One year into the role, Clayton Utz's chief sees a major shift coming for the legal industry
Emma Covacevich says data concerns and AI risks are driving businesses to consolidate the number of law firms they seek advice from, intensifying competition at the top end of town.
Clayton Utz's Emma Covacevich is almost one year into her role as chief executive partner of one of the nation's top-tier firms, and competition at the top end of town has never been more intense.
Covacevich sees two particular drivers of that increasing competition among law firms: privacy concerns and AI.
"I think we'll start to see a consolidation of legal panels. Our clients will be concerned around who holds their data, and the number of people that hold their data and I think they may look to consolidate the number of firms to reduce that exposure for themselves," she told Capital Brief in a recent interview.
While the way in which law firms use AI can be, as Covacevich points out, "a massive game changer", it comes with data security challenges as well.
