Earlier this month, five members of the Luminance team and two leading figures from White & Case met for a week of interesting discussion and collaboration. The Lexpo conference in Amsterdam and the two ‘Practice Innovation Days’ at the firm’s Frankfurt and Paris offices were hugely successful. Below are some of the highlights of the week.

One of the central themes of Lexpo 2019 was the future of innovation, and specifically the role of client pressure in driving adoption at a partner level. A particularly memorable moment of the week, that was heard being repeated throughout the conference, was Oz Benamram’s keynote speech on ‘the Uberization of the law’. He argued that technology’s impact on the law has lots in common with the effect of Uber on the taxi business. With Uber, you are still getting a lift in a car from the same location, but a lot of the uncertainty and risk is removed compared with the traditional model of thumbing a ride and paying cash. The principal is the same with legal technology; the process remains the same as you will always get the expertise of a White & Case partner, but artificial intelligence makes the whole experience more transparent, efficient and predictable.

At the ‘Practice Innovation Days’ which followed Lexpo, White & Case, their clients, Luminance and other technology providers assembled to discuss future plans for implementing technology. As clients are becoming increasingly prominent in driving innovation, bringing them together with their relationship managers, partners, innovation officers and technology creators is important to understanding pain points and tailoring a firm’s service to get the best results for their clients. Events like these are hugely beneficial in encouraging partners to adopt legal technology, as they see the benefits through the eyes of their clients. Going forward, we can’t wait to see this collaborative attitude at more innovation days and want to emulate these conversations with our other clients around the world.

So, what are the key outcomes from the week?

1. Firstly, the drivers of adoption are changing, and clients are becoming increasingly influential as they demand that lawyers use the most advanced technology to support and deliver their advice.

2. Secondly, partners are recognising the benefits that artificial intelligence can bring to their role, not only in terms of providing better representation, but, crucially, enabling them to invest in and grow their client relationships.

3. Finally, artificial intelligence is bringing more transparency and trust to the legal process, placing the lawyers’ advice at the centre and ensuring clients’ needs are addressed and met more efficiently.