How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

Periods of instability and crises call for strong comprehension capabilities, immediate situational analysis, as well as the ability to swiftly plan and manage the legal issues at hand. It is paramount to remain calm, maintain your composure and avoid, at all costs, emotional reactions which tend to cloud judgment.

Almost all crises and instability periods affect or require the involvement, in one way or another, of multiple functions within an organisation, including the legal department. Therefore, effective and continuous communication with other functions is key in ensuring the integration and alignment of the legal strategy with the broader business strategy of the organisation.

By applying the above approach, we are able to rapidly analyse the situation, identify the potential legal risks, and develop a mitigation strategy in co-ordination and co- operation with all involved stakeholders within the organisation. Equally important is the intelligent and productive utilisation of the legal department’s resources, leveraging on available technology and the agility of smaller working groups which can work concurrently on multiple issues.

What emerging technologies do you see as having the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?

Undoubtedly, AI is an emerging technology with the potential of revolutionising the legal profession in its entirety. To get a glimpse of AI’s impact on legal profession we do not need to look far as we have already witnessed AI technologies with enhanced capabilities which can make legal research less time-consuming, and review and draft of contracts with the touch of a button.

Looking now in the future we cannot predict with certainty how this technology will evolve: could we see AI going as far as adjudicating cases? Possibly, but personally, I do not believe so. AI should not aim at replacing legal professionals but in assisting them. Thus, in an ever-increasing demand for immediate legal responses, legal professionals’ own biological capabilities might prove not to be just enough. In my view, in the future AI will be developed to become a powerful tool in the hands of the legal professionals who by then will have mastered its use, allowing them to overcome their biological limitations and become more efficient. This could be achieved by facilitating the quick execution of their duties, eliminating administrative tasks and enabling them to absorb and process more information in less time.

To ensure the effective use of AI and to unlock its capabilities, there is a need to comprehend how the technology works and to discover its limits. To do that we should seek to educate ourselves, explore AI solutions and stay ahead of the recent developments in the AI industry.