30 Asian Legal Business | January-February 2025 Roundtable David Cunningham, chief innovation officer, Reed Smith: Our firm is a global law firm with a broad mix of practice groups including vibrant litigation, transactional and advisory groups that serve clients in a broad array of industries. We look for tools that can have broad impact across the firm, whether in connection with the practice of law or how we run our business. That means we are attracted to tools that address use cases that cut across large groups of lawyers or business professionals as opposed to narrowly focused tools. With respect to the practice, we begin with larger platforms aimed to support all our lawyers and then move to tools broadly aimed at meeting the ALB: In your role, what strategic criteria have you established to evaluate and prioritize potential AI tools for integration into your firm’s practices? Christopher Cyrus, director of AI innovation, McDermott Will & Emery: We see AI as a set of force multipliers for all of our professionals. And we are focused on harnessing the best capabilities of frontier models. Used appropriately, these technologies yield tangible benefits for clients—reduced turnaround time, more strategic insights, and unique capabilities that elevate the legal product. These are all non-negotiable as are guarantees that our firm and client data will remain secure. Impact, not hype As Generative AI becomes an unstoppable force in legal practice, law firms are moving beyond the question of “if” to “how.” But instead of chasing trends, AI directors at law firms are taking a deliberate approach to this transformative technology. By Sarah Wong • Law firms prioritize sustainable value over trendy AI solutions. • Security and ethical considerations drive AI implementation decisions. • AI enhances lawyer productivity while maintaining human expertise control. Christopher Cyrus McDermott Will & Emery David Cunningham Reed Smith Jeff Westcott Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Richard Robbins Reed Smith
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