“What are you trying to solve?”: Sarah Walton Provides Blueprint for Law Firms Seeking to Embrace AI at LegalTechTalk 2026

At LegalTechTalk 2026, in the session "Carrots, Sticks and Culture Change," Sarah Walton, Managing Partner at Weightmans, argued that law firms often misdiagnose AI adoption as a technology problem when the real issues are culture, confidence, case management, and governance. She warned that banning AI without secure alternatives is dangerous because lawyers may turn to public tools such as ChatGPT and expose client data, while AI outputs can be fluent, persuasive, and plausible even when wrong. Walton said firms should begin by asking "what are you trying to solve?" and choose tools only for genuine business needs, with training, supervision, guardrails, and clear accountability. She acknowledged rational concerns about confidentiality, cost, quality, professional indemnity, court accountability, and regulatory scrutiny, but said these require enterprise governance rather than paralysis. Her practical guidance was to experiment safely, understand strengths and limits, use AI especially for tasks such as contract summaries, due diligence, disclosures, and redisclosures, and avoid assuming it can handle complex matters such as international litigation. Walton also cautioned against punitive "sticks" and simplistic usage "carrots," urging leaders instead to normalize responsible AI use, demonstrate it themselves, build confidence, and create a culture where change is expected and human lawyers remain accountable.

(Source：Scconline)