Axiom Insights on Legal Services

Richard Tromans, founder of ArtificialLawyer.com, explains why legal AI's real barrier isn't the technology. It's the business model built to sell time. He traces how "new model" law firms are proliferating without the billable-hour pyramid, why 20-30% of outside counsel work could shift back in-house, and why GCs interrogating law firms about their AI use are exposing how few can answer. His advice: Triage before you renegotiate your panel. Tromans also unpacks why eye-popping venture capital rounds for legal AI companies say more about investor appetite than value delivered, and why legal AI could become as unremarkable as a laptop computer within a decade.

Show Panelists

• Richard Tromans, Founder and Editor, ArtificialLawyer.com • Daniel Hayter, Managing Director and VP of Axiom in Europe

Key Topics

1. Why business models, not technology, are legal AI's real obstacle 2. How "new model" law firms are rewriting the profession without partners or billable hours 3. The share of outside counsel work that could move back in-house 4. Why valuations are more hype than value 5. How the Jevons paradox means AI creates more legal work, not less 6. When using AI will feel as unremarkable as using a laptop PC 7. What general counsel should start, stop, or stop believing about legal AI

Episode Resources

• Visit Artificial Lawyer • Learn more about Technology & AI at Axiom • Visit AxiomLaw.com • Subscribe to the Axiom Insights Podcast

DISCLAIMER: Axiom is a provider of legal talent and is not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. The information contained in these videos is merely legal information, not advice. Our clients' legal teams supervise the legal work of the Axiom lawyer. Viewing this video does not create an attorney/client relationship.

Global regulatory strategist Crispin Passmore joins Axiom's Daniel Hayter to examine how AI and capital are forcing legal regulation to evolve—fast. From unauthorized practice rules that block client-centered services in the US, to AI efficiency charges appearing on law firm invoices, to structural reform opening global law firms to outside capital, Passmore maps where regulation is enabling innovation, where it stands in the way, and how GCs can leverage these trends to their advantage right now.

Show Panelists

• Daniel Hayter is Managing Director and VP of Axiom in Europe
• Crispin Passmore is Founder and Chair of Passmore and Oliver Partners, a specialist global legal services strategy and regulation consultancy headquartered in the UK, and one of the foremost experts on legal services regulation globally

Key Topics

1. Why the legal market may have finally hit the inflection point reformers predicted for decades
2. Why an AI efficiency charge on a law firm invoice reveals a deeper transparency problem, not just a billing quirk
3. How England and Wales moved first on legal market reform in 2007—and what the US can learn 15 years later
4. Where AI is accelerating regulatory pressure, and why regimes that don't adapt risk becoming irrelevant
5. Why routine legal work is where AI disruption hits first, and what that means for how regulation should respond
6. Why AI efficiency charges on client bills echo the old LexisNexis research fee debates
7. What "get big, get niche, or get out" means for mid-market firms caught between giants and specialists
8. Why GC panels are shrinking even as law firm rates keep climbing
9. How equity structures, not salaries, may solve talent retention in a world without non-competes
10. Why data and insights, not legal advice, could be the next great differentiator for providers

Episode Resources

• Visit Passmore and Oliver Partners website
• Learn more about Data Privacy & Cybersecurity at Axiom
• Learn more about Legal Operations at Axiom
• Learn more about Regulatory & Compliance at Axiom
• Learn more about Technology & AI at Axiom
• Visit AxiomLaw.com
• Subscribe to the Axiom Insights Podcast

DISCLAIMER: Axiom is a provider of legal talent and is not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. The information contained in these videos is merely legal information, not advice. Our clients' legal teams supervise the legal work of the Axiom lawyer. Viewing this video does not create an attorney/client relationship.

Rob Keller, Associate General Counsel at Cisco, joins Sara Morgan, CRO at Axiom and host of today's Axiom Insights show, to make a counterintuitive case: Data governance is legally more significant than AI itself.

Overseeing Cisco's product legal for $24B in annual revenue, Rob explains why GCs should prioritize overlapping EU regulations without stalling launches, why legal should be involved in product development years earlier, what good AI vendor diligence looks like, and two near-term items GCs should ensure they're not missing: California AB 2013 and EU high-risk AI use case directives, due this summer.

Cisco's legal department exceeds 500 professionals and fields dedicated AI governance and government compliance teams—a scale that's clearly pushing the upper-end of in-house legal functions. For leaner legal departments navigating the same regulatory wave, Rob recommends leaning on outside expertise and scaling up through partner resources for high-volume compliance work: contract review, repapering, and policy updates. Today's episode also addresses how geopolitical instability is reshaping data sovereignty strategy globally.

Show Panelists

• Rob Keller, Senior Director of Legal and Associate General Counsel, Cisco
• Sara Morgan, Chief Revenue Officer, Axiom

Key Topics

1. Why data governance is more legally significant than AI, despite all the AI noise
2. How to sequence EU regulatory compliance without stalling product launches
3. Why legal must enter product development years before launch, not at the 11th hour
4. What GCs should demand in AI vendor contracts to protect data and mitigate training risk
5. How geopolitical instability is forcing a rethink of data sovereignty and cloud strategy
6. The near-term regulations GCs are underestimating when compliance is due, and how to get ready

Episode Resources

• Visit Cisco's website
• Learn more about Axiom Tech+Talent
• Learn more about Legal Operations at Axiom
• Learn more about Data Privacy & Cybersecurity at Axiom
• Learn more about Regulatory & Compliance at Axiom
• Learn more about Technology & AI at Axiom
• Visit AxiomLaw.com
• Subscribe to the Axiom Insights Podcast

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of Rob Keller in his personal capacity and do not represent or reflect the views, positions, or official statements of Cisco Systems, Inc. or any of its affiliates.

DISCLAIMER: Axiom is a provider of legal talent and is not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. The information contained in these videos is merely legal information, not advice. Our clients' legal teams supervise the legal work of the Axiom lawyer. Viewing this video does not create an attorney/client relationship.

Richard Susskind, world-renowned author of "How to Think About AI," joins Axiom's Daniel Hayter and CJ Saretto for a lively discussion on how AGI will shape the future of lawyers and legal work. Susskind argues GCs must run short-term efficiency programs while building parallel teams planning for the 2030s—when AI moves legal expertise inside the product, not the department, and law firms' clients become the competition. His call to action: Stop automating existing work; build systems that eliminate the need for it.

Susskind draws on 45 years in AI and research across eight professions to frame legal as among the most technology-resistant fields and the most exposed. He introduces "incremental transformation" as a planning framework, previews compliance becoming embedded in operational systems, and offers a practical starting point: mandate daily AI use before investing in formal pilots; lean in.

• Richard Susskind, Author, Speaker & Independent Adviser; President, Society for Computers and Law; Professor, Oxford University and Strathclyde University
• Daniel Hayter, Managing Director & VP of Europe, Axiom
• CJ Saretto, Chief Technology Officer, Axiom

1. Why GCs should plan for AGI now—even if its arrival remains uncertain
2. How short-term AI efficiency gains differ fundamentally from 2030s legal transformation
3. What "preventative lawyering" means and why in-house teams should build toward it
4. Why in-house legal departments, not law firms, are leading AI adoption today
5. How GCs can assess whether a law firm's AI commitment is genuine or just PR
6. When human supervision of AI systems may no longer make sense for legal work

Episode Resources

• Visit Richard Susskind's website
• Richard Susskind's latest book: How to Think About AI: A Guide for the Perplexed
• Learn more about Axiom Tech+Talent
• Learn more about Legal Operations at Axiom
• Learn more about Data Privacy & Cybersecurity at Axiom
• Learn more about Regulatory & Compliance at Axiom
• Learn more about Technology & AI at Axiom
• Visit AxiomLaw.com
• Subscribe to the Axiom Insights Podcast

DISCLAIMER: Axiom is a provider of legal talent and is not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. The information contained in these videos is merely legal information, not advice. Our clients' legal teams supervise the legal work of the Axiom lawyer. Viewing this video does not create an attorney/client relationship.

Sri Daita, Director of Legal Operations Technology at PayPal, joins show host CJ Saretto, Axiom's CTO, for a deep dive into how PayPal's legal ops team is accelerating driving a comprehensive AI transformation across four major workstreams: contracting, e-billing, matter management, and advice workflows.

Early successes include enabling the business to use AI-suggested contract redlines for low-risk agreements without legal touch. Attorneys can now compress weeks of regulatory analysis into minutes. Invoices can get holistic reviews across law firm, ALSP, and other provider relationships. Matters can have automated summaries, while litigation leaders can get answers to case status questions using natural language. Oh, and the legal budget and spend can be tracked in real-time. And that's just for starters.

Listen in to learn how PayPal's in-house team is getting its arms around legal AI fast, speeding deployments, generating team enthusiasm, and reaping impressive results in the process through quick wins and strategic pilot scaling.

Show Panelists

• Sri Daita is Director of Legal Operations Technology at PayPal and leads their AI transformation program, overseeing the implementation of AI-powered solutions across the company's in-house legal department.
• CJ Saretto is CTO of Axiom, and host of Axiom's Legal Tech podcast.

Key Topics

1. Why "wait a year" kills AI transformation programs before they start
2. How PayPal turbo-charged legal AI deployment
3. Why 150+ stakeholder interviews proved essential to success
4. What "without legal touch" means for business user contract redlines—and how to mitigate risk
5. When three-week-to-minutes time savings create unexpected adoption challenges
6. How manual pivot tables revealed the need for real-time AI budget tracking
7. What happens when litigation leaders query AI instead of their teams
8. How holistic invoice review catches risks individual rules miss
9. Why AI vendors rapidly upgrading their tools matters for legal buyers
10. Where the line is between AI assistance and fully automated workflows

Episode Resources

• Visit PayPal.com (https://www.paypal.com/us/home)
• Learn more about Technology & AI at Axiom (https://www.axiomlaw.com/practice-areas/technology-ai)
• Learn more about Data Privacy & Cybersecurity at Axiom (https://www.axiomlaw.com/practice-areas/data-privacy-cybersecurity)
• Learn more about Regulatory & Compliance at Axiom (https://www.axiomlaw.com/practice-areas/regulatory-compliance)
• Learn more about Legal Operations at Axiom (https://www.axiomlaw.com/practice-areas/legal-operations-support)
• Learn more about Axiom Tech+Talent (https://www.axiomlaw.com/solutions/tech-plus-talent)
• Visit AxiomLaw.com (https://www.axiomlaw.com)
• Subscribe to the Axiom Insights Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axiom-insights-on-legal-services/id1842354058)

DISCLAIMER: Axiom is a provider of legal talent and is not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. The information contained in these videos is merely legal information, not advice. Our clients' legal teams supervise the legal work of the Axiom lawyer. Viewing this video does not create an attorney/client relationship.

Join CJ Saretto as he corrals Peter Duffy of Titans Legal, Alex Fortescue-Webb of Legora, and Chris Frickland of Axiom for an inside look at running successful AI pilots in legal organizations. After helping Axiom test dozens of tools and compress months of contract review work into days, this group of legal AI experts unlocked the secret to achieving 10x efficiency gains that few in-house teams know.

In today's episode, learn why 14-day trials doom AI adoption before it starts, why training your AI on thousands of past contracts degrades does the exact opposite of what lawyers expect it to do (get smarter; but no, it gets dumber), and how focusing on one specific use case beats trying to solve everything at once.

The panel shares hard-won insights from their innovative structured 8-week pilot program, including why dummy data kills engagement, how vendor engagement and support makes or breaks adoption, and why it's crucial to give your lawyers 3-6 weeks to build new habits around AI tools.

Whether you're a GC evaluating generative AI tools, a legal ops leader running pilots, or a law firm partner wondering about how to measure ROI, this conversation offers field-tested strategies for what drives AI adoption in legal settings vs. expensive experimentation.

• Host: CJ Saretto, Chief Technology Officer, Axiom
• Peter Duffy, CEO and Co-founder, Titans Legal
• Alex Fortescue-Webb, Global Head of Engineering, Legora
• Chris Frickland, Director of AI, Axiom

1. Pilot Duration and Structure
2. Training and Education Approaches
3. Tool Selection Criteria
4. Use Case Identification
5. Adoption Challenges and Support
6. Future Impact on Legal Work
7. Technology Market Assessment
8. Specific Tool Implementation
9. Measuring Success and Outcomes
10. Real-World Results and Efficiency Gains
11. Organizational Rollout Strategy
12. Client Perspectives and Demands

Episode Resources

• Visit DraftPilot's website
• Visit Legora's website
• Visit Titans Legal's website
• Learn more about Axiom Tech+Talent
• Learn more about Legal Operations at Axiom
• Learn more about Data Privacy & Cybersecurity at Axiom
• Learn more about Regulatory & Compliance at Axiom
• Learn more about Technology & AI at Axiom
• Visit AxiomLaw.com
• Subscribe to the Axiom Insights Podcast

DISCLAIMER: Axiom is a provider of legal talent and is not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. The information contained in these videos is merely legal information, not advice. Our clients' legal teams supervise the legal work of the Axiom lawyer. Viewing this video does not create an attorney/client relationship.

Join CJ Saretto as he sits down with Daniel van Binsbergen, CEO of DraftPilot, for a candid conversation about the AI revolution in legal tech.

After running an ALSP for 10 years, applying the scientific method to contract redlining (including timing working lawyers with stopwatches), Daniel discovered the true impact today's AI has on contract work: reducing redlining from 2.5 hours to 20 minutes.

In this episode, learn why large language models (LLMs) succeeded where machine learning (ML) failed, why training on thousands of past contracts actually makes AI results worse, and how a simple "light blue highlight" became the killer feature that won over the most skeptical lawyers.

Daniel shares surprising insights from his journey from Big Law to legal AI tech entrepreneur, including why he resisted building an "apply all" recommendations button despite many requests, and how lawyers using AI well are already outpacing those who don't.

Whether you're a CLO or GC evaluating AI tools; a lawyer curious about the technology, or a legal ops professional looking to drive team efficiency, this conversation will give you practical insights on what actually works in AI-powered contract negotiation—and what's just blue-sky hype.

Show Panelists

• Host: CJ Saretto, CTO of Axiom
• Daniel van Binsbergen, CEO of DraftPilot

Key topics

1. LLMs vs machine learning in legal tech
2. The playbook revolution
3. Why historical data doesn't help
4. Building AI lawyers will actually use
5. The future of human judgment in an AI world
6. and more!

Episode Resources

• Visit DraftPilot.ai
• Learn more about Axiom Tech+Talent
• Learn more about Legal Operations at Axiom
• Learn more about Data Privacy & Cybersecurity at Axiom
• Learn more about Regulatory & Compliance at Axiom
• Learn more about Technology & AI at Axiom
• Visit AxiomLaw.com
• Subscribe to the Axiom Insights Podcast

DISCLAIMER: Axiom is a provider of legal talent and is not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. The information contained in these videos is merely legal information, not advice. Our clients' legal teams supervise the legal work of the Axiom lawyer. Viewing this video does not create an attorney/client relationship.

Axiom's Sean Rafter connects with Hiro Oshima, Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel at SMBC, to explore the pressing challenges legal departments face as they balance pressure to adopt AI with their responsibility to manage risk.

Fresh from hosting 35 in-house counsel at an AI roundtable in New York City, Hiro discusses what true generative AI means for lawyers, why training future legal talent matters more than short-term efficiency gains, and what are the right questions to ask law firms and legal services partners about their AI use on client matters.

Today's show is packed with practical insights for legal leaders navigating AI adoption in heavily regulated industries. Hiro shares candid perspectives on measuring ROI, evaluating legal tech vendors, partnering with alternative legal service providers, and ensuring AI amplifies rather than replaces human judgment. The discussion tackles everything from law firm billing practices to law school curriculum changes in an AI-enabled world.

Show Panelists

• Host: Sean Rafter, VP and head of Axiom's financial services business
• Hiro Oshima, Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel at SMBC, overseeing approximately 50 attorneys and covering commercial banking, emerging issues including ESG, cyber, AI, and financial crime compliance. Hiro has been with SMBC for over 23 years.

Key Topics

1. Why legal departments aren't seeing AI-driven reductions in law firm billing
2. Exploring the disconnect between law firm AI adoption and client cost savings. Are efficiency gains being passed along to clients?
3. The difference between true generative AI and automation tools
4. Determining whether most legal AI applications are really using generative AI or simply extending existing automation technology with new branding
5. How to prevent AI from undermining the training of future lawyers
6. The shortsightedness of prioritizing efficiency over professional development, and how to ensure judgment and skills are gained by doing the actual work
7. When in-house teams should require client consent before their law firms use AI
8. How and why SMBC requires law firms to seek approval and validate their AI configurations, policies, and use cases before deploying AI tools on client work
9. How legal departments can measure AI ROI when there's no clear answers yet
10. Despite the lack of clear ROI metrics, legal teams can't afford to sit on the sidelines due to cost pressures and political realities
11. What makes alternative legal service providers a viable third option
12. How Axiom helps SMBC bring competent, AI-skilled lawyers in-house to hit the ground running for project-based and capacity needs without involving high costs, long pilots, or long-term hiring commitments
13. Why kindness is the most important career advice for legal leaders
14. Reflections on making tough decisions with kindness, and being mindful of lawyers' job security concerns during the GenAI revolution
15. How lawyers should view their job security in an AI-enabled future
16. Lawyers losing jobs to AI is less likely than lawyers losing opportunities to colleagues who master AI tools—and why lawyers are more necessary now than ever

Episode Resources

• Visit SMBC Group's website
• Learn more about Axiom's Financial Services Practice
• Learn more about Axiom Tech+Talent
• Learn more about Legal Operations at Axiom
• Learn more about Data Privacy & Cybersecurity at Axiom
• Learn more about Regulatory & Compliance at Axiom
• Learn more about Technology & AI at Axiom
• Visit AxiomLaw.com
• Subscribe to the Axiom Insights Podcast

DISCLAIMER: Axiom is a provider of legal talent and is not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. The information contained in these videos is merely legal information, not advice. Our clients' legal teams supervise the legal work of the Axiom lawyer. Viewing this video does not create an attorney/client relationship.