AI is already changing legal practice. Are you and your practice ready? AI-first legal services are challenging traditional pricing models. Clients are arriving with AI-generated research and documents. Courts expect lawyers to verify every authority and submission. Meanwhile, practices are under pressure to adopt new tools without compromising confidentiality, professional judgment or client trust. Move beyond theory to examine the decisions you and your firm must make now. Discover how artificial intelligence is reshaping legal services, what professional responsibility requires when using AI, how to avoid verification and court-related risks, and how to prepare your people, workflows and IT systems for safe and effective implementation. Understand the disruption. Manage the risks. Build a practice ready for what comes next.

Presenters

Michael Paterson, Principal, Michael Paterson & Associates
Michael Paterson is the Principal of Michael Paterson & Associates, a commercial law firm whose clients are mainly businesses and business owners. He keeps them out of trouble, gets them out of trouble and helps with their estate and succession planning. He has degrees in Law, with honours, and in Computer Science from A.N.U. in Canberra. As well as being a solicitor, Michael is a software developer and with his knowledge and practical experience in the computer industry, Michael has developed a niche practice area in computer, technology and intellectual property law.

Mark Trowell KC, Albert Wolff Chambers
Mark Trowell joined the independent Bar in Western Australia in 1989 after having been admitted to practice eight years earlier. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2000. He, together with Tom Percy QC, founded Albert Wolff Chambers. Despite some time in commercial and common law, he was ultimately attracted to the challenge of the criminal law and has since practiced exclusively in that jurisdiction. He has for the most part acted as defence counsel not only in WA, but also NSW, and from time to time also prosecutes for the DPP (WA). Mark has appeared as counsel at two Royal Commissions, and several notorious CCC inquiries. He is co-chair of the Criminal Law Standing Committee of LAWASIA. He was also involved in negotiations at the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg on behalf of the owners of a foreign vessel seized by the Australian Customs for allegedly poaching the prized Patagonian toothfish in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. In December 2006, Mark Trowell was appointed by the Australian Government to undertake a review of the legislation governing the Australian Crime Commission (ACC). His report was later tabled in the Federal Parliament.Since 2004, Mark has attended as an international observer at controversial criminal trials in Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka on behalf of several organisations, including LAWASIA, the International Commission of Jurists, the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Australian Bar Association, the Law Council of Australia, Commonwealth Lawyers Association and Paris-based Union International des Advocats. He is the author of two best-selling books on the recent criminal trial and appeals in the Malaysian courts concerning the former deputy prime minister and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, which attracted international attention.


Alex Jenkins, Director, WA Data Science Innovation Hub, Curtin University
Alex Jenkins is the Director of the WA Data Science Innovation Hub (WADSIH), Chair & Founder of the Curtin AI in Research Group, and recently appointed as Member of the WA State Government’s new AI Advisory Board. With an extensive background in digital technologies, Alex is dedicated to advancing the use of AI across Australian business, academia, and the public sector. His work emphasises leveraging AI to enhance education and improve lives, driving innovation and practical applications in diverse sectors. Alex is committed to ensuring that Australia remains at the forefront of AI adoption, elevating WADSIH to a national thought-leader in AI and fostering collaboration to promote AI’s transformative potential for societal benefit. He is also known for his impactful TEDx talk, ‘An AI Tutor for Every Child’, highlighting the potential of AI in revolutionising Australia’s education system.

Janie Plant GAICD, Chair, Women in Tech WA
Janie is a mature-age junior lawyer and an experienced IT project manager. Janie has a reputation for stepping up and taking on challenges head on. Her IT project management experience now informs her legal matter management which is enhanced by her commitment to high-quality delivery and meticulous attention to detail. Janie has won numerous employee recognition awards throughout her careers for her outstanding project management, leadership skills and client relationship management. Admitted as lawyer in November 2017, Janie has gained experience in various areas of law. Janie experience spans liquor licensing, wills and estates, commercial law and litigation. Prior to completing her law degree, Janie had a successful IT career spanning 15 years and various locations including London, Perth, the Wheatbelt and Pilbara regions, Barrow Island, Thevenard Island, Papua New Guinea and Philippines. Janie successfully transitioned from a technical to a project management role. Janie has proven project management, team leadership and workshop facilitation skills. While Janie loves Law, STEM is special to her. A member of WiTWA, Janie is keen to see how law, technology and project management can combine to create better outcomes for legal clients, firms and professionals.