Last Thursday’s session with Vadym Kuzmenko, Legal Engineer at Legora, formed part of Legal Career Week 2026, where we explored how legal careers are evolving beyond the traditional associate-to-partner pathway. Drawing on experience across legal tech startups, Big Law innovation roles, and vendor-side legal engineering, Kuzmenko shared practical insights on how legal professionals can reposition themselves in a rapidly changing market.
From Traditional Law to Legal Tech
Kuzmenko began by outlining his early expectation of following a conventional legal career before discovering alternative paths that better aligned with his interest in technology. His transition into legal tech initially through document automation and later into AI-driven workflows illustrates how legal training can be applied beyond pure legal practice.
He emphasised that a law degree equips individuals with transferable skills that extend far beyond traditional roles. The rise of positions such as legal engineer, legal designer, and legal data analyst reflects a broader shift in how legal expertise is deployed across industries.
The Three Core Skill Pillars
A central theme of the discussion was the need for a hybrid skill set. Kuzmenko described three essential pillars for success in emerging legal roles:
- Legal expertise: A solid understanding of legal principles and how legal services are delivered
- Business awareness: Insight into how law firms and clients operate commercially
- Technical capability: Familiarity with technology, particularly AI and its practical applications
Professionals who can operate across these three domains are increasingly valuable, particularly as firms rethink service delivery models.
The Rise of Legal Engineering and Vendor Roles
On the vendor side, legal engineers play a critical role in bridging the gap between technology and legal practice. Kuzmenko highlighted that many lawyers lack exposure to technology due to traditional education structures and time constraints in practice.
Legal engineers, therefore, act as translators and educators, helping lawyers understand, adopt, and apply tools such as AI in their workflows. This includes demonstrating use cases, guiding implementation, and supporting ongoing adoption.
AI as a Transformational Force
The discussion underscored that AI represents a fundamental shift because it directly impacts core legal work rather than just back-office functions. Tasks such as due diligence, legal research, document drafting, and data analysis can now be augmented or partially replaced by AI tools.
This shift is driving new expectations around efficiency and cost, increasing scrutiny over how legal work is delivered, and creating a growing need for lawyers to understand both the capabilities and limitations of AI.
Change Management as the Real Challenge
Kuzmenko stressed that technology adoption is less about the tools themselves and more about Kuzmenko stressed that technology adoption is less about the tools themselves and more about organisational change. Successful implementation requires strong internal champions, approaches tailored to different user groups, clear communication around benefits and risks, and structured change management processes.
Even smaller firms without dedicated innovation teams can succeed if they foster curiosity and leadership around technology adoption.
Client Expectations and Market Pressure
Clients are increasingly influencing the adoption of technology. Many now expect law firms to demonstrate AI capabilities in pitches, deliver cost efficiencies enabled by technology, and align with client-side tools and workflows.
In some cases, clients are actively negotiating fee reductions based on assumed efficiency gains from AI. Firms that cannot clearly articulate their technology strategy risk losing work.
Collaboration and Productisation of Legal Services
The session also explored how legal services are becoming more productised. Clients expect law firms to deliver scalable solutions such as playbooks or automated processes, rather than purely bespoke advice.
This creates opportunities for new roles focused on designing, building, and maintaining these solutions, further reinforcing the importance of interdisciplinary skill sets.
Emerging Opportunities and Future Outlook
Rather than reducing demand for legal professionals, AI and technology are reshaping it. Kuzmenko noted that new areas, such as advising on AI-generated products, open-source compliance, and digital risk, are expanding the scope of legal work.
The key takeaway is that legal careers are diversifying. Success will depend on adaptability, curiosity, and a willingness to engage with new tools and ways of working.
Key Takeaways
- Legal careers are no longer confined to traditional pathways
- Hybrid skill sets (legal, business, tech) are increasingly essential
- AI is transforming core legal work, not just support functions
- Change management is critical to successful technology adoption
- Clients are driving demand for efficiency and innovation
- New roles and opportunities are emerging across the legal ecosystem
