The future of law: rooted in strong foundations

Summary

• The efficiency revolution
• Levelling the playing field
• Managing the transition carefully
• Specialised practice applications
• The evolution of legal service delivery
• Maintaining quality amid quantity
• Innovation and experimentation, systemic challenges
• The path forward

Originally published by NZ Lawyer. Republished with permission.

From precedent to progress, LexisNexis New Zealand’s 111-year journey shows how both human connection and new AI-powered tools together strengthen the profession and rule of law.

The legal profession has always been built on relationships – between lawyer and client, between precedent and innovation, and between tradition and progress. For LexisNexis New Zealand, these relationships form the bedrock of a partnership that has endured for 111 years, weathering everything from paper-based research systems to today's artificial intelligence revolution.

"It's vital that we look at what's important for our customers and what's meaningful for them to become more effective and successful in their respective areas of practice," says Aya Riola, general manager at LexisNexis New Zealand.

But the company's commitment in the New Zealand market speaks to something deeper than mere commercial value. It reflects an understanding that while moving with the times is important, the underlying rationale for embracing change is all about empowering legal professionals to deliver better outcomes for their clients while strengthening the rule of law itself.

"Our success is down to a key factor, that customers are satisfied with the service we provide," Riola says. "We exist to serve our customers so that they can be exceptional in what they do best, to advance the rule of law."

This collaborative approach has become increasingly essential as the profession grapples with perhaps the most rapid period of technological change seen in the company’s history due to the profound impact of AI.

It is no secret that use of AI in the legal industry globally is exploding. A recent report from Relativity that included respondents from New Zealand found 50% of respondents indicating that their AI use has increased by an average of 43% over the past two years.

Against this ground shift, LexisNexis has maintained an ongoing dialogue with legal practitioners to help them evolve but also collaborate with the profession in shaping how legal technology can best be used to serve the profession and the wider public.

The efficiency revolution

The impact of artificial intelligence on legal practice locally has been transformational. Chris Patterson, an Auckland-based barrister, describes it as "the equivalent of the industrial revolution for the legal profession." This comparison captures both the scale of change and the opportunities it presents for forward-thinking practitioners.

Richard Little, partner at Eagles Eagles & Redpath, explains how AI has revolutionised one of law's most time-consuming activities: "Research is becoming a lot quicker and easier. The first few years of your legal career used to be particularly tough. Now, tools like Lexis Argument Analyser can recommend what you should be looking at and can bring that process down to a few minutes."

This efficiency gain has profound implications for legal service delivery. Eva Ho, principal at Focus Law, emphasises the competitive necessity of embracing these tools: "If you don't use AI, you're really going to be left behind, because you won't be as productive, as effective and as fast." Ho describes how Lexis+ AI has changed her practice structure: "I do not need to pore over hundreds of pages to find the supporting case law for my argument."

Levelling the playing field

One of AI's most significant contributions has been democratising access to sophisticated legal research capabilities. Mark Ford, counsel at Ford Sumner and chairman of Law Plus, has long championed the idea that firm size should not determine service quality: "I've always had the view that even if you're a small business, you should still be able to run with the big dogs." And adds "If you look at Lexis+ it gives you a whole new level of analysis.

Ford's vision is becoming reality through AI-powered tools. "Some of the most exciting possibilities of technology are for law firms as a business," he says. "This is particularly true for smaller firms who don't have the ability to install an expensive CRM system, for example. AI tools provide a real opportunity for these smaller firms to operate more professionally, effectively, and therefore profitably."

Caroline Rieger, founder and managing director of Black Door Law, demonstrates how technology enables practice expansion beyond traditional geographic constraints. Her employment law firm has grown from small town origins to national impact, with technology as a core enabler: "When I started the firm, technology was a huge driver. The theory was always, if you've got a laptop and you've got a cell phone, you can be 'in the office'."

Rieger's team exemplifies the profession's growing dependence on sophisticated research tools:

"Our team use LexisNexis daily, and that is where the magic happens. We're lawyers and what we do is we find all the relevant and interesting cases and then we apply them to the fact scenario that we've got, and without LexisNexis, we just couldn't do that."

Managing the transition carefully

Despite AI's clear benefits, the profession approaches adoption with appropriate caution. While technology is changing the day-to-day tasks of legal professionals, trust has become an issue across many industries as use of agentic AI grows. One global study showed that confidence in fully autonomous AI agents had dropped from 43% to 27% in the past year amidst privacy and ethical concerns, for example.

Law is no exception.

President of the NZ Bar Association, Paul David KC highlights the importance of maintaining professional standards: "We have all seen the rulings in the courts around the world where lawyers have misused AI and got into trouble. The underlying obligations of barristers have always been clear and simple – of course you can't mislead the court if you are working as an officer of the system. If you use a tool to do some of your work, you need to check that the results are sound."

Sumudu Thode, Criminal Bar Association New Zealand (CBANZ) vice president and principal of Thode Utting & Co. Barristers & Solicitors, recalls a case she saw that underscores why verification remains essential: "There was an example where cases were referred to that didn't exist. Something like that [in court] would be our worst nightmare."

The New Zealand Law Society has responded proactively to these challenges. Amanda Woodbridge, general manager representative services and strategy, explains the organisation's research initiative: "We know the profession is grappling with how to adopt AI, and how to manage some of the risks around it. We've had feedback from the profession stating how important issues like privacy, data security, hallucinations are, and we can see that it's moving very fast internationally."

LexisNexis addresses such concerns through a "human in the loop approach." In-house legal experts continuously evaluate the product's outputs, testing edge cases and refining responses. Indeed, blended teams – where humans and AI agents collaborate – are expected to become the norm across a range of industries, driving productivity and innovation.

Specialised practice applications

Different practice areas are experiencing AI adoption at varying speeds and in distinct ways. In construction law, where complexity and constant change create challenges, technology offers compelling advantages.

Michael Weatherall, Simpson Grierson partner and co-author of Kennedy-Grant and Weatherall on Construction Law in New Zealand, describes the sector's pace of change: "From a legal perspective, all aspects of construction law are changing month to month, let alone year to year. Standard form contracts are continuously being updated, and there's constant legislative change – and of course, the underlying law that feeds into construction law develops too."

This rapid evolution makes AI-assisted research particularly valuable. "What's happening now is the digitisation and automation of construction procurement processes, requests for proposals, requests for tender and all construction contracts," Weatherall explains.

Criminal law presents different opportunities and challenges. Annabel Cresswell, CBANZ president and barrister at Pohutukawa Chambers, sees AI's potential in document analysis: "We've started to use the AI tool on Adobe, which can summarise huge amounts of intercepts rather than us having to go through them – like clients talking to each other or clients who have their phone calls recorded from prison."

The intersection of technology and cultural diversity presents both opportunities and challenges for New Zealand's increasingly multicultural legal landscape. Mai Chen, barrister, highlights how demographic changes are reshaping legal practice: "When the Property Relationships Act was enacted, 1% of the population were Asian. Now it's getting towards 20%."

Chen sees AI as potentially democratising access to high-quality legal research: "If you're on legal aid, you can get access to the same powerful database and knowledge as someone in a big firm with a private client. I think it's a leveller." Chen recalls.

“With Lexis+ AI, I was sold on the first day. It corroborates the answers with statutes, cases and commentary.”

The evolution of legal service delivery

Technology is reshaping not just how lawyers work, but what clients expect from legal services. Claire Tyler, managing partner at Rainey Collins, reflects on how communication expectations have accelerated: "We used to open letters first thing in the morning, and people wouldn't expect a response until days later. This heightened pace means lawyers need to be especially mindful of setting realistic expectations for their clients—and for themselves."

“I’ve already seen a trial of Lexis Argument Analyser being put to use on one of our matters where it was able to give us a contrary view, which is what we wanted,” she explains. “It’s not just about making things easier – it’s about helping us see angles or details that we might not have noticed otherwise.”

Tyler emphasises that technology should enhance rather than replace the professional relationship: "Ultimately, the lawyer's job is to keep up a relationship of trust and confidence. The technology allows us to get all of the background in front of us so that we can properly consider it against the client's actual situation."

Little at Eagles Eagles & Redpath predicts further changes in how clients interact with legal services: "For example, if you want to draft a will, clients can go through an online form and fill out most details themselves, rather that attend two or three times to get basic information to the lawyer."

Maintaining quality amid quantity

One unintended consequence of AI's document production capabilities concerns Paul David KC: "It is now relatively easy to produce long documents using the various tools at our disposal. The product may not actually be that good, but it will usually look very impressive. This facility of production can make things harder not easier for everyone."

He advocates for discipline in document preparation: "Often what a case might need is less than 10 pages (may be even two pages) that are on point and good – something that is in fact harder to produce. The sheer volume and length of written documents makes it harder for lawyers and judges to do their jobs effectively and in good time."

This concern reflects broader questions about how AI should be integrated into professional workflows. David suggests technology should support better analysis rather than simply increase output volume: "Written submissions are certainly a significant benefit in summarising legal and factual argument, but much greater discipline needs to be applied in producing them. Technology used properly can help with this."

Innovation and experimentation, systemic challenges

The most successful technology adopters in the legal profession share a commitment to ongoing experimentation. Caroline Rieger at Black Door Law exemplifies this approach: "We constantly iterate our technology. We experiment with things. We've got an experiment happening at the moment within the team around a productivity tool... We've got what we call a 'fail fast, fail safe' culture and 'failure' is viewed as a lesson, and we experiment with technology as much as we can."

While AI offers significant opportunities for individual practitioners and firms, broader systemic challenges remain. Bronwyn Jones, general manager policy, courts and government at the Law Society, identifies multiple barriers to justice access: "Are people able to recognise that they have a legal issue, and can they access and understand the law that applies to their circumstances? And from there, are they able to get legal help, or are there financial, cultural, or language barriers?"

The Law Society recognises LexisNexis as a partner in addressing these challenges. "We're very grateful to LexisNexis for partnering with us to launch and promote our report, including by sharing insights into the work they do to strengthen the rule of law both in New Zealand, and overseas," Jones says.

Patterson highlights how technology could improve government service delivery: "Generally speaking, government departments are not renowned for identifying opportunities that technology can offer to deliver better and more efficient services."

He also notes the digital divide's impact on justice access: "Some members in our society do not have easy or any access to computers, and some who do, do not have sufficient knowledge to use them to gain access to the legal solutions they are seeking - and that's a problem."

The path forward

As the legal profession continues adapting to technological change, the relationship between practitioners and technology providers like LexisNexis becomes increasingly important. The company's platforms, including Lexis+ AI and Lexis Create+, represent the current state of legal technology while pointing toward future developments.

Richard Little anticipates continued evolution in lawyer-client relationships: "We're going to see lawyers who don't know a time without AI, and it'll be interesting to see how efficient they can become. I think we'll see some increased competition in terms of client ability to access lawyers throughout the country."

The profession's 111-year partnership with LexisNexis provides a foundation for navigating whatever changes lie ahead. As Dushan Delic, former director and partner at boutique law firm SD Legal, now a barrister, notes about transitioning to new ways of working: "Being independent means exactly that – you're on your own, and you need to be completely on top of things."

This collaborative spirit, combined with technological capability, positions New Zealand's legal profession to meet future challenges while maintaining the trust and expertise that clients require – but also underscores how change really will be constant in the years ahead.

With that in mind, a certain level of humility is key – something many lawyers already understand very well. Mai Chen, who has done so much in service of law in New Zealand, is a typical example of this: "It is wonderfully clear that the longer I practice, the more I realise how much I don't know," she says.

That humility, paired with curiosity about new tools and methods, may be the profession's greatest asset as it continues evolving alongside the technology that increasingly shapes its practice.

Lexis+ AI with Protégé – a personalised legal AI designed to help you make informed decisions faster and transform your legal work – has now launched in New Zealand and is available to legal professionals across the country.

Lexis^® Create+ - our breakthrough legal drafting solution seamlessly integrated into Microsoft Word 365. Designed to accelerate drafting, enhance quality and consistency, and boost productivity, Lexis Create+ empowers lawyers to deliver powerful, personalised work with a competitive edge.

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