Space is open. Expansive. Infinite. Every generation of humans has gazed up at the night sky and wondered what laid beyond their field of vision—what was out there waiting to be found. And when the opportunity arose to blaze new terrain and make our mark on the cosmos, we took that first daring step into the darkness to a place we knew but were only just beginning to explore: the moon.
And from there, the possibilities were endless.
Like those early explorers, South Africa-based 2024 AI Visionary Linda Sheehan, of ENS, has been pushing the boundaries of what we can do with AI since its early days and has leveraged its power to shape a trailblazing career.
If there’s one way to create meaningful change in an industry too often hesitant about The New, it’s to do it entirely your own way.
Leading with Technology
Linda heads the specialist legal technology division, intelligENS, at ENS, Africa’s largest law firm, and to her team, tech is everything.
“Everything that we do in intelligENS revolves around technology,” she says, “whether we are simply helping lawyers to fall in love with technology for their day-to-day practice, or creating a bespoke solution, with technology as the backbone, to solve a client’s problem.”
This has created real value for ENS in the unique and compelling ways it has solved crucial problems, and the excitement it has generated for lawyers—from incorporating the 2023 trending generative AI into projects to embracing tried and tested tools that have been around for some time.
Onward and Upward to Artificial Intelligence for Legal Projects
Having built a career and a team that laud adept technological advancement as a benchmark of success, exploring and adopting AI was a natural progression. And what was most exciting about it was its open landscape of creative, revolutionary opportunity, which helps legal teams carve out an avenue toward tangible results.
Because generative AI is changing everything. To keep pace with progress, legal professionals need to understand how AI is:
- Reigniting the imagination, bringing even the most risk-averse lawyers to legal tech leadership with inspiring ideas on how they can leverage AI.
- Causing introspection: “I considered ripping up my original business plan many times throughout the year,” admits Linda, “but normal life carries on too. I consciously created space for learning, research, and, most importantly, thinking time for myself and my team.”
- Disrupting our way of thinking: “This last year reminds me of Abraham Maslo’s quote, ‘If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.’ Whilst it is thrilling to have this new tool to play with, we mustn’t throw the generative AI book at every problem.” Each problem has its own solution, and AI is just one tool teams can leverage—albeit a critical one.
AI also brings an opportunity to revolutionize the industry from its roots, re-envisioning the role of lawyers. “Once trusted, reliable, and accurate,” says Linda, “AI can be the back-pocket friend that frees up lawyers’ time to focus on supporting their clients strategically.”
Plus, emerging AI features like retrieval-augmented generation being incorporated into large language models (LLMs) offer a more nuanced touch. This type of AI will pause when it gets stuck on an answer, ask further questions, or provide responses such as “I don’t know” or (futuristically) “it depends”—acting more and more like a teammate than a tool, and reducing risk.
Navigating Legal AI’s Hype Cycle to Achieve Commonplace Adoption
As technology matures and emerging international standards on responsible AI become common practice, AI that inspires trepidation now will be considered a standard tool as organizations see success and security in its implementation. Adopting AI now and learning how to innovate with it won’t just place professionals ahead of the curve; it will keep them relevant in an evolving industry.
“Just like commonly used AI is now not considered ‘exciting’ AI,” Linda says, “we will be on the bandwagon again for the next advancement in AI very soon. So, while it is exciting, it does feel like a continuous loop of hype and then heads down for the practical implementation—the latter providing the real excitement when we derive tangible value from AI.”
Still, with so much freedom ahead, it can be challenging to see a clear path forward. Linda’s vision is to see a shift from using AI for routine tasks into enhancing legal decision-making, with the silo between lawyers and AI disappearing. And with less emotional response and more focus on AI as a solution to a problem, Linda hopes people will finally accept that AI is not the all-singing, dancing answer—it’s simply another tool in the kit (for now).
“I think we are going one of two ways in the next five to ten years. Nowhere or somewhere—2023 has shown how unpredictable progress is. For there to be real change, there needs to be real ROI demonstrated. The impact of AI is completely down to us, in how we adopt it, how well we advocate for it, and how we apply it.”
Carving Your Own Path Forward
So what now? AI is rife with creative, transformative opportunity to anyone bold enough to wield it, and learning how to do it now can make your career. With so much of AI being wide-open, uncharted territory, individuals can build their dream careers or mature their seasoned ones by discovering what excites and empowers them and then nurturing it. Linda shares that her greatest career success has come from collating various technical, functional, and soft skills across legal and technology industries, eventually finding her niche bridging the gap between law and technology.
“My advice is to forge your own path,” Linda says. “You can seek inspiration from other people’s career paths, but the world has opened up so many different opportunities that you are in a privileged position to follow your own.”
She continues: “I made career decisions with an open mind and based on what resonated personally at that time. This will naturally steer you into a fulfilling career and away from tasks and roles likely to be automated in the future.”
Will AI Replace My Role?
Speaking of automation: the question on everybody’s mind. As natural selection is a part of human evolution, Linda says, AI is a natural replacement, or displacement, of human roles in the legal industry. While legal professionals are unlikely to become extinct, this new era of generative AI will speed up the evolution of the roles they play.
“In my opinion, this is a once-in-a-career opportunity to leverage AI to catapult your career. This is true whether you wish to become the leading lawyer on the intricacy of copyright laws in AI, specialize in areas of law too complex for AI to handle, be a trailblazer in creating AI-powered solutions, move into change management consultancy to help others embrace it, or simply free up your time from repetitive tasks to focus on more interesting parts of your role.”
It’s an incredible opportunity to map out a bright, fulfilling professional future for yourself. But it requires intentionality and mindfulness.
“How, as an individual, you adapt and evolve your role will determine AI’s impact on you. Will you embrace, displace, or replace yourself?” Linda asks.
Riding the Currents or Sinking Beneath Them
It’s not enough for individuals to champion the merits of AI. Organizations need to get on board too, and if they are hesitant to adopt AI, it’s important to consider why. Linda advises:
- If it is a fear of the unknown, then educate yourself.
- If it is caused by indecision, start small with a simple, defined use case.
- If it is an unwillingness to embrace change, take a look at what your competitors are doing.
- If it is a simple case of being too busy, motivate yourself by looking at the “what if we don’t” instead of the “what if we do.”
“Don’t let history repeat itself,” Linda warns. “Just take a look at the bookshops and video rental stores that fell by the wayside when they were hesitant to embrace the online era. There will always be a level of uncertainty, but seek to identify and mitigate the risks and alleviate your concerns rather than avoid AI altogether.”
The emerging landscape might feel murky, but even if there is not a clearly defined road paved ahead of you, there are certainly guiding stars offering possible paths.
Opportunity is waiting, and maverick leaders like Linda are forging ahead so that others may follow. 5…4…3…2…1… are you ready to board?
Katie Pecho is a content marketing specialist at Relativity.
