Graeme Grovum, Head of Legal Engineering, APAC, Legora, in an exclusive interview with ETLegalWorld, discusses the evolving adoption of AI by in-house legal teams, the growing use of AI in transactional and disputes work, and the need for lawyers to retain control over AI-generated outputs.
ETLegalWorld: Your comments on Legora’s exclusive roundtable discussion and the First Edition of the AI Transformation Legal Summit 2026?
Graeme Grovum: It’s been an exceptional event. I’ve been incredibly impressed by the caliber of the responses that we’ve had. So within the round table specifically, the maturity of the approach that many of the people in the round table were describing has been second to none in my experience. I think the event itself has really kind of carried that theme through as well. So it’s been very, very impressive to actually be able to see exactly where things are going.I think it really frames up the kind of complexity that in-house teams are dealing with these days as well. So where two years ago it was sufficient to be able to ask questions about whether we’re using AI, we are seeing a very different kind of complexion now where it’s not sufficient to ask and think about using AI. It’s now we are using AI, how are we using it best? And how are we actually making sure that we are identifying we are getting return on investment for it?
ETLegalWorld: How do you see AI adoption evolving for in-house legal teams, and which functions are embracing it the fastest?
Graeme Grovum: So i think that beachhead there really is transactional work by and large, and we’ve done some really impressive things recently in terms of being able to bring in content that’s through our integrations with Datasite, for example, and other BDR style of approaches. And so that’s probably the biggest area where we add value. The quickest growing area, however, is in the dispute side, bar none.
So we are seeing, I think, a relative shift in terms of understanding of the value add that Legora brings to disputes practitioners as well. And that’s nowhere more evident than in the recently announced acquisition of Wexler that we’ve made, which again is our fifth acquisition of the year and really a good indicator of just how quickly we’re growing to serve our market as it grows as well.
ETLegalWorld: How does Legora help lawyers use AI while ensuring accuracy, reliability, and that they retain control over the final work product?
Graeme Grovum: It’s a great question and it’s a fundamental precept of Legora that we are an assistant to our lawyers. There is no delegation of authority ever. We make it incredibly easy for lawyers to validate the veracity of underlying information when using our platform. From our citation system is a great example.
In every instance where Legora is providing an answer or a piece of information back to the user, we are also providing a very quick and elegant way of going and confirming that the underlying information supports the statement that is being provided.
ETLegalWorld: What is the biggest misconception lawyers still have about legal AI, and what feedback from users has most influenced Legora’s product development?
Graeme Grovum: I think the biggest myth is that AI replaces lawyers and lawyer specialization. What we see, and this is a direct quote from one of our clients, is that it scales specialization. So what you were able to do on a limited basis before with the use of artificial intelligence, you can reach out to a much broader audience than you previously would have. So instead of replacing lawyers, we’re augmenting lawyers. We’re making them able to deliver their expertise to a much broader audience than they previously would have been able to.
ETLegalWorld: Looking ahead, what do you see as the next major area of legal work where AI adoption will accelerate, and how is Legora preparing for it?
Graeme Grovum: I think one of the more recent things that we’ve seen, and this was an earlier acquisition that we made this year of GraceView, is horizon scanning. And that is something that is fundamental to in-house teams, regardless of where they are. Regardless of the geographies, it’s really, really important to have a good broad understanding of what is coming in terms of legislative change and regulatory updates.
And so that’s one area, I think. But one of the great things about working in this industry is that we are working with our clients. And so as our clients needs change and grow, we are changing and growing with them. And it’s a very exciting prospect to be able to work hand in glove with our clients to make sure that they’re delivering their legal services in the best way that they possibly can.
ETLegalWorld: What are the key industry trends that stakeholders should be optimistic about, and which trends warrant caution?
Graeme Grovum: I’ll talk about a few. So in terms of good trends, the increase in sophistication of our clients and of the market generally is doing wonders. I think one of the less good trends, if you want to think about it that way, is the influx and increase in synthetic data. So it is now so easy to create artificial information that we are at risk, I think, of creating a lot of information that not everyone has time to get across. I think those two things play well together though.
And I think as we become more sophisticated users of artificial intelligence, we’re able to parse out the information that matters from those pieces of information as well. And of course, tying it back to Legora, that’s one of the main purposes of the product is that we can assist with that.
ETLegalWorld: What are the two key suggestions you would offer to law firms or in-house legal teams deploying AI in their legal functions?
Graeme Grovum: Find the pain points. Find the areas that matter to you that make a difference immediately and tackle those first. You don’t need to solve the entire businesses or the entire firms problems at once. Solve small problems and get bigger.
You will be surprised by putting the tools directly in the hands of the people that are doing the work, just what they can do with it, and you need to let them have the opportunity to do that.
