Legal departments around the world serve as the foundation for organizational compliance and strategic decision-making. Tasked with everything from drafting contracts to ensuring regulatory compliance and managing litigation risk, these departments are often overwhelmed by labour-intensive processes. Despite the advent of digital, many still rely on traditional methods that are both time-consuming and error-prone.

As businesses become more global and regulations more complex, the challenges facing legal departments are increasing. Added to this is the relentless pressure to reduce operational costs and increase efficiency.

This is where legal tech and generative AI can be a game changer. By automating repetitive tasks and providing sophisticated legal research tools, legal tech can help legal professionals manage their growing workloads without compromising quality or accuracy. However, the real game-changer lies in the proper application of prompt engineering in the use of legal tech, a factor that could redefine the efficiency and accuracy of legal operations in the coming years.

However, the journey to this bright future requires careful navigation. Ethical considerations, practical challenges and the governance of prompts all need to be carefully addressed. Establishing protocols for managing prompts to ensure consistency and relevance is as critical as the technological innovation itself.

Topics explored during this session at the CCASA Legal Forum 2023 included:

• What legal tech is out there?
• Knowing what you need.
• Where law firms can weigh in.
• The reach and the realities, or said differently, the risks and rewards.
• Ethical dilemmas, especially when using AI and ChatGPT.
• Practical guidance on effectively using AI.
• Choosing the right tool: Some examples of available products and case studies.

Some interesting articles on the topics:

Bio’s of Panellists

Do legal practitioners truly understand the danger of ChatGPT?

5 Ways In-house Counsel Can Embrace Generative AI

AI everywhere, and how an overlooked South African law can affect your copyright ownership

Competitive Necessity, Job Disrupter: Legal Professionals Predict Major Generative AI Impact

How to train GPT-3 to become your legal assistant

Legal Tech: 5 First Steps Toward Responsible AI Oversight

GPT-3 – The Hottest Innovation to Hit Legal Ops

How Better Data and Analytics Help General Counsel Achieve Legal and Financial Goals

Generative AI and prompt engineering: the future of legal work

GCs Increasingly See Top-Tier Tech as Powerful Lure in Talent Wars

The Risks (and Rewards) of AI for In-House Counsel and Corporate Boards

Despite growing tech challenges, legal departments see legal tech as more essential 

Digital Risk Management in the Wake of Business Disruption and Technology Acceleration

Generative AI – A guide for corporate legal departments