IBA 2024 Conference – Observations from Mexico City

Once again, we had the privilege of meeting with prominent law firms from around the globe to discuss topical issues at the IBA Annual Conference 2024 in Mexico City.

During the wonderfully intensive IBA week in Mexico City, we made many connections and had more than 50 one-to-one meetings with memorable exchanges of experiences and perspectives. As we express our gratitude for these interactions, we also wanted, in line with previous years, to share some of our insights from the week.

This year, we paid special attention to two themes:

1) areas where you expect growth in the following months, and

2) whether firms are already using AI tools in their everyday work.

With regard to the first theme of expected growth areas, Energy, Renewables and Green Transition was the most significant one, as it was the most frequently mentioned theme during the one-on-one discussions. Other growth areas that were particularly often discussed were Tech, Software, and Data, ESG, Distress and Restructurings, and Investigations. Defence, Disputes, and Regulatory were also repeatedly mentioned as a predicted growth area.

In our discussions on the topic of the use of AI, a clear majority said that they are already using AI tools to some extent in their everyday work, or at least conducting pilot tests with different tools. Most of those who said that they are using or piloting AI solutions mentioned CoPilot and Harvey as their tools of choice. Leya and DeepL were also prominent solutions, in addition to other tools that were mentioned during the discussions. Those with whom we discussed the matter highlighted issues including GDPR, local languages, and the lack of client pressure as reasons for not (yet) having implemented any particular AI tool. Those who are currently engaged with AI tools, are mainly using them for making summaries (instead of drafting), translations, and recording meeting notes.