Terri Mottershead (pictured) is the executive director of the Centre for Legal Innovation at The College of Law – and recently held a number of roundtables to delve into the impact generative AI (GenAI) has on legal practice.

In the 2024 Legal GenAI Roundtables Report, Mottershead explored the insights from the roundtable discussions and shared recommendations for GenAI implementation moving forward, with education and collaboration important.

Held between March and July this year across Australia and New Zealand, these discussions included 122 thought leaders, including allied legal professionals, tech developers, legal consultants, legal educators, and managers.

“We know the tech has issues. But, what we need to focus on right now is understanding its challenges/limitations, its possibilities/opportunities, and evolving with it ... carefully, responsibly and vocally. It’s going to take resilience and overcoming a fear of failure to move us forward. It’s going to require ongoing investment like in every other R&D function in every other industry, everywhere,” Mottershead said in the report.

“It’s going to require metrics, measurement, monitoring, management, and data-informed decision making. It’s going to require us to redefine value. But, whatever way we communicate, resist, embrace, approach or otherwise cut and dice this tech, it has and will continue to change our industry.”

In order for the profession to integrate GenAI into legal operations and practice, a “thoughtful and strategic approach” is needed, according to the report, with collaboration and ethical oversight crucial.

“While GenAI encourages a solution-first mindset, organisations should carefully assess their current needs and processes before adopting tools. Define clear success criteria, focusing on value creation and aligning GenAI solutions with specific organisational, business, or client goals, rather than adopting technology for its own sake,” the report said.

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Establishing strong change management programs is also important, as well as investing in structured training and skills development – with a key focus on digital literacy and legal tech fluency important across all levels.

“Build partnerships between law firms, clients and technology developers/vendors to co-develop and test GenAI solutions that meet evolving expectations. This collaboration can drive the adoption of tailored solutions, increase value for organisations, firms and clients, and enhance service differentiation,” the report said.

“As GenAI transforms legal service delivery, firms should explore value-based pricing models that reflect the efficiencies and capabilities of technology. Engage in transparent discussions with clients regarding cost recovery and the value of expertise, while considering how to differentiate services that are increasingly standardised by technology.”

Despite these resulting recommendations following the roundtable discussions, Mottershead noted in the report that the profession still doesn’t have “all the answers around AI” – and likely, “never will”.

“We are part of something new, different, and constantly changing – it’s a huge change management process! We must learn to embrace ambiguity and view it as an opportunity to grow,” she said.

“There’s an agility and adaptability that comes from working with ambiguity; it creates a place for open mindsets to thrive through questioning, experimenting, sharing, redefining and even reinventing what it means to be a legal professional working in the business and practice of law.”