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Cordially Invites You to Attend

By Invitation Only

 

How AI is Transforming Law Firm

Business Roundtable

Thursday, May 14, 2026

8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CT

Union League Club, 65 W Jackson Blvd

CHICAGO

How Are Partners and Senior Business Executives and Partners Using

AI in Law Firm Business and Operations

Does your firm use AI a lot, or a little?  What are the best, most immediate solutions firms’ are using today? 

 

Our panelists will share their collective wisdom on what works, what uses they are making of AI, and what it costs to invest in AI.

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Key Themes:

  • Articulating the value of AI to the client

  • The use of AI encourages firms to use AFAs

  • Why are AFAs the best way to structure fee arrangements including AI components?

  • What are the elements of the firms’ internal AI strategy?

  • Why does AI strategy begin with firms’ overall information architecture?

  • Data from across the firm needs to be structured to work together.

  • How can firms’ satisfy client expectations that AI is embedded in firm operations?

  • Firms need to amend Outside Counsel Guidelines to add AI compliance to the list of conditions to be satisfied.

  • What are the best uses of AI for your firm in middle and back-office situations?

    • Billing and collections?  Write-offs?

    • Marketing and client intelligence?

    • Communications, press releases?

    • Delivering ROI?

    • Structuring AFAs?

    • Business and financial management processes?

  • How to Calculate ROI, while pricing in the cost of AI.  How to measure usage of AI in firm operations and with clients.

  • How do you sell the partners on investing in AI for internal operation uses?

  • What are examples of internal operations use cases?

  • What solutions can you build internally?

  • What departments and what functions are best suited for internal uses of AI (finance, billing and collections, business development, collaboration)?

  • How are law firm lawyers using AI (partners, business executives, associates, paralegals)

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How Are Clients Using AI?

Clients use AI differently than law firms.  They have different incentives in-house.  Working with company business units involves a very different value proposition.  Understanding the different incentives and how in-house lawyers work with AI is important for law firms value proposition.

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Faculty:

Amol Bargaje, Global Chief Innovation Officer, Mayer Brown LLP, Chicago

Barclay Blair, Senior Managing Director, AI Innovation Lead, DLA Piper, New York

Joel Blumenfeld, Senior Legal Counsel – AI, AbbVie Inc., Chicago

Murray Coffey, Chief of Staff and Senior Strategic Advisor, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Chicago

Todd Friedlich, Director of Knowledge Management and Practice Innovation, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, New York

Eric Haas, Chief Information Officer, Saul Ewing LLP, Boston 

Daniel W. Linna Jr., Northwestern Pritzker School of Law & McCormick School of Engineering,

Senior Lecturer & Director of Law and Technology Initiatives, CodeX – The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, Affiliated Faculty, Chicago

Silvia LeBlanc, Senior Director of Knowledge Management, McDermott Will & Schulte LLP, New York

Cara Mowen, Associate General Counsel - Global Cyber & Privacy Americas Managing Counsel, Aon, Chicago

Dina Panfil, Chief Financial Officer, Jenner & Block LLP, Chicago

Mike Raposa, SVP - Chief Revenue Officer, Williams Lea by RRD, Boston

Carol Rubin, Chief Operating Officer, Jenner & Block LLP, Chicago

Tisha L. Swihart, Chief Financial Officer, Dykema Gossett PLLC, Chicago

Who Should Attend?

Executive Committee Members, Partners, Heads of Innovation, Heads of AI, COOs, CFOs, CIOs, CTOs, C-Level Heads of Recruiting, Business Development, Chief Knowledge Management Officers, Directors of Administration, Directors of Conflict Checking

Program Highlights

8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CT program

 

Panel 1: Strategy for Embedding AI in Law Firm Operations; AI Infrastructure

  • Data Management

    • Data readiness; curating data

    • CLOUD and technology architecture

  • Data Governance

    • Outside counsel guidelines

    • Who makes data governance decisions

  • Innovation strategy, build or buy?

 

Panel 2: AI and the Revenue Cycle

  • Interacting with clients; primary issues

  • Process improvements and refinements

  • Intake and in-boarding

  • Review, compliance and conflict checking using AI tools

  • Staffing, outsourcing

 

Panel 3: Supporting legal operations, and legal practice

  • Build or buy?

  • Core productivity platforms (Copilot vs. Harvey vs. Legora)

  • Marketing, client intelligence, business development

    • Recruiting and hiring

  • Communications

  • Pricing, billing & collections

    • Billing lifecycle

    • Quantifying risk

 

Panel 4: Justifying the Investment: From overhead to value creation

  • Pricing, profitability and ROI of AI solutions.  Measuring usage.

  • Client expectations on cost

  • Maintaining a competitive advantage

  • AFAs and alternative fee arrangements

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Panel 5: How Clients are Using AI to Work with Law Firms

  • Client perspective on AI in legal operation in-house

  • AFAs.  How clients need to be certain the financial information in AFAs are transparent

  • Collaboration with law firm partners and business leaders

© 2024 by Sandpiper Partners, LLC​

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