Legal Innovation Summit highlights AI trends and celebrates honorees | Photos

Missouri Lawyers Media hosted its first Legal Innovation Summit & Awards event Nov. 20 at the Missouri Athletic Club in downtown St. Louis.

The event, sponsored by Gemini Legal and Ott Law Trial Attorneys, featured a panel discussion with Tracey Larvenz of Gemini Legal, as well as a fireside chat with Alex Solo, vice president of technology at Gemini Legal. The Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater St. Louis served as a supporting sponsor. Gemini Legal is a California-based company that provides legal support services and technology to law firms to help streamline case management and litigation tasks. 

Larvenz touched on the various AI trends and tools within the legal field, noting a 40 percent increase in law firms adopting AI tools in the last two years. He emphasized the importance of clear policies for firms using AI, verification by users, and training to ensure accuracy. He also highlighted the need for transparency with clients regarding AI usage and the potential risks of AI-generated legal advice, such as hallucinations.

“Hallucinations are real, and (AI) can be very, very genuine in presenting those hallucinations,” Larvenz said. “(What it also) gets wrong is context and it may not understand the holdings, the reason behind it.”

Solo discussed the impact of AI on the legal profession, including the adoption of AI by 93 percent of mid-sized law firms, particularly in high-volume areas like personal injury and employment law. He said AI tools help streamline routine tasks, necessitating a new “T-shaped professional” with both legal and technical expertise.

“The concept of the T-shaped professional is going to be more necessary than ever,” Solo said. “So, the letter T — technical expertise in one area, law — and then … competency across data analytics.”

The fireside chat also stressed the importance of verifying AI-generated outputs to avoid errors and the need for formalized AI governance and policies.

“Being policy first is crucial, creating short, clear playbooks on … how you use (AI tools) … how to verify,” Solo said. “The output is key. Policies need to spell out verification; they need to spell out confidentiality concerns.”

Awards were presented following the discussions.

“Our honorees are being celebrated today for the most innovative technology, innovations in client service, innovative legal practices, legal tech education and most innovative law firms. These are forward-looking companies and law firms that are embracing technology and positioning themselves as industry leaders in a world that seems to change by the day,” said Missouri Lawyers Media associate publisher and advertising director Johnny Aguirre. “The people, companies and law firms we recognize today are all legal innovators. They are leading the way into the uncertain future and providing guideposts for us all.”

Honorees for Most Innovative Technology were:
Answering Legal
Arch Tech
CARET Legal
Ryan Bauer with Complete Legal
Descrybe
Leigh Inman with Sandberg Phoenix
Brandon Miller of The Miller Group
George Rosenthal with ThrottleNet

Honorees for Innovation in Client Service were:
Andrew Koshner with JurisTemps
Kathleen Enyeart with Lathrop GPM
LegalFit
Lexitas
Joseph Ott of Ott Law
Kevin Kercher with Practus LLP
Veritext

The Legal Operations Leader honored:
Kevin Bielawski of Husch Blackwell

Honorees for Innovative Legal Practice were:
Geoffrey Ogdon with Armstrong Teasdale
Gregory Kratofil Jr. of Polsinelli
Colman McCarthy with Shook, Hardy & Bacon
Matt Braunel with Thompson Coburn

Honorees for Legal Tech Education were:
John Simon of Simon Law
Dean Stefanie Lindquist of Wash U Law
Ryan Durrie with Wash U Law
Alvin Wolff of Wolff & Wolff Trial Lawyers

Honorees for Most Innovative Law Firms were:
Steven Baumer of BCLP
Pat Whalen with Spencer Fane