Extract from Gina Jurva’s article “Navigating the Human Side of AI Adoption in Public Sector Legal Teams”
When Michael Koehler took the stage at Everlaw Connect D.C. for his workshop “Adaptive Leadership for Public Sector Legal Professionals,“ he posed a provocative question: “Are we solving for the right problem?” As CEO of leadership firm KONU, Koehler understands that AI’s greatest challenge for government legal teams isn’t the technology itself—it’s what the technology asks us to relinquish.
The promise of AI in law—faster research, frontloaded insights, automated analysis—is undeniable. But as Koehler emphasized in his session, public sector adoption stalls when we treat it as purely a technical upgrade rather than the profound professional identity shift it represents.
In this exclusive follow-up with Everlaw, Koehler expands on his conference insights to reveal:
- Why technological implementation triggers what adaptive leadership calls “loss work” (letting go of control, familiar routines, even professional pride)
- How to create “holding environments” where legal teams can experiment safely amid uncertainty—as demonstrated in his popular conference workshop
- The three critical elements that help organizations move through change without burning out their people
For legal leaders navigating this transition, Koehler offers tested frameworks—because the future belongs to teams that can harness both AI’s potential and their human capacity for adaptation.
