Legal technology, a once-obscure niche that few knew about and even fewer invested in, has come into its own. With the advent of generative AI, funding is about to flow into the space and birth a raft of new legal tech products, as well as improved versions of old ones.

Industry veterans know full well that the legal tech market is already flooded with bad tech, particularly considering all the hype around contract lifecycle management, which has proven to be a much tougher nut to crack than anyone imagined. Over the next few years we will see the most thoughtful, innovative legal tech solutions the world has ever seen. We will also see a ton of rubbish.

How to Buy Legal Technology That Works is about how to cut through the grist and find practical solutions that work for you, regardless of marketing and sales hype. Written by Nathan Cemenska, an industry veteran who has represented both buyers of legal tech and a very prominent seller, it lays out a soup-to-nuts legal tech procurement approach that takes you through the entire process, from defining your needs, identifying relevant solutions, decoding marketing and sales narratives, performing full due diligence on vendors to figure out what they are really selling, all the way down to negotiating the final contract to obtain favorable pricing and assurances in case implementation goes less well than envisioned. While nothing is guaranteed, this book will lay out the building blocks to arm you with all the information you need to protect yourself from legal tech companies that, in their desperation to make a sale, have lost sight of what should be their goal – to provide practical, common-sense products that help move the legal industry forward.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are increasingly considered as core business priorities for companies, boards and investors, with ESG representing an area of significant opportunity for many. Navigating the broad range of topics that fall under ESG, including regulatory developments, political impacts and stakeholder sentiment, requires multidisciplinary and global expertise from experienced practitioners.

Featuring cross-jurisdictional insight, this important title covers a range of ESG topics in depth, containing contributions from leading legal professionals, industry experts and consultants. The book firstly discusses ‘what is ESG?’ before covering areas including supply chain topics, financial regulatory impacts, ESG disclosure obligations, M&A and private equity, among many other important subjects.

In such a rapidly evolving arena Crypto Assets in Trusts and Foundations provides a detailed roadmap to navigating the use of this new asset class in trusts and foundations, as well as offering guidance and insight relating to compliance with the respective legal rules. User-friendly and comprehensive, it will make essential reading for trustees, board members of foundations, wealth managers, lawyers, tax professionals, family offices, high-net-worth individuals and, indeed, anyone keen to embrace the emerging landscape of crypto assets.

This practical information source co-published with STEP features articles from leading professionals, who discuss a range of topics including: the various family office models and structures; governance issues; protection of assets; charity projects; consensus and communication within families and next gen issues.

Funding International Arbitration, edited by leading experts Sherina Petit and Nosherwan Vakil, is your essential guide to navigating funding in international arbitration. Featuring expert insights and written in a practical and accessible style, this new Special Report is geared towards individuals who wish to further their understanding of the area as well as those approaching funding issues for the first time.

This edition discusses the opportunities and challenges found in topical issues and covers a country-by-country analysis of African oil and gas, detailing the oil and gas frameworks and key issues in countries such as the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Libya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Tunisia. Topics addressed include the petroleum laws, the types of legal arrangement in place, the fiscal terms, the acquisition of acreage, governing law, dispute resolution mechanisms and governmental control. Featuring contributions from various leading experts in the industry, this book will be of benefit to all industry participants and advisers pursuing oil and gas opportunities across the continent.

Private investment funds are investing more capital than ever and the funds themselves are larger than ever. The industry’s success comes against a backdrop of evolving market trends, increasing regulatory and tax compliance and the rise of ESG. In relation to structuring, fund-raising, making deals, managing exits, maintaining investor relations and dealing with the press, investors and their advisers are faced with unprecedented challenges and opportunities.

This publication provides a wide-ranging and practical guide to the legal, regulatory, tax and commercial elements of establishing and operating private investment funds. Practitioners and other industry participants are likely to gain significant benefit from applying its contents within their own environment.

Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data, edited by Olga V. Mack, Humira Noorestani, and MbaMemme Onwudiwe, takes readers on a journey into the heart of legal innovation, offering an unmissable opportunity to future-proof your legal expertize. The book combines the perfect blend of AI's cutting-edge capabilities with the nuanced world of legal practice, delivered through the innovative LegalOps 2.0 framework.

Combining both theory and practice from industry leaders, insight is provided from legal tech, in-house legal departments, law firms, and academia. Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data is your guide to navigating the fast-evolving landscape of AI in the legal field with step-by-step practical guides on how to do so. 

It makes good business, financial, and reputational sense to keep your best performing staff, but with the most extraordinary recruitment market in 40 years, now more than ever human capital needs nurturing if you believe that people are your greatest asset. The pandemic changed the way we work forever, and we need to reflect on what we learned during that time. What are the true causes of attrition? How do we understand what it is staff need in order to retain them in the business?

Talent in the Legal Profession: How to Attract, Retain and Engage Top Talent aims to answer these and many more questions. Looking at the perspectives of changing attitudes to the profession, an increasingly dynamic and diverse workforce, the impact of technology, and alternative forms of compensation, and how to future-proof the talent that already exists in your organization, the book is essential reading for anyone managing a legal team.

There has never been a more exciting time to be a lawyer or a professional working in legal services. The landscape is changing rapidly: we are seeing new entrants to the market, Gen Z redefining the future of work, an increased focus on diversity, purpose and sustainability, and a rapid acceleration of digitisation. These changes impact both the practice of law and the business of law. To navigate this new landscape, lawyers and allied professionals need a forum to exchange ideas and learn from each other. This is what the Modern Lawyer journal provides.