Can lawyers become more commercially capable without losing sight of ethics, service and professional responsibility?

In this episode, Chantal McNaught speaks with Alistair Marshall about the balance between law as a profession and law as a business.

They explore why modern lawyers need to understand clients, build relationships and develop sustainable practices, without allowing commercial pressure to override professional responsibility or client care.

They also discuss the role of AI in legal work and business development, including the importance of quality control, confidentiality, supervision and using time saved by technology to improve the human side of legal service.

💡 Key takeaways:

→ Commercial awareness and ethical practice can work together
→ Legal work should never become purely transactional
→ AI adoption still requires judgement, supervision and accountability
→ Time saved through technology can be reinvested into better client service
→ “Great service” is only a differentiator if clients can actually see and validate it

A thoughtful conversation about building stronger legal practices without losing sight of what the profession is there to do.

“Software today is about connection.”

Tim Kenney recently sat down with Steven Wang, CEO of Matteroom, for a conversation about what makes legal technology genuinely useful.

AI may be moving quickly, but Steven believes the fundamentals still matter:

Good data.
Open systems.
Reliable integrations.
Technology that works with the tools firms already use.

Because even the most advanced AI won’t deliver meaningful results if the underlying data is poor or the systems can’t communicate.

Steven also shared how his engineering background influences the way he approaches innovation—from building scalable technology to creating a culture where his team regularly explores new ideas.

A thoughtful conversation about AI, integration and why strong engineering still matters in legal tech.

#PeopleInLegal #LegalTech #ILTACON #LegalInnovation #ArtificialIntelligence #LegalAI #LegalTechnology #FutureOfLaw #LawFirms

𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

David Woolstencroft had a great conversation with Makayla Gills, Founder of SBP Solutions, about what really happens behind the scenes of running and growing a law firm.

From trust accounts and practice management to automation, systems and growth, Makayla’s work is about helping firms step back from the immediate issue and look at the bigger picture.

What’s causing the bottleneck, and what can be improved so the firm runs more smoothly moving forward?

💡 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀:

→ Strong systems create a better foundation for growth.

→ The visible issue is often connected to a broader workflow or process.

→ AI is moving quickly, but firms still need to think carefully about confidentiality, risk and how people actually use the tools.

→ Technology can remove repetitive work, but human judgement and communication still matter.

→ As firms grow, maintaining trust and client service becomes even more important.
A very practical conversation about systems, growth, AI and building stronger law firm operations.

#PeopleInLegal #LegalTech #LegalInnovation #LawFirms #LegalOperations #PracticeManagement #LegalAI #FutureOfLaw #LegalIndustry