19th May 2026
3 min read
Conversations at WE R LegalTech 2026
Helen Naylor
Commercial Contract Lawyer
At this year’s WE R LegalTech 2026 Conference – Bristol+Bath LegalTech, discussions across the Business Track workshops focused less on AI hype and more on practical implementation.
Many of the conversations centred around how legal teams can use AI to support day-to-day operations, improve consistency, strengthen reporting, and better support legal professionals and their clients.
Supporting Case Management & Reporting
One of the clearest themes emerging from the workshops was the growing interest in agentic AI to support case and matter management activities.
Discussions highlighted how AI could help legal teams with time recording, workflow creation, and reporting processes, not just from a productivity perspective, but also to improve consistency and provide better reporting insights across teams and departments.
There was also interest in how organisations can better measure the impact of AI adoption, including time savings, operational improvements, and broader business value over time.
Keeping Client Service at the Centre
A strong message throughout the workshops was that client service must remain central to AI adoption.
The focus was not on replacing legal professionals, but on using technology to support lawyers and users by reducing administrative pressure and allowing them to focus more on delivering value to clients.
The discussions reflected a practical approach to AI adoption… understanding where technology can genuinely support legal services while ensuring human oversight and expertise remain essential.
“One of the strongest themes across the workshops was that AI should support legal professionals, not replace them… The conversations focused on practical implementation, operational consistency, and ensuring client service remains at the centre of AI adoption.”
Helen Naylor
AI Governance & Supplier Responsibility
Governance also emerged as a major theme throughout the sessions. Contributions referencing the University of Bristol working group highlighted that existing UK legal principles around liability remain relevant and applicable to AI technologies. At the same time, there was recognition that further regulation and guidance will still be needed around how AI is used and implemented.
The workshops also highlighted the growing importance of AI governance within organisations, particularly when evaluating suppliers and technology partners.
Discussions covered the need for stronger due diligence around how suppliers use AI, including whether customer data is used to train models, aggregated with other customer data, or shared with third parties.
The idea of appointing internal “AI Champions” was also discussed as a practical way for organisations to monitor industry developments and support responsible AI adoption internally.
A More Practical Approach to AI
What stood out most across the workshops was the practical nature of the conversations… Rather than focusing on AI for AI’s sake, discussions centred around governance, measurable value, operational consistency, and using technology to better support legal professionals and client service.
As AI adoption develops across the legal sector, organisations are increasingly focused on balancing innovation with governance and practical operational value.
Events such as WE R LegalTech 2026 continue to provide valuable opportunities for legal professionals and technology providers to share experiences, challenges, and practical perspectives on the future of legal services.
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