Letter from the Head of Thomson Reuters Institute
Mike Abbott
Like much of the marketplace for professional services, and indeed the global economy as a whole, much of the content in this latest issue of Forum Magazine from the Thomson Reuters Institute discusses the continued evolution of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), and the potential impacts rippling across the globe. The European Unions is set to be the world leader in promulgating regulatory frameworks for AI. Courts are evolving their requirements for how lawyers use and disclose their use of AI. Advancing technology is making it easier to apply new ways of working and new pricing models to practice areas like M&A, frequently thought of previously as too bespoke for something like fixed-fee billing. Even our company, Thomson Reuters, has had to reimagine our strategy regarding technology and AI.
However, just like the market at large, we cannot focus solely on technology issues. While the advance of technology is, without doubt, holding an outsized place in our minds, it is important to ensure that leaders of professional services businesses strive to keep a broad perspective on the emerging issues in the market.
To that end, this issue also explores a few other key topics that provide interesting additional areas for law or tax firm leaders, risk professionals, and corporate general counsel to consider. We examine recent research that suggests how comprehensive and process-driven matter briefings can help improve the likelihood of a successful outcome. We share the story of a firm that undertook an intensive process to define its values and how that has paid dividends for their go-to-market strategies. With litigation work continuing to see a rise in volumes even as corporate budgets tighten, topics such as how to work with litigation funding providers are becoming more popular. In the United States, the introduction of the concept of beneficial owners has made waves for its potential impact on a large number of businesses. And globally, standards around environment, social, and governance (ESG) topics have proliferated and efforts are now underway to standardize at least some aspects of sustainability standards to provide a level playing field for comparison.
We hope that this latest issue of Forum Magazine provides valuable insights into topics already at the front of business leaders’ minds. And that, perhaps, it raises new topics for consideration and provides new perspectives.
Mike Abbott
Head of Thomson Reuters Institute
