Stories about AI dominated the headlines in 2022, but what’s really next in this exciting field, and how will it impact the legal sector in 2023? We asked Luminance’s executive team to share their thoughts and predictions on what to look out for in the coming year.

Eleanor Lightbody, CEO

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: 2023 is the year that will show ‘legal tech’ isn’t just for Legal anymore. With tighter budgets and more work than ever, legal teams will be feeling the squeeze. At Luminance, we’re already seeing businesses extend our AI beyond legal departments to enhance coordination with non-legal functions. If Procurement, Sales and HR all use technology to automatically generate internally compliant contracts, for instance, then legal teams will be able to focus on the higher-value work which will truly matter in the coming year, such as sourcing new commercial opportunities and controlling external spend.”

Jaeger Glucina, Chief of Staff

“The potential impact of the economic downturn is playing on everyone’s minds at the moment, so focus will quickly turn to the question of how ROI per employee can be maximised. The answer? Technology. With AI automating routine legal and administrative tasks, legal professionals can direct resource to the key commercial and legal issues that have arisen this year and will continue to have a major impact on markets in 2023: regulatory compliance, supply chain volatility and validating ESG credentials to name a few.”

Harry Borovick, Head of Legal

“When I speak to General Counsel and Heads of Legal across the industry, it’s clear there is an ongoing shift in how they think about outside counsel. With tightening budgets, many businesses are looking to reduce their outside counsel spend and bring more work in-house, aided by technology. We’ve seen this with innovative companies like Featurespace who have managed to reduce their outside counsel spend by 50% with Luminance. This by no means spells the end for law firms, but I think we will see a continued shift in the type of work most commonly outsourced, with this being reserved for very high value, specialist and technical projects.”

Orianne Auger, Head of Discovery

“With data leaks and GDPR breaches dominating last year’s headlines, public appetite for information on how personal data is collected and used has never been greater. Increased awareness around individuals’ rights under data privacy regulation has added to the soaring number of Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs), forcing businesses to radically reassess how they store, consolidate and analyse their enterprise data. And with redundancies rising in the face of economic headwinds, the number of DSARs businesses are facing is only set to increase. Companies can’t afford to get this wrong, so AI will definitely have a critical role to play in ensuring they meet these requirements.”

Frederica Kitchen, Commercial Director

“The ‘Great Resignation’ routinely hit the headlines last year and the legal industry was not left unscathed. Having started by career as a trainee solicitor, I know life as a junior lawyer isn’t always easy. It’s clear that next-generation technology like AI can have a profound and positive impact on our working lives. More lawyers than ever are coming into the profession who grew up with technology at their fingertips and expect it to be a key component of their working lives. In 2023, we will see organisations accelerate AI adoption in order to future-proof their legal teams, relieving the burden felt by junior lawyers entrusted with tedious document review work and freeing them up to do ‘real’ lawyering.”