taking more work in-house, by bringing individual lawyers in through'lawyer on demand' providers. Many believe that the time is ripe and that the "2020s will be the decade of disruption" as law firms increase investment in technology to automate tasks and improve decision making.