Generative AI presents a significant opportunity for solo and small in-house legal teams to level the playing field and enhance their impact
General Counsel (GCs) and legal department leaders at small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are constantly seeking ways to maximize their impact despite limited resources. The emergence of generative AI (GenAI) presents a compelling opportunity for these teams to work smarter, not harder. As GCs explore the potential of GenAI, they must consider how to harness its power while addressing the unique challenges and constraints faced by SMB legal teams.
The whitepaper, Generative AI for in-house lawyers: Delivering maximum impact in small law departments, highlights how GenAI tools can help SMBs with limited legal resources to level the playing field by streamlining workflows, increasing productivity, and enhancing business support for in-house lawyers. These insights showcase the potential for GenAI to have a meaningful impact on these teams.
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Why SMB legal teams are exploring GenAI now
The promise of GenAI for SMB legal teams
Getting started with GenAI: Key considerations
Putting GenAI into practice: A path forward for SMB legal teams
Why SMB legal teams are exploring GenAI now
SMB legal teams are under increasing pressure to deliver high-quality work while managing limited budgets and broad responsibilities. GenAI offers a promising solution to this challenge. By automating routine tasks, providing expert insights, and enhancing decision-making, GenAI can help small legal teams achieve more with less. The current technological advancements and increased accessibility of GenAI tools have made it more feasible for small teams to adopt and integrate these technologies into their workflows.
The promise of GenAI for SMB legal teams
GenAI can be a game-changer for SMB legal teams, enabling them to streamline processes and enhance their overall impact. This frees up time for more strategic and high-value work. Some potential applications of GenAI include:
- Drafting and reviewing documents, such as contracts and briefs
- Summarizing complex information, like case law and regulatory updates
- Brainstorming and idea generation for policy development and strategic planning
- Identifying potential issues or risks
- Simplifying legalese
- Automating routine tasks
The main benefits of adopting GenAI for SMB legal teams include improved productivity and efficiency, enhanced decision-making capabilities, increased accuracy and reduced errors, and better risk management and compliance. By leveraging these benefits, SMB legal teams can position themselves as tech-forward business partners, driving value for their organizations.
Getting started with GenAI: Key considerations
As GCs begin to explore GenAI, they should keep the following best practices in mind to get the most out of their GenAI tools:
- Crafting precise prompts: Ensuring that prompts are clear, specific, and well-defined is vital to getting the most out of GenAI tools as the quality of the output generated is directly related to the quality of the input.
- Choosing the right tools: With a growing number of GenAI tools available, GCs must carefully evaluate their options to select the tools that best meet their needs. This includes considering factors like data security, ease of use, and integration with existing workflows.
- Data security and confidentiality: SMB legal teams must be mindful of the potential risks associated with GenAI, including data breaches and unauthorized access. GCs should ensure that their chosen GenAI tools have robust security measures in place to protect sensitive information.
In addition to these foundational best practices, GCs and legal department leaders should also promote continuous learning and adaptability within their legal teams as GenAI technologies quickly evolve. Encouraging regular knowledge-sharing sessions and staying engaged with industry developments can help teams anticipate new opportunities and challenges.
Moreover, collaborating with other business units experimenting with GenAI — such as HR, finance, or sales — can reveal innovative cross-functional applications and drive greater organizational value. By proactively seeking feedback on GenAI workflows and remaining open to iterative improvements, GCs can ensure that their legal departments not only keep pace with technological change but also become leaders in leveraging AI for strategic business advantage.
Putting GenAI into practice: A path forward for SMB legal teams
GenAI has the potential to be a game-changer for solo and small in-house legal teams. As GCs and legal department leaders at SMBs consider adopting GenAI, they should focus on the practical steps needed to get started. By understanding the potential applications of GenAI and being aware of the key considerations for its adoption, GCs can leverage GenAI to boost productivity, safeguard confidentiality, and drive efficiency in their legal departments. This involves not only selecting the right GenAI tools but also ensuring that their teams are equipped to use these tools effectively.
To learn more about how to maximize the benefits of GenAI and explore Thomson Reuters AI solutions with CoCounsel, read the full whitepaper.
