30 Asian Legal Business | February 2025 ALB: As AI tools become more prevalent, how are you planning to allocate resources between developing in-house AI solutions and acquiring third-party tools? Cyrus: Given that frontier models demand exceptional infrastructure, capital, and expertise, we’ve developed an in-house capability to orchestrate sophisticated dataflows and APIsequence pairings that allow us to unlock powerful functionalities. When the market doesn’t supply a solution to a problem, we have the ability to buildout practice-specific tools that can deliver immediate ROI - this market cognizance and technical capability enables us to avoid duplication of effort and maintain flexibility to continuously evaluate which approach (build vs. buy) will yield the highest benefit. Richard Robbins, director of applied AI, Reed Smith: Our preference is to license third-party tools that meet our needs at reasonable prices. We embrace rapidly evolving technology and are eager to work with vendors to influence their offerings and are willing to be an early adopter, especially when we believe that doing so will place us at a competitive advantage. We are willing to develop in-house solutions when that makes sense considering our strategic points of emphasis at the time relative to market offerings. Westcott: Our resources are strategically divided to ensure we maximize the value of AI while maintaining flexibility and scalability. Our approach focuses on three key areas that drive our AI implementation strategy. The first area involves finding and buying the best tools, where the majority of our energy is spent identifying and evaluating market-leading AI tools that meet our rigorous standards. We look for solutions that align with our security requirements, demonstrate clear value, and have a trusted development roadmap for the future. When it comes to customizing around core systems, we rely on established platforms like Microsoft, Intapp, and NetDocuments where tools need to integrate with our existing infrastructure. These platforms provide a strong foundation for us to develop internal applications that seamlessly connect with our workflows. For example, we’ve used Azure AI to create chatbots that deliver quick and secure access to internal resources like our employee handbook. For areas where we have unique expertise and data, we invest in building proprietary solutions that deliver standout value for clients. Akin Overruled is a prime example: By combining our deep industry knowledge with AI models, we’ve created a tool that provides actionable insights into sanctions to predict penalty amounts. Building tools like this requires significant investment—not only in development but in ongoing support and refinement—so we focus on areas where we can create measurable and lasting client impact. This structured approach ensures that we buy the best tools available, tailor solutions to leverage our systems, and build where we can truly innovate. By directing resources where they’ll have the greatest impact, we deliver cutting-edge technology solutions that enhance internal efficiency and client outcomes alike. ALB: Which practice areas within your firm do you believe will see the most significant transformation through the adoption of generative AI tools? And how is your firm positioning itself to lead in these areas? Cyrus: Generative AI stands to transform legal work wall-to-wall—from largescale document reviews to real-time assistance with on-your-feet, missioncritical tasks. We’re empowering all of our lawyers and staff professionals by giving them direct access to and training on state-of-the-art models and systems, fostering an internal culture that rewards practical know-how with these tools. Rather than confine AI to a handful of specialists, we’re encouraging each practice group to champion success stories, share workflows, and where appropriate, co-develop proprietary enhancements. By embedding our most advanced technologies into daily practice, our lawyers will remain at the leading edge of what professionals in our industry can do. Robbins: We have not determined that any specific practice area within our firm will experience a more significant transformation through the adoption of generative AI tools compared to others. Generative AI has the potential to impact numerous tasks across all practices. For instance, the ability of AI to efficiently summarize extensive amounts of text will be beneficial for all areas. Similarly, AI’s capability to analyze and examine large collections of documents to provide attorneys with insights into relevant items will be valuable across individual practices. Our objective is to enable everyone in our firm, including our professional staff, to utilize generative AI tools effectively and responsibly. To achieve this, we must select the appropriate tools and promote their effective use throughout the firm. Westcott: Generative AI is fundamentally transforming how legal work is delivered, especially by streamlining the administrative tasks that support high-value advisory work. At Akin, we see its potential in all practice areas, as demonstrated by the long list of potential innovative use cases identified by our lawyers. In corporate transactions, AI is revolutionizing processes like due diligence and automating administrative tasks – drafting, organizing, and analysing documents – so lawyers can focus on providing strategic advice to clients. The technology enables our teams to handle complex matters with greater efficiency. Within litigation and dispute resolution, AI-driven tools sharpen case strategies, automate document review, and provide data-driven insights, helping lawyers prepare and execute more effectively. Across all practices, our focus is to ensure lawyers spend their time on higher-value work by LegalTech
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