Originally published in The Legal Intelligencer/law.com
AI is often framed as the future of legal work - but its transformative potential depends on more than algorithms.
At a recent COLPM webinar, Leadership in Flux--Navigating Talent, Technology, and Culture in BigLaw, nearly 7 in 10 attendees predicted that AI would significantly transform the legal industry within the next one to two years, with the majority suggesting that transformation is already underway. That optimism is echoed in Thomson Reuters' 2025 Future of Professionals, where 44% of legal leaders rated AI as transformational and another 36% as highly impactful.
Yet, 30% of legal professionals acknowledge they are moving too slowly. Why the lag? Though concerns remain about hallucinations and inaccurate citations, it is not tools or technology holding firms back - it is leadership.
As law firms race to modernize, the differentiator won't be access to AI, but how leadership guides its adoption. A new era demands a human-driven approach: one that can articulate vision, lead through change, reshape culture, and reengage people. Gallup's 2025 State of the Global Workplace underscores the urgency–only half of global employees clearly understand what is expected of them at work. Without strong leadership, even the most powerful tools risk confusion, disengagement, and missed opportunity.
Five leadership tactics will determine whether AI becomes a force for innovation–or inertia–in the legal profession.
1. Strategic Decision-Making: Setting the Right Vision
AI success starts at the top. The Thomson Reuters' Future of Professionals report highlights that firms with visible, articulated AI strategies are twice as likely to experience revenue growth from AI. But vision alone isn’t enough–it must be clearly communicated and collaboratively shaped.
Unfortunately, many strategic discussions in law firms remain confined to a narrow set of decisionmakers, most often a group of designated lawyers. Those most familiar with AI’s capabilities and ROI–often professionals in technology, innovation, or knowledge roles–are left out or only consulted ad hoc. This disjointed approach hampers creativity, slows adoption, and leads to generic strategies that fail to differentiate the firm.
Similarly, another emerging method to craft strategy threatens to undermine efficacy. Overreliance on AI to analyze market and client data and make strategic recommendations loses sight of the nuance and impact of culture, values and market position. When firms begin to treat data as a stand-in for judgment, decisions can become untethered from what is truly possible. Strategy developed in isolation from people may appear efficient, but it will rarely be distinctive.
To succeed, effective leaders will:
Define a clear vision in which AI integration aligns with client service, operational goals, and cultural values
Involve multidisciplinary teams early to infuse AI into strategy development rather than as an afterthought, co-creating a collaborative, AI-driven future
Measure success beyond efficiency, paying particular attention to talent engagement and client impact
2. Leading Change: Building Buy-In and Motivation
Adopting AI is not a one-time switch–it’s a sustained transformation. Successful AI integration demands more than tools–it requires trust, motivation, and empowered leadership at every level. Building buy-in from a broad group of stakeholders, particularly those who co-serve as owners in the business, requires a deep regard for personal drivers, what enhances the value proposition and how to build persuasive and compelling messages at individual, team and organizational levels.
Yet few law firm leaders and professionals get the tools and skills to be most effective at leading change. Professional development leaders rate the efficacy of their firm’s leadership preparation just 4.6 out of 10, according to research conducted by ALM and The Tilt Institute.
Many law firm leaders also overestimate how change-ready their people are–and underestimate the role they themselves play in cultivating that readiness. A top-down directive to "start using AI" won’t work unless leaders are modeling behavior, providing support, and listening to concerns.
To effectively lead change, successful law firm leaders will:
Model curiosity and learning, showing openness to AI experimentation
Communicate transparently, especially about risks, limitations, and the evolving role of lawyers
Deploy pilot programs and celebrate small wins to build momentum and resilience
Leadership during transformation isn't about having all the answers–it's about inspiring confidence and trust while navigating uncertainty.
3. Shaping Culture: From Perfectionism to Innovation
Law firm culture has long prized precision, precedent, and perfection. And understandably so. Mistakes in legal filings can have costly and grave consequences. However, on the business side of law, zero tolerance for failure stymies innovation and change.
Traditional legal environments discourage the very behaviors AI integration demands. And in a profession where meticulousness is often rewarded and every minute matters, there is little room for the messiness of getting to know AI. Leaders set the tone for cultural norms. When leaders give explicit permission to experiment, acknowledge that not every attempt will succeed, and openly champion those who try something new, they create the conditions for innovation to take root.
To shift the culture:
Redefine what success looks like, rewarding effort, learning, and creativity alongside results
Empower diverse voices, particularly those from non-legal backgrounds who may bring fresh thinking
Create non-billable codes to align time spent testing, questioning, and reflecting with value
True cultural change starts when leaders model vulnerability, curiosity, and a growth mindset–and back those values with action and reinforcement.
4. Rethinking Professional Development: Learning in the Age of AI
If law firms are serious about transformation, they must rethink how they build capabilities. AI risks undermining critical thinking by automating tasks without developing underlying reasoning or requiring thoughtful inquiry. As Josh Kubicki recently warned in The Brainyacts, overreliance on AI could dampen creativity and weaken legal training.
The answer isn’t to limit AI but to upskill deliberately. That means:
Blending human insight with technical training, teaching lawyers not just how to use tools, but how to question their output
Making training ongoing and tailored, not one-size-fits-all. Gen X is more likely to participate in AI training, according to Thomson Reuters–but firms can do more to reach all generations
Teaching human skills, such as emotional intelligence, delegation, coaching, and adaptability, that remain irreplaceable
Adaptability, in particular, is emerging as a core leadership and professional skill–yet it's one that the traditional legal apprenticeship model doesn't typically support. Historically, junior lawyers learned by mirroring those above them. In an environment shaped by rapid technological change, that model must evolve. Leadership must reframe learning as a continuous, strategic investment–one that is central to the firm’s competitive edge.
5. Fostering Engagement: The Human Connection at Work
Engagement is in decline, and AI isn't going to fix it. While automation can reduce burdens and support balance, it cannot replace emotional nuance, connection, or shared experience–nor can it make people feel valued.
According to Gallup, 70% of team engagement hinges on the manager. In law firms, that role is typically played by Partners, Senior Associates, and Directors who oversee the day-to-day work, delegate assignments, and provide feedback. These individuals are rarely trained for the people-management responsibilities they carry. Yet they are central to creating environments where others feel motivated, safe, and trusted.
The most effective leaders:
Focus on relationships, not just results
Tailor support, acknowledging individual motivations, challenges, and preferences
Use AI to augment human leadership, not replace it. For example, tools may help provide coaching prompts or identify patterns, but the act of feedback remains a deeply human skill
What cannot be replaced is the feeling of being seen and valued by another person–a key driver of engagement. That sense of recognition builds psychological safety, fuels connection, and lays the groundwork for trust. It is the human factor that binds people to their work–and to one another.
The Future Isn’t Just Automated–It’s Human-Led
AI may transform legal work, but it can’t lead people through that transformation. That responsibility falls to the humans at the helm. Leadership–grounded in clarity, empathy, adaptability, and vision–will determine whether law firms use AI to accelerate progress or deepen division.
The opportunity is here. The question is whether leaders are ready to rise to it.
Reprinted with permission from the July 22nd edition of the Legal Intelligencer © 2025 ALM Global Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited, contact 877-256-2472 or asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com.