EDI’s Mid-Year meeting in New York made one thing very clear. The legal industry isn’t sitting on the sidelines when it comes to AI.
There may not be full agreement on how fast to move or how much risk to tolerate, but the conversation has moved well beyond “should we use AI?” In fact, that question has mostly left the building.
Now the questions are more practical:
- How do we use it responsibly?
- Where can it actually reduce cost?
- Where does it improve efficiency without creating new problems?
- Who inside the organization should be allowed to use it?
- Who should be required to use it?
- How do we know whether they’re using it well?
That’s where the legal community seems to be right now. Past the theory and big headlines, we’re officially diving into the real work of figuring out what AI looks like inside teams with actual deadlines and people who still have to explain things to clients, courts, and sometimes even their own IT departments.
And for all the discussion about tools, the people using them still seem to matter most. That’s true whether an organization is experimenting with AI, moving carefully, or pushing AI adoption forward.
Everyone’s Moving, Just Not at the Same Speed
Some corporations and law firms are openly embracing AI because they see its potential to reduce costs and make legal work more efficient. These are the pilots. They’re evaluating use cases and rethinking workflows as they try to understand where this technology can help without creating a mess someone else has to clean up later.
Next, we have the stewards. These organizations are moving with far more caution, and that makes sense too. They see the opportunity, but also thinking about confidentiality, privilege, data security, defensibility, governance, and client expectations. Those concerns aren’t exactly minor footnotes. For those organizations, AI has to come with rules. It must be managed, and it has to fit within a risk framework that someone can defend.
And finally, we have the trailblazers. These organizations sit at the other end of the spectrum from the stewards and are actively requiring the use of AI in daily workflows. They’re setting expectations and looking at whether attorneys and legal professionals are leveraging this technology to its fullest potential.
And of course, there are a lot of organizations that sit somewhere between these groups, because trying to fit an entire industry into three neat categories simply isn’t realistic.
The Tools Are Changing, But Trust Still Drives the Decision
Even with so much attention on AI, corporations are still looking for familiar values when selecting outside counsel and service providers. They want passion, innovation, integrity, and accountability, which are all human qualities.
That wasn’t surprising to hear, but it was reassuring. When every conversation starts to revolve around prompts and automation, it’s easy to think the tool will become the whole story. It won’t. The people behind the work still matter most.
That’s always been central to how TCDI operates. Our Founder and CEO, Bill Johnson, has long believed that when you bring in talented people, trust them to manage their processes, and empower them to make their own decisions, the rest will follow.
When people are supported in this way, they take ownership of their work and become more creative. They are also more invested in the outcome because it’s not just a task being handed down to them. That’s when the solutions get better, and that’s when clients feel the difference.
The Future Still Belongs to People Who Can Be Trusted
As AI becomes more embedded in legal work, corporations and law firms will need partners who can do more than talk about efficiency. They’ll need partners who can demonstrate judgment and innovate responsibly. More importantly, they’ll need partners who are transparent and invested in their success.
The future of legal work will absolutely be shaped by AI, and the organizations who know how to apply it with care and creativity are the ones that will come out on top.
My biggest takeaway from the EDI Midyear meeting? AI may be changing the work, but trust is still what wins it.
Eric Toder
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Eric Toder is a seasoned legal services executive with over 30 years of experience and a proven track record of driving growth and building lasting client relationships across diverse industries. As Vice President of Legal Services at TCDI, Eric thrives at developing strategic partnerships, leading high-impact sales teams, and identifying new opportunities in competitive markets.
Prior to TCDI, Eric is known for building networks and working with AMLAW 200 and Fortune 1000 Corporations to reduce costs and drive business efficiencies providing both proactive and reactive solutions to complex litigation, regulatory and investigatory matters. Learn more about Eric >
