Damien Riehl is a lawyer, recently recognised by the Financial Times as one of the 50 most influential people in legal today. He is a software developer and legal technology leader whose career spans litigation, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. After practising as a commercial litigator, he moved into legal technology with Thomson Reuters before joining Fastcase to help develop AI-powered legal research tools. Following Fastcase’s acquisition by vLex and Clio, he now serves as VP of Litigation Workflow & Analytics. Throughout the session, Riehl emphasised that his work has always been driven by a single goal: making legal services more effective by combining trusted legal research with emerging technologies that improve how lawyers work.
Session Overview
Riehl argued that while AI is transforming legal practice, it does not diminish the importance of legal research. Instead, it reinforces it. Every piece of legal advice ultimately depends on applying a client’s facts to the relevant law, and AI can only provide reliable assistance when it has access to authoritative legal sources. Rather than replacing research, AI enables lawyers to analyse larger volumes of legal information more efficiently while freeing them to focus on higher-value judgement and client advice.
A key theme throughout the discussion was the changing role of lawyers as AI becomes increasingly capable of drafting documents, reviewing evidence and conducting legal analysis. Riehl suggested that lawyers will differentiate themselves less through information gathering and more through their professional judgement, experience and ability to make sound recommendations. He described this as developing “taste”, the ability to guide clients through complex decisions using insight that extends beyond what AI alone can provide.
The conversation also explored the future of legal research infrastructure. Riehl explained how comprehensive legal databases have evolved from printed law reports into global digital collections and argued that greater access to legal information will become increasingly important as AI systems mature. He discussed the growing use of AI-powered legal workflows within law firms and legal departments, the challenges surrounding regulation of autonomous AI systems, and why future lawyers should learn to validate AI outputs using trusted legal sources rather than relying solely on secondary commentary.
Key Takeaways
- AI enhances legal research but does not replace it; reliable legal advice still depends on applying facts to authoritative legal sources.
- As AI automates routine legal work, lawyers’ competitive advantage will increasingly come from judgement, commercial awareness and practical decision-making.
- Lawyers no longer need to become programmers, but they do need to develop strong prompting skills and understand how AI systems reason with legal information.
- AI-powered legal workflows can improve efficiency for both law firms and in-house teams, provided they remain grounded in lawyer oversight and trusted legal content.
- Future legal training should focus on evaluating AI-generated analysis against current cases, legislation and regulations rather than relying primarily on traditional secondary materials.
- The long-term success of legal AI depends not only on powerful language models but also on comprehensive, well-structured and accessible legal data.
