Artificial intelligence is transforming the legal industry, but not in the “robots will take our jobs” way, at least according to the perspectives shared in a recent ACEDS webinar titled “Navigating Career Pitfalls and Possibilities in an AI Era.” It featured members of the ACEDS Global Advisory Board, who discussed how AI is shifting client expectations, legal careers, and the skills professionals need to stay competitive, while stressing that human judgment remains crucial.
Mindset and Skills Are More Important Than Ever
The program started by examining how AI is currently transforming legal and e-discovery careers. Board member Joy Murao, founder and CEO of Practice Aligned Resources, pointed out that, despite all the excitement, many organizations are still in the early phases of their AI journey, presenting an important chance for professionals to learn. “The train hasn’t left the station because there are just so many different firms with unique cultures, so AI hasn’t really hit them yet, but it will,” she said.
She warned that the main career risk today isn’t losing your job but becoming complacent. “It is a risk of not being curious, or having a fixed, anti-change mindset.” According to Murao, professionals should teach themselves how to master everyday tools and new AI features, whether it’s mastering Word styles and e-filing systems or trying out AI-enhanced legal research and drafting platforms. Her advice: start with the technology you already use, ask vendors about their AI plans, and use free resources like YouTube and vendor demos to build your confidence and skills.
Focusing on Clients, Costs, and Guardrails Can Minimize Risk
From the law firm perspective, David Rueff, Chief Client Solutions Group Officer at Baker Donelson, discussed how AI is transforming client expectations while also creating new risks for firms. For example, outside counsel guidelines are continually changing. “Some prohibit use without approval, and others require it to improve efficiency,” he said.
Rueff outlined five priorities for law firms: (1) safeguarding client data, (2) ensuring proper use of approved tools, (3) managing higher costs from the increase in vendors, (4) preventing hallucinations in court filings, and (5) correcting misconceptions about how AI works. Regarding data security, he stressed, “This requires us to confirm with the vendor that inputs and uploads are not going to be used to train the underlying model and that information we upload into that tool will not be retained.”
Hallucinations, especially fabricated cases and citations, are a major concern. Rueff noted that this makes human review and trust about how work is done non-negotiable. “We need people to be honest about how they’ve accomplished some of the tasks and assignments,” he said, emphasizing that when he evaluates talent, he looks for self-directed learners who exercise intellectual curiosity and process thinking because the ability to map workflows is crucial for integrating AI thoughtfully.
An Emphasis on Governance and Strategy is Helping to Redefine In-House Legal Work
AI is changing expectations for outside counsel and their clients, especially when it comes to defining value, noted Susan Gogley, Senior Corporate Counsel at The Home Depot. “AI fundamentally is shifting how we define and assess value from outside counsel,” she said. “It is not just about legal expertise, but part of the value determination for in-house teams is how effectively that expertise is being delivered.”
From her perspective, responsible governance can be just as important as reducing bills. She recommended asking these questions:
- Are you using AI responsibly?
- Are you using our data to train your models?
- Where is the data stored?
- Is our data protected the same way as your data, or is it just going into the cloud alongside all those other clients and their ‘secret sauce’ information?
Gogley assumes outside firms are using AI but wants assurances that they are doing so safely, transparently, and in a way that safeguards the company’s data. Internally, AI is making in-house teams more capable and selective about what they outsource. By automating repeatable, low-risk workflows, legal departments can handle more work internally and reserve outside counsel for high-value, strategic matters. For individual professionals, she advised that “Career advancement now depends on being a ‘strategic tech-savvy problem solver,’ so it’s much less about being a great legal specialist, paralegal, or lawyer, and more about being the strategic, tech-savvy problem solver who can drive the business forward.”
Upskilling and Creative Future-Proofing Can Empower Your Career
Savvy professionals see AI not just as a feature but as an essential part of an end-to-end process, explained James Bickley, Senior Managing Director at Celeritas. “It is no longer a feature, it is a workflow,” he said. AI is directly affecting early-stage review, contract and privilege screening, PII detection, and threading. “AI can provide speed, consistency, and defensibility when properly implemented and supervised, so it is crucial to simultaneously invest in tools and people because the biggest mistakes organizations make when implementing AI in discovery is failing to upskill the humans.”
Tools alone cannot fix inefficient workflows or poor data. In fact, they can speed up errors, he warned. As a result, employers are increasingly looking for candidates who have invested in AI education and can show its real impact. “Future proofing isn’t just about mastering a specific tool, it’s more about understanding how work gets done in today’s world, which involves knowing how models behave and fail, how to validate outputs, and how to redesign workflows around AI instead of buying technology and hoping for efficiency,” he said.
Curiosity, Governance, and Human Judgment Are Paramount
Across law firms, corporate legal departments, and service providers, the panelists agreed that AI is a powerful accelerator, not a replacement for legal professionals. The immediate career risk isn’t obsolescence but ignoring the tools and mindsets that will shape the next decade of legal work. Those who embrace self-directed learning, understand governance and data protection, and can map and improve workflows with AI will be best positioned to succeed. “The AI train is just coming into the station,” said Murao, so there is still time for those willing to stay curious and keep learning.
