How AI is reshaping the legal profession

Artificial intelligence is transforming the legal profession, changing how lawyers work and the skills they need. While AI can quickly handle tasks like research and drafting, human judgment and context remain essential. Lawyers who adopt AI are likely to gain a competitive edge.

PETALING JAYA: Lawyers today are no longer competing only with each other. Increasingly, they are working alongside – and against – machines capable of retrieving, summarising and drafting legal material in seconds.

The profession is being fundamentally reshaped by artificial intelligence (AI), prompting a reassessment of what it means to be a lawyer and which skills will matter in an AI-driven world.

Despite the rapid advancement, BAC Education Group co-founder and chief future officer Raja Singham said a strong grounding in law remains essential.

“That depth of knowledge forms the vertical bar of what we call the T-shaped professional,” he said at the AI & Law Forum here on Monday.

“Alongside that, lawyers need breadth – an understanding of technology, business, psychology and ethics.”

AI, he added, is accelerating this shift by making technical and interdisciplinary knowledge increasingly indispensable.

“Today, it is no longer enough to understand the law in isolation,” said Raja.

“Clients often complain that lawyers advise strictly according to the letter of the law, without appreciating business realities.

“AI will not replace lawyers, but lawyers who use AI will replace those who do not.”

While such claims may be overstated, there is little doubt that AI is significantly increasing efficiency. Routine legal tasks can now be completed in a fraction of the time, raising expectations for speed and productivity across the profession.

However, Raja cautioned that AI-generated outputs, while often legally sound, may lack context, nuance and an understanding of commercial consequences.

“That is where the modern lawyer must differentiate,” he said, pointing to judgment and strategic thinking as key human advantages.

Rather than resisting change, Raja argued that AI should be embedded within legal education.

“We want to fully embrace AI and ensure our students use it across their training – from legal research and drafting to mooting and simulations,” he said.

In practical terms, this reduces the time spent on foundational tasks such as locating cases or drafting initial documents. The emphasis, he said, should shift to refining AI-generated work, identifying errors or “hallucinations”, and applying legal reasoning to real-world scenarios.

In this way, AI becomes not just a tool, but a training partner that accelerates both learning and efficiency.

In a recent report, Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh raised concerns about young lawyers becoming overly reliant on AI.

He said technology cannot weigh compassion or exercise conscience, and is not capable of understanding the human story behind every legal case.

While AI is used in legal research, contract analysis, predictive analytics and even judicial decision-making, he said it cannot replace the essence of what lawyers and judges do.

During the talk, Raja also introduced the idea that, alongside the rule of law, the “speed of law” is becoming increasingly relevant – reflecting how quickly legal services are now expected to be delivered.

In this changing landscape, Raja said a law degree should be viewed as a foundation rather than a fixed career path.

AI is expanding opportunities beyond traditional practice, with graduates moving into roles where legal knowledge intersects with technology, data and governance. These include cybersecurity and data protection, sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG), corporate governance and compliance, and human resources.

By lowering barriers to specialised knowledge, AI is enabling individuals to perform tasks that previously required entire teams. However, this also raises expectations.

“With AI handling routine work, professionals must offer something more – insight, ethics and strategic thinking,” he said.

Other speakers at the forum highlighted how AI is reshaping legal practice from multiple angles.

Microsoft Asean’s regional director for legal and government affairs, Jasmine Begum, said AI and cybersecurity are now core pillars of modern legal work. As policy and technical standards evolve faster than legislation, she noted, lawyers must increasingly act as “architects of norms”, advising on risk and governance even in the absence of clear precedent.

LexisNexis managing director Gayathri Raman highlighted the growing role of AI in legal research and data-driven decision-making, noting that it is transforming how lawyers analyse cases and advise clients.

Professor Thillai Raj T. Ramanathan pointed to the emergence of autonomous, “agentic” AI systems capable of planning and executing tasks, raising new questions around accountability and oversight.

Author Sen Ze highlighted the impact on client expectations, arguing that lawyers must better understand how clients perceive value, trust and advice in an AI-enabled environment.

Meanwhile, TrialSim founder and CEO Kris Charity demonstrated how AI-powered courtroom simulations are helping bridge the gap between theory and practice, enabling students to develop advocacy skills in realistic, high-pressure settings.

The message from the forum was clear: AI is not a distant prospect, but a present reality reshaping the legal profession.

While technology is transforming everything from research to courtroom preparation, human judgment, ethics and advocacy remain critical. Increasingly, these – rather than technical efficiency alone – will define professional value.

For lawyers, the question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how quickly and effectively it can be integrated into practice.

Those who adapt will move ahead. Those who do not will fall behind.