The highly anticipated Law Ninjas NextGen GC Summit brought together over 350 legal professionals for seminars, workshops and networking in Sydney, Australia. For the first time, the invitation-only conference ran over two full days, with a packed schedule of sessions to choose from.

Luckily, the TransPerfect Legal team was in attendance, and their key takeaways are summarised below.

Relationships are Imperative

With flexible and remote work options becoming more common – and lawyers' inherent reputation for being risk-averse – it’s vital to invest time in nurturing both internal and external relationships to drive change and ensure legal has a voice in major decisions. A consistent theme throughout the NextGen GC Summit was that strong, trust-based relationships remain at the heart of effective in-house legal operations.

Advice included:

• Build trust first – Invite key stakeholders out for lunch or coffee. Be curious, ask questions and really listen. Taking the time to do this face-to-face will ensure you are known and trusted.
• Learn about each team – Understand the goals, incentives and perspectives of each team within your organisation. You can then align your advice accordingly and ensure it’s not only heard but actively sought out before decisions are made.
• Learn about key stakeholders – Understand how they communicate – or want to be communicated to – and reflect that. If they like data, lead with numbers; if they prefer stories, have those handy. Learn to speak their language as well. For example, use specific industry terms or processes to demonstrate your understanding. People are inherently self-interested, so always remember ‘What’s In It For Me’ (WIIFM) from their perspective before reaching out.
• Be in the room – It’s imperative you are present (virtually or otherwise) when decisions are made. Start small by attending meetings just to listen and observe – there’s a lot to be learnt from body language alone. Offer alternative, non-combative opinions where possible. Earn the invite back into key meetings, not just as the ‘risk approver’.
• Pick up the phone – Tone can easily be misinterpreted in emails or short messages. Pick up the phone as much as possible, then follow up in writing to avoid miscommunications before they snowball.

These measures can be critical in reducing the long-term dissonance between the legal function within the organisation and the various departments and teams. As in-house legal trends continue to shift toward greater integration and influence, relationship-building has never been more important.

Utilise AI with Intentionality

The efficiency provided by AI in legal has become increasingly vital given the heightened expectation of accomplishing more with less – a reality for every in-house counsel. However, it’s crucial to employ AI with deliberate intent to avoid individuals using it at their discretion, which could lead to major data privacy, security and confidentiality issues.

• Endorse tools centrally – By carefully selecting which AI tools to approve and utilise internally, you can set a clear direction for the rest of the business to follow.
• Leverage external partners – Their expertise in AI can be invaluable. Utilising tools tested and verified by them can maximise efficiency whilst minimising the time and cost of internal assessments. This may include law firms or trusted external vendors – let them do the heavy lifting.
• Be cognisant of shadow AI – Tools not centrally approved carry considerable risk. Educating internal stakeholders about these dangers is more important than ever.
• Verify outputs – AI is not infallible. The most effective safeguard is thorough quality assurance of its output. As with a junior lawyer’s work, outputs should be reviewed and validated before use.

Sessions reinforced that, when implemented intentionally and monitored closely, AI in legal can be a powerful enabler of smarter, more scalable legal operations.

Embrace Automation and Playbooks

Develop workflows to automate repetitive tasks to alleviate the burden on your team, freeing up time for higher-value activities – another priority highlighted during the NextGen GC Summit.

Some simple advice for executing this effectively included:

• Map out typical workflows and measure their impact – this can help create a business case for investing in efficiency tools.
• Create self-service options for other teams to handle low-risk, high-frequency tasks – including cheat sheets, FAQs and playbooks.
• Continually educate teams on typical request timelines and the breadth of your responsibilities – post these publicly and refer back to them with each request.
• Establish a central legal inbox – this ensures visibility across the team regarding tasks and requests, particularly when team members are unavailable.

These strategies reflect emerging in-house legal trends that aim at modernising and streamlining how legal teams operate.

Navigate Conflict with Empathy

Empathetic handling of disputes – devoid of emotion – can prevent minor disagreements from escalating into formal dispute resolution processes. This was another key theme at the NextGen GC Summit.

Advice included:

• Promote psychosocial safety through regular team check-ins around capacity and well-being.
• Your demeanour matters – take a moment to breathe and centre yourself before challenging meetings or interactions. •
• Be mindful of local, cultural and jurisdictional differences to enhance your chances of success.
• Recognise when compromise is appropriate and prepare fallback positions before discussions.
• For situations requiring firm stances, consult with external counsel or subject matter experts proactively to ensure your approach is appropriate.

As legal teams take on more business-critical roles, empathy and clear communication are becoming essential soft skills in modern legal operations.

Conclusion

All sessions highlighted that, given the current global instability and risk landscape, legal teams play a critical role in the future success of their organisations. Key attributes for the in-house lawyers of tomorrow include curiosity, emotional intelligence, business acumen and openness to new technologies – including the use of AI in legal.

The takeaways above represent just a small selection of the insights shared over the two days. Each session featured knowledgeable speakers offering practical insights and key lessons drawn from their extensive real-world experience. We hope this summary has sparked your interest in next year's NextGen GC Summit, which – based on this year's event – promises to be equally insightful.

As part of TransPerfect's sponsorship of the summit, Tom Balmer had the honour of moderating a panel on effectively managing disputes.

To learn more about how TransPerfect Legal’s technology supports in-house lawyers in reducing the cost, risk and time associated with analysing data in disputes and investigations, please feel free to contact our team.