She says the profession's biggest challenge is how it responds to issues like geopolitical unrest
One important statement Leisa Bayston remembers from her uni graduation ceremony is Senator Michael Tate AO’s assertion that with the privilege of obtaining a law degree comes responsibility. In an international climate that is seeing geopolitical unrest, unsettling implications from technological advances, climate change and war, she believes that the legal profession’s greatest challenge is its response to these things.
In the second part of this February interview, the Aitken Partners principal lawyer tells Australasian Lawyer how she feels about AI and what she thinks is key to being a good lawyer.
At my graduation ceremony at Uni Tas (many years ago!) Senator Michael Tate AO spoke. He told our room of eager, ambitious young grads that to graduate from law was an achievement but also a privilege and with that with privilege comes responsibility. This has always stayed with me, I strongly believe that being a good lawyer needs to keep this sense of this responsibility at the centre of everything they do.
In my lifetime, the world has never felt more uncertain – geopolitical unrest, frightening implications from technological advances, climate change and war around the planet make us feel like we are in a precarious position. These issues and headwinds will hit our economy and culture and there will be enormous challenges impacting the systems we rely on.
Lawyers will have front-row seats and in some cases the opportunity to shape the impact on people and communities. How we respond as an industry and individually as legal practitioners is, I believe, our greatest challenge.
There is no chance of getting the genie back in the bottle, so I like to focus on the potential upsides of new tech including AI. I’m excited about what AI could mean from a back office, client service efficiency perspective.
