Leading Through AI: The Human Challenges Facing Law Firm Leaders
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming embedded in legal work. Yet while technological capability is advancing quickly, many of the real challenges facing law firms are human: confidence in new tools, evolving professional identity, and how leaders guide their organisations when the future of the profession is still taking shape.
In this webinar, RSGI and The Positive Group bring together senior law firm leadership and psychological insight to explore what effective leadership looks like as AI begins to reshape legal practice.
Moderated by Yasmin Lambert (RSGI), the session will feature a conversation with Wendy Butler Curtis, Chief Innovation Officer at Orrick, and Michael Gerstenzang, Senior Partner at Cleary Gottlieb, alongside psychologist and Chief Science Officer Dr Sinéad Devine-French (The Positive Group).
Together, the panel will discuss how leaders are navigating sustained uncertainty, how emotional and professional identity responses influence engagement with AI, and which human capabilities are becoming more important as automation takes on routine legal work. The discussion will also draw on new research by The Positive Group and RSGI exploring the behavioural factors shaping AI adoption in law, based on interviews with innovators and leaders across the sector.
The session will conclude with audience Q&A and reflections from panellists on what remains most unresolved as the profession navigates this next phase of transformation.
What we’ll explore:
- How law firm leaders are making decisions when there is no stable end state for AI in legal work
- Why human reactions, confidence, identity and professional judgement shape AI adoption more than technology alone
- Which capabilities are becoming more valuable as AI begins to transform legal workflows