Heather Kidd
Senior Editor & Writer
at LawVu
Written by
Artificial intelligence is changing the legal profession at an extraordinary speed. At a recent panel discussion at LawVu’s London Connect conference, senior legal leaders explored how AI, automation, and rapid business change are reshaping legal careers. Despite the pace of disruption, their message was surprisingly consistent: the capabilities that will matter most are remarkably human.
The legal professionals who thrive over the next decade will not necessarily be those who know the most law or the most technology. They will be those who understand their businesses, exercise sound judgment, adapt to change, navigate uncertainty, and continue learning throughout their careers.
Technology may transform how legal work gets done, but human judgment will remain the differentiator.
From legal expertise to business impact
For generations, legal careers were built on technical expertise. Today, legal leaders are looking for something more.
As Katja Fenton, General Counsel at Fugro, explained, one of the most important qualities she looks for when hiring is sound commercial judgment. “Having the ability to understand the context in which you’re operating and then using the information that is being thrown at you, often at a fast pace, and to be able to take a step back and apply really good commercial judgment is something that I think will become more and more necessary.”
Businesses increasingly need lawyers who can connect legal considerations to commercial outcomes. They want advisors who understand strategic objectives, customer expectations, operational realities, and competitive pressures.
“It’s not good enough anymore just to have a deep knowledge of the law,” Fenton said. “You need to be able to put yourself in the context of the business.”
As information becomes more accessible and technology accelerates legal analysis, the challenge is no longer simply finding answers. It is knowing which answers matter and what should be done with them. That is where judgment lives.
Why trust becomes the ultimate differentiator
The increasing importance of judgment elevates another critical capability: trust. The most influential lawyers are rarely the people with all the answers. They are the people others trust when the answers are unclear.
Trust is built through commercial understanding, credibility, consistency, and sound decision making. It grows when legal professionals demonstrate that they understand not only the law but also the realities facing the business; it becomes especially important during periods of uncertainty.
Reflecting on her own career, Fenton said one of the biggest lessons she has learned is that lawyers do not always need to have every answer. “When things go wrong, everybody is stressed and they’ll all look to the GC and they’ll say, ‘What do we do?'”
Rather than providing instant certainty, she believes the most valuable contribution a legal leader can make is maintaining perspective. “The biggest thing that you need to bring to the role is being able to maintain a level of calm, and try to work through the stress that everybody else is feeling to find a direction.”
Technology can generate information. Trust is earned person by person.
Curiosity is a driver of growth
If commercial judgment is the destination, curiosity is often how lawyers get there. And the panelists viewed curiosity as a defining characteristic of successful legal professionals. Not curiosity about legal developments alone, but curiosity about the business itself.
The lawyers who create the greatest value are often those who understand how products work, what customers care about, where revenue comes from, and which strategic priorities drive decision-making across the organization.
Curiosity also underpins adaptability. The most successful legal professionals are often those willing to explore unfamiliar territory, challenge their assumptions, and continuously expand their understanding of the business.
As Hamraj Gulamali, Head of Legal and Compliance at Zinc, observed, the pace of change increasingly rewards people who are prepared to experiment, learn, and occasionally get things wrong. “What I’m seeing most effectively in my team, the things that I’m looking for most, are the people who are actually willing to fail, people who are willing to get things wrong.”
Lawyers are trained to avoid mistakes. Precision and certainty are deeply embedded in legal education and professional practice. Modern organizations, however, increasingly expect teams to test ideas, learn quickly, and adapt. That can feel uncomfortable for legal professionals whose careers have often been built on accuracy and risk avoidance.
The challenge is not abandoning professional standards. It is recognizing that not every answer can be known in advance.
From risk elimination to risk navigation
An important evolution in the legal profession is to do with how lawyers think about risk. Historically, many legal professionals viewed their role as preventing problems and eliminating risk wherever possible. Increasingly, businesses need something different.
Fenton described one of the biggest lessons she has had to unlearn during her career. “My role is not to eliminate risk. My role is to actually understand the risk.”
Modern organizations operate in environments where uncertainty is unavoidable. Businesses need advisors who can help them understand risks, evaluate trade-offs, and move forward with confidence. The lawyer’s role is increasingly becoming that of navigator rather than gatekeeper.
Adaptability is the new competitive advantage
Perhaps no capability is becoming more important for legal professionals than adaptability. Dana Stranders, Head of Legal for EMEA at Miro, said adaptability has become one of the most important qualities she looks for when hiring. “For me this has shifted more to a skill set of a person who can adapt.”
The reason is simple. Roles are changing faster than job descriptions. New responsibilities emerge constantly. The work lawyers do today may look significantly different in only a few years.
“You can have the most brilliant legal mind, but if a person’s not able to adapt in the same way, it’s not going to be a success story,” Stranders said.
That adaptability increasingly applies to careers as well. Future opportunities may involve legal operations, compliance, technology, strategy, or entirely new roles that do not yet exist. Career resilience will increasingly depend on transferable skills rather than narrow specialization.
Building a career for constant change
Future-proofing a legal career is not about predicting which technology will dominate five years from now. It is about building capabilities that remain valuable regardless of what changes.
That means developing commercial understanding. Building confidence with technology rather than avoiding it. Seeking experiences outside traditional legal work. Maintaining curiosity. Embracing continuous learning. It also means becoming more visible.
Jeremy Small, Director at Jameson Legal, noted that professional reputation increasingly extends beyond a CV. Networks, industry participation, thought leadership, and professional presence all play a growing role in career development.
In a rapidly changing market, opportunities often emerge through relationships long before they appear in a job description.
The future is brighter than many think
Much of the public conversation about AI focuses on what technology may replace. The future of legal careers will be shaped just as much by what technology cannot replace.
As technology takes on more routine work, lawyers have an opportunity to focus on where they create the greatest value: understanding businesses, building trust, guiding decisions, and helping organizations navigate uncertainty.
The legal professionals who succeed over the next decade will not necessarily be those who know the most law or the most technology. They will be those who understand their businesses, build trust, adapt to change, and apply sound judgment in increasingly complex environments.
Technology will continue to evolve. The human capabilities that organizations rely on most will not.
For lawyers willing to develop those capabilities, the future of the profession looks less like a threat and more like an opportunity.
To listen to the full panel discussion on how to future-proof your career as a legal professional, click on the link.
