Decoding AI in Law: Transforming Contracting and Legal Workflows – Perspectives from Litigation, Compliance, and Legal Tech
The legal profession has traditionally progressed through gradual transitions-whether through codification, digital transformation, or procedural advancements. However, the adoption of artificial intelligence represents a fundamentally different shift. It is not just an incremental enhancement but a structural transformation in how legal work is executed, reviewed, and delivered.
Across jurisdictions and practice areas, legal professionals are increasingly interacting with AI-driven systems that assist in contract drafting, legal research, compliance monitoring, and even risk assessment. What was once viewed as an experimental layer is now becoming deeply embedded within the operational framework of legal institutions.
This perspective was clearly reinforced in the opening remarks by Dr. Nitin Balyan, who emphasized that the debate around AI in law has already been settled. The focus has now shifted to how quickly, how responsibly, and how strategically organizations will adopt it. From contract lifecycle management to compliance and legal research, AI is no longer an exception or an experiment-it is becoming a part of everyday legal operations.
The panel featured Sahil Narang, Partner at Khaitan & Co and Advocate-on-Record at the Supreme Court of India; Atul Khadse, Senior Legal Counsel at Asian Paints; Zameer Nathani, Global General Counsel at DNEG; and Rachita R Maker, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Ekamm8.
The session was moderated by Chirag Balyan, Associate Professor (Law) and Founding Faculty at NLU Mumbai, and hosted by Dr. Nitin Balyan, Strategic Director (Vinsys), with SCC Online as the official media partner, represented by Sudip Malik and Karan Malik.
The discussion did not aim to present AI as a replacement for legal expertise. Instead, it explored how AI is reshaping workflows, redistributing effort, and redefining the role of legal professionals in a rapidly evolving, technology-driven environment.
Framing the Discussion: AI as an Embedded Legal Reality
At the outset, Chirag Balyan set the tone for the discussion by establishing a key premise: artificial intelligence is no longer an emerging concept within the legal domain but an active and integrated component of legal systems.
“Artificial intelligence is actually integrated into core legal functions. It's not the future, it's the present.” - Chirag Balyan
This perspective was supported by observable industry trends. AI is now being used across multiple layers of legal work, including contract drafting, document review, legal research, and workflow automation. In many organizations, these tools are no longer optional enhancements but essential components of legal operations.
However, the discussion also acknowledged the limitations and concerns associated with this integration. Chirag highlighted the caution expressed by courts in different jurisdictions regarding the use of AI-generated outputs. Instances involving fabricated citations and unreliable responses have led judicial bodies to reiterate that accountability for legal submissions remains with practitioners.
This creates a critical tension within AI adoption-while technology improves efficiency and scalability, it also raises important questions around accountability, verification, and professional responsibility.
The regulatory landscape further adds complexity. As discussed, different jurisdictions are adopting varied approaches to AI governance. Some are moving towards dedicated legislative frameworks, while others continue to rely on existing legal structures. For legal professionals working across borders, this divergence requires careful and informed navigation.
Litigation and Arbitration: Efficiency Without Displacement
The discussion then transitioned to litigation and arbitration, where Sahil Narang provided detailed insights into how AI is influencing legal practice.
Litigation, by its nature, is deeply rooted in judgment, strategy, and advocacy. These elements are inherently human and depend on contextual understanding, experience, and discretion. Sahil emphasized that these core aspects remain unchanged.
At the same time, he identified several areas where AI has significantly improved efficiency. One of the most notable changes has been in legal research.
“We have moved from keyword search to contextual, semantic search.” - Sahil Narang
This shift represents more than just technological advancement-it changes how legal professionals engage with information. Instead of manually navigating through large volumes of case law, AI systems can interpret context, identify relevant precedents, and generate structured summaries.
This reduces the time spent on initial research and allows lawyers to focus earlier on analysis and strategic thinking.
Document review has also seen a similar transformation. Litigation often involves handling large volumes of documentation, and manual review can be both time-consuming and prone to oversight. AI tools now assist in organizing documents, identifying inconsistencies, and linking related information.
Sahil noted that tasks which previously required several days can now be completed within hours, even in complex matters involving large datasets.
Another emerging capability is predictive analysis. By leveraging historical data and internal knowledge repositories, AI systems can assist in evaluating potential outcomes and strategies, enabling a more data-informed approach to legal decision-making.
Despite these advancements, Sahil clearly emphasized the limitations of AI:
“Judgment, strategy, advocacy… that has not changed and will not change.” - Sahil Narang
This distinction between operational tasks and decision-making functions is critical. AI can enhance efficiency in searching, sorting, and summarizing information, but it cannot replace the interpretative role that defines legal practice.
Compliance in the Age of AI: From Reactive to Predictive Systems
From the perspective of corporate legal teams, Atul Khadse shared insights into how AI is transforming compliance functions.
Traditionally, compliance processes were reactive in nature. Organizations relied on periodic audits, static checklists, and retrospective reporting to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements. This approach often resulted in delays and increased the risk of oversight.
With the introduction of AI, compliance systems are becoming more dynamic and proactive. AI tools can monitor regulatory changes in real time, identify deviations, and flag potential risks before they escalate.
However, this increased efficiency also introduces new challenges.
“Efficiency without accountability is ultimate risk.” - Atul Khadse
Atul emphasized that while AI improves speed and consistency, it does not reduce the responsibility of legal professionals. Instead, it requires them to ensure that AI systems are reliable, explainable, and aligned with governance frameworks.
This involves implementing structured mechanisms such as human validation checkpoints, clear accountability structures, audit trails, and controlled access to data. Compliance, therefore, becomes not just a regulatory function but also a question of system integrity.
AI, in this context, does not simplify compliance-it transforms it into a more complex and disciplined function.
Managing Risk in High-Value Contracts
Zameer Nathani provided a valuable perspective on the application of AI in managing high-value contracts, particularly within the entertainment industry.
Operating in a global environment involving major studios and large-scale productions, legal teams must navigate complex contractual frameworks that carry significant financial and reputational risks. AI plays a key role in enhancing the ability to identify and assess these risks.
AI systems assist in detecting potential intellectual property conflicts, evaluating indemnity clauses, and interpreting limitation of liability provisions across jurisdictions. They also help determine appropriate insurance coverage based on the scale and nature of projects.
“AI helps us identify risks early-but the responsibility of managing those risks still lies with us.” - Zameer Nathani
“Even the best AI output must be evaluated with legal judgment, especially in high-stakes contracts.”
In such high-risk environments, even minor contractual gaps can lead to significant consequences. AI provides an additional analytical layer, enabling more informed decision-making.
However, as emphasized during the discussion, AI remains an assistive tool. Final decisions related to risk allocation and contractual interpretation continue to depend on human judgment and expertise.
Legal Technology and the Challenge of Data
From a legal technology standpoint, Rachita R Maker highlighted one of the most pressing challenges faced by modern legal teams-the rapid growth of data.
Legal professionals today deal with diverse data formats, including emails, documents, chat records, audio files, and video content. This increase in both volume and complexity has made traditional review processes inefficient.
AI provides a solution by enabling faster data processing and significantly reducing the time required for document review. Tasks that once required large teams and extended timelines can now be completed more efficiently with smaller teams.
However, this shift also requires a redefinition of the lawyer’s role. Legal professionals must identify where their expertise adds the most value and focus on tasks that require judgment, interpretation, and strategic thinking.
AI, therefore, does not reduce the importance of legal professionals-it changes the nature of their work.
AI in Legal Research: The SCC Online Perspective
A key part of the session focused on the demonstration of AI-driven legal research tools by SCC Online along with detail webinar discussion .Legal research has traditionally been centered around document discovery, where professionals identify relevant cases and manually extract insights. AI-driven platforms are now shifting this approach by combining document retrieval with structured analysis.These systems operate within controlled environments, ensuring that outputs are based on verified legal databases. This helps address concerns related to hallucination and data reliability often associated with general-purpose AI tools.
By reducing the time spent on preliminary research, these tools allow legal professionals to focus on interpretation, reasoning, and strategic application.
As highlighted during the session, the objective is not to replace legal researchers but to enhance their capabilities and improve efficiency.
The Evolving Role of Legal Professionals
A recurring theme throughout the discussion was the transformation of the legal professional’s role in an AI-enabled environment.
AI is increasingly handling repetitive and time-intensive tasks, allowing lawyers to focus on higher-value activities such as strategic decision-making, risk assessment, and client interaction.
At the same time, legal professionals are required to develop new skills, including an understanding of AI systems and the ability to interpret and validate their outputs.
The future legal professional is not one who competes with AI but one who works alongside it, leveraging its capabilities while maintaining control over decision-making processes.
Rapid Fire Insights: Key Takeaways from the Panel
The rapid-fire round offered concise yet insightful perspectives on the evolving role of AI in legal practice.
When asked about one AI tool they would not give up, Zameer Nathani identified Gemini as his preferred choice, reflecting its growing capabilities. Sahil Narang highlighted Claude for its structured and context-driven outputs, while Atul Khadse pointed to Microsoft Copilot as most relevant for enterprise and in-house legal environments.
A key question on risk reframed the discussion-whether hallucination or over-reliance poses the greater challenge. Atul Khadse emphasized that over-reliance is the bigger risk, noting that while AI can assist, the responsibility of judgment cannot be delegated.
Addressing misconceptions, Zameer Nathani pointed out that a common misunderstanding is that AI outputs are inherently unreliable. In reality, AI can provide meaningful direction, but its outputs must always be validated by legal professionals.
On client transparency, Sahil Narang stated that if a client asks whether AI was used, the answer would be a clear yes, supported by assurances around data security, internal controls, and prior consent.
The panel also drew a clear boundary on AI’s role in decision-making. While AI can assist in drafting, research, and analysis, it should not be allowed to make final legal decisions. Judgment, interpretation, and accountability must remain human responsibilities.
Looking ahead, the panelists shared a consistent view that legal teams will become more efficient and focused. Zameer Nathani noted that teams may become smaller with greater emphasis on senior professionals handling decision-making. Atul Khadse highlighted the emergence of AI-enabled legal professionals, while Sahil Narang emphasized increased efficiency and a shift toward high-value work.
Collectively, these insights indicate a clear direction-AI is reducing effort in execution-heavy tasks while increasing the importance of human judgment and strategic thinking.
How Vinsys is Transforming Legal Workflows Through AI?
As the host of the panel discussion, Vinsys continues to support organizations in navigating the intersection of technology and legal functions. With over two decades of experience, Vinsys is a global provider of professional services across IT solutions, corporate training, digital learning, consulting, and recruitment, with a growing focus on AI-led capability development in areas such as legal and compliance.
In addition to this, Vinsys is actively developing AI-driven solutions that address practical challenges in legal operations:
- AccuOCR – Converts complex, unstructured legal documents into structured, analyzable formats with high accuracy
- QueryHive – Enables instant, context-aware legal research and document analysis across multiple data sources
- Legal AI Assistant (NuVin AI) – An integrated legal AI platform for drafting, document comparison, and workflow automation
These solutions reflect a structured and practical approach to integrating AI into legal workflows.
Conclusion
The webinar AI in Law: Transforming Contracting & Legal Workflows provided a comprehensive and practice-oriented perspective on how artificial intelligence is being integrated into legal workflows.
The discussion clearly established that AI is not a substitute for legal expertise but a tool that enhances efficiency and scalability. At the same time, it introduces new responsibilities, requiring legal professionals to ensure responsible and effective use of technology.
This was succinctly captured in the closing observation by Chirag Balyan:
“AI is not replacing legal judgment. It's forcing us to be clearer about what that judgment actually is.”
The session concluded with remarks from Dr.Nitin Balyan, who emphasized that AI in law has moved “from interesting to inescapable,” highlighting the need for continuous engagement with both technology and capability development.
As organizations navigate this shift, the need for structured AI adoption within legal functions becomes increasingly critical. Vinsys works closely with enterprises to bridge this gap-combining domain expertise, AI-led solutions, and capability development to support legal teams in managing scale, complexity, and compliance more effectively. Whether it is enabling smarter legal workflows, improving research efficiency, or building AI readiness within teams, Vinsys continues to support organizations in translating AI potential into measurable outcomes.
Yes, the webinar “AI in Law: Transforming Contracting & Legal Workflows” is available on YouTube. It offers a comprehensive, practice-oriented perspective on how artificial intelligence is being integrated into legal workflows.
Vinsys Top IT Corporate Training Company for 2025 . Vinsys is a globally recognized provider of a wide array of professional services designed to meet the diverse needs of organizations across the globe. We specialize in Technical & Business Training, IT Development & Software Solutions, Foreign Language Services, Digital Learning, Resourcing & Recruitment, and Consulting. Our unwavering commitment to excellence is evident through our ISO 9001, 27001, and CMMIDEV/3 certifications, which validate our exceptional standards. With a successful track record spanning over two decades, we have effectively served more than 4,000 organizations across the globe.
