Laura Saklad is the vice president of legal industry at Intapp, which last week announced partnerships with Anthropic and Harvey aimed at bringing AI capabilities into law firm’s back office functions, like time keeping and conflict checking. Saklad, who was previously chief operating officer at Orrick, said those features will help firms keep tabs on how AI is changing the front-end tasks of law firms: the practice of law. Our conversation has been condensed and edited.
Q: How has the role of a Big Law chief operating officer evolved since you left Orrick in 2024?
The need to think creatively about how both the practice and the business of law are evolving has intensified. The demands of clients are changing. The clients have access to more information. They want to understand the way their law firms are using AI and using these new capabilities. They want them to take advantage of it for the client, and they want to make sure it’s done in a safe and compliant manner. The dichotomy of the client push to use the technology, but also conservatism, is a tension point. It’s just moving faster and it’s more complex. And on the positive side, I think it’s exciting.
Q: How is AI putting pressure on the law firm business model?
The opportunity right now, and one that we’re focused on, is helping law firms have the data they need to make the best business decisions about how to adopt their staffing and pricing strategies based upon the way AI is being incorporated into their practice. Where are AI tools being used? How are they impacting the level of lawyer that works on certain types of tasks? How are they able to add value by becoming part of the team and facilitating the work? We’ve been talking about the evolution of the billable hour for seemingly forever. But I think this is the moment where we need to think about how to describe value to the clients, and I think law firms need data to be able to do that effectively.
Q: Where are you seeing law firms use AI the most?
The most common use cases are in drafting and in research—the kinds of tasks that were typically done at the more junior end of the associate spectrum. That is preserving the judgment and the discretion tasks for the lawyers where they can really add substantive value.
Q: How are firms navigating conversations with clients around AI-driven efficiency?
It’s obviously very complicated. When I hear my law firms talk about it, they are trying to find the best way to serve their clients. They want to maximize staffing and think about what is best. The conversation we’re having is, “What is the right combination of people and technologies that can deliver the highest quality work product in a cost effective manner for the client?” They’re looking at client outcomes. They’re looking at business. And in this moment, instead of just thinking about, how do I best staff the case with the best combination of lawyers, it’s a conversation about the best combination of lawyers and the best technologies that can lead to the right outcome for the client.
