Leveraging Lexis+ AI: Woodfines Solicitors' path to innovation

The challenge: an appreciation for tech and a 5-year strategy

For Woodfines, the 2020 pandemic sparked an appreciation of technology and digitalisation as key drivers of efficiency and effectiveness, from board members to associates. But the time to define a strategy on technology and AI came a year ago, when reviewing the firm’s 5-year plan. According to Maggie Shen, Head of Operations, “That was really the beginning of us saying: we can’t ignore AI anymore”.

The solution? A trusted partner

Woodfines made a strategic decision to invest in Lexis+ AI, thanks to the firm’s long-term partnership with LexisNexis. As regular users of both Lexis+ Legal Research and Practical Guidance, there was a level of trust already established, particularly within the Private Client team. “Yes, we have other applications of software which already have AI built in. But investing in Lexis+ AI was an informed decision” explains Maggie. While it’s only natural for decision makers to weigh up the opportunities and risks of any AI-based solution carefully, the decision to move forward with Lexis+ AI only took stakeholders a couple of days, having been demonstrated the platform.

The impact: building a competitive edge through time saved

Since adopting Lexis+ AI, the biggest gain the firm have had so far has to be the time saved in legal research — made seamless through conversational search.

“The most visible benefit has been time saved on research. Rather than manually looking for laws and various regulations, you simply ask Lexis+ AI a question.”

This view has been made consistently clear by the firm’s Private Client team. They have been forthcoming in providing unsolicited positive feedback on time saved through summarisation, drafting and comparing legal documents. Lexis+ AI is “straightforward and easy to use” and its “ability to pull together a variety of sources to research a niche point of law” also stood out in an internal survey taken just weeks after rollout.

After just a few months, Maggie acknowledges there is still more to discover about Lexis+ AI. “It’s early days. The more the team use it, the more they will discover additional benefits and use cases.”

With additional time and experience using Lexis+ AI Woodfines will be able to rigorously benchmark performance and quantify its value further.

The future: growing a people-centric culture

Woodfines prides itself on a progressive culture and prioritises professional and mental wellbeing. As a firm believer in these values, Maggie recognises that the time-saving benefits of Lexis+ AI have the potential to help the firm focus more time and energy on their people's growth and development at all levels of the firm, from senior leadership guidance to mentoring schemes. This in itself is another competitive edge.

“Now, I would say [to our leaders]: look, you’re using AI, you’re saving time. So you can maintain quality of client services but at the same time, you now have the space to look at all these long-term levers for growth.”

The time-saving benefits Lexis+ AI brings, through helping draft and compare documents swiftly will positively impact the individual user too. “It’s about destressing. You want to do the best for your clients. Sometimes you have to work around the clock. But you only have 24 hours. Any time saved contributes to a better work-life balance”.

Conclusion: speedy adoption and an exciting growth trajectory

One thing that stands out with Woodfines’ adoption of Lexis+ AI is how swiftly the decision was made to roll out Lexis+ AI, and how quickly users were able to recognise and communicate its time-saving benefits. Having used Legal Research and Practical Guidance for a number of years, Maggie highlights that trust played an important role here.

“For any firm looking to invest in an AI solution, my advice is: go with a trusted supplier, in whom you have the confidence. I think that’s the very first step to begin the journey.”