This year, Tony McKenna, director of information technology and change at UK top 100 law firm Howard Kennedy, was elected as the first president of ILTA outside of North America. We asked him, mostly with his law firm hat on, what his key takeaways are from 2023; whether the generative AI hype is helpful in having strategic conversations about the future; and what he is focusing on for 2024.
What is your key takeaway from 2023?
The big takeaway for me is that 2023 started with massive, large language model hype beyond belief. Everyone was saying that generative AI will make a huge difference and now in December, it really hasn’t yet. We talk about the hype and the trough of disillusionment, and the start of 2023 was all about LLMs but change hasn’t materialised hugely. In 2024 we will definitely see change with the introduction of Microsoft Copilot and a broader understanding of how to use large language models. But 2023 was a lot of talk but no real outcomes.
What do you make of all the vendor product launches?
That is exactly where our firm will leverage large language models, through our business partners who are adopting them. Our strategy is to take advantage of our business partners. I’m looking forward to seeing the products from Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis and vLex and what benefits will come from LLM technology integrated into the normal lawyer’s working day process. We’re excited about 2024 in that space.
To what extent is cost a concern?
It’s going to be about the investment case and really understanding the value that this brings in delivering a premier client service. Is the return worth the investment? We will be looking at product or service levels and scrutinising them as to whether it delivers the ROI. As part of budgeting for 2024, the industry will be looking at a steep increase in costs for back- office technology services if we invest in all of these business partners with LLM capability.
Is the hype helpful in having those strategic conversations?
Yes, generative AI is on everyone’s lips, not just the know how team. Lawyers are talking about it and using it in their personal lives. With the release of Microsoft Copilot it will become more normal in terms of the way you search the internet and get more specific results based on how you prompt. We’re constantly being asked for hints, tips and education on prompt engineering.
The one thing that I think is consistent is that you need to keep your estate up to date. We changed our time recording system to Intapp Time this year and it has made a huge difference. You can’t lose sight of the day-to day.
What will be important in 2024?
One thing that will be important is data visualisation: how do you visualise and provide data to lawyers in a way they can consume and deliver improved insights to clients on the progress of matters, so the matter lifecycle. That’s a big area for us and we’re getting the data flows and structures in place so that data visualisation becomes normal for lawyer. We’re far down the track of getting making data available to lawyers through Outlook. We’re working with Intapp and have been for 18 months, and we’re really starting to see the benefit.
The other thing is client low code applications, where you’re solving client problems to create that stickiness. If you have a solid data strategy you can start to bring data into very simple low code applications for clients to give them a very bepoke service without creating a huge overhead in terms of support.
With my ILTA hat on, in 2024 we have a new conference combining security and AI in the first half of the year, then Nashville for ILTA in the summer and then back to Allen & Overy for ILTA Europe 2024 in November. We also looking at local experience and how we can provide more value for our members through special interest groups.