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Sarah Irwin discusses how AI is powering in-house legal work and how she forged her own business at the point where technology and the law meet.
For Sarah Irwin, the CEO and founder of Irish Tech General Counsel (ITGC), a community builder for in-house legal teams, Ireland has mass potential for success at the intersection of technology and the law.
As a global hub and centre of excellence for big tech and pharma, as well as home to a number of unicorns and scaling tech companies, it is “therefore a global hub and centre of excellence for law too”, she told SiliconRepublic.com. “The lawyers working inside those businesses, to operationalise a lean, modern legal function through AI and technology, are enabling fast growth which impacts our economy and the talent we attract here.”
A self-described ‘solopreneur’, Irwin recognised that in a changing world, the traditional methods used to deliver legal services simply weren’t cutting it anymore. Leveraging the strategies at her disposal, such as legal technology, legal operations, automation and data analytics, she built a lean and efficient team to address the issue.
“We had five unicorns in Ireland at the time but no community for the lawyers working inside those businesses wanting to work as modern business partners and be more than just a cost centre, so I set one up myself, ITGC.” This blend of entrepreneurship, law and technology enabled Irwin to connect in-house legal teams with the necessary tools, resources and support needed for modern operations.
AI transformation
An early challenge for Irwin was disabusing others of the misconception that in-house lawyers are a financial drain, the ‘department of no’, and somewhat ‘less than’ when compared to firm-based lawyers and she became an advocate for representing herself and others as strong, savvy business leaders.
According to Irwin, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to power in-house legal work has shown in-house lawyers as modern business professionals and allows in-house legal functions to run “like a business within a business”.
“The majority are using it to power faster contracting processes so they aren’t a blocker to business growth and to minimise their risk of burnout caused by high volume repetitive, manual work. For instance, to redline, negotiate and close contracts faster,” she explained.
Additionally, it is being used to complete classic legal work, for example research, regulatory updates, memo preparation and decks for stakeholder meetings, as well as to track KPIs via data analytics. More importantly, for Irwin, it has greatly reduced instances of chronic burnout, which she says is an issue endemic to the profession.
“AI and advanced technologies are replacing a ton of boring, manual, burnout-inducing work and freeing up our time for higher value work that shows where and how we support business growth. We are at the start of an exciting new era of legal practice where lawyers are proactively positioning themselves as strong business partners/leaders and using technology to prove that,” she said.
Risk and opportunity
AI technologies are not without risk, particularly as many now view them as an alternative to other, less speedy forms of research, raising questions about accuracy and inherent bias. But, as explained by Irwin, that is why we have the EU AI Act and the forthcoming AI Liability Directive, to manage the risk involved in procuring or deploying AI-based technologies.
“Many businesses were quick to jump to some kind of AI feature or product to keep up with the market and their competitors, without really considering if they needed to, or thinking about the possible downsides around security and not having the right technical and organisational measures in place, so there was a lot of legal scrambling to get control of that from a risk perspective.”
She explained risk can be mitigated by ensuring a robust AI governance strategy, as well as collaboration between cross-functional stakeholders and of course, the right advisors.
“Lawyers play a key role in leading here, not just talking about risk and saying no, but tempering the wider business and making sure AI is created and deployed thoughtfully. It’s actually a terrific opportunity for in-house lawyers to own a project that will position them as strong business leaders.
“And then you have people like me that also work at that intersection – not only do I connect lawyers in Ireland with the tech they need to shape our future here, but I am extremely vocal in shining a light on Ireland as a global legal centre of excellence.”
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