The 2025 Lawyer’s Weekly Corporate Counsel Summit revealed critical trends transforming in-house legal teams into strategic business partners through responsible AI adoption, proactive regulatory management, and positive team culture.

The seventh annual summit, held on May 8 at the Star in Sydney, brought together over 400 professionals from Australia's in-house legal community to explore these emerging paradigms. I had the privilege of participating in the panel “AI for In-House: Regulation, Responsibility and Real-World Insights,” where we examined regulatory landscapes, ethical considerations, and implementation case studies. Throughout the day, several key themes emerged that are reshaping how in-house legal teams operate in today’s complex legal environment.

Reimagining Legal as Strategic Business Partners

A recurring theme throughout the summit was the opportunity to shift the perception of legal teams from risk-averse blockers to proactive, business-enabling collaborators. Shannon Finch, Group General Counsel at Westpac, shared insights on how in-house legal teams can address their “PR Problem”—being seen as always saying “no” to new initiatives. She highlighted the value legal brings through:

• Balanced decision-making with a broad perspective
• Comfort with healthy debate and challenging conversations
• Curiosity and attention to detail without getting lost in complexities
• Navigating uncertainty and bringing calm to high-pressure situations

Quoting Hamilton, Finch emphasized the importance of being “in the room where it happens.” She suggested increasing visibility by scheduling regular coffee meetings with key stakeholders and participating in non-legal meetings. Demonstrating genuine interest in business outcomes beyond legal considerations—and speaking the language of the business by translating legal concepts into terms that resonate with other departments—were also highlighted as essential strategies for early involvement.

AI in Legal — From Exploration to Responsible Implementation

AI dominated discussions at the summit, with focus shifting from theoretical possibilities to practical, responsible adoption strategies. I shared how Australian legal teams are successfully implementing AI technologies while maintaining appropriate controls.

I emphasized problem-focused implementation, advising teams to begin by clearly defining specific challenges AI can solve and establishing measurable success metrics. Starting with low-risk automation of repetitive tasks—like contract reviews and document summaries—can deliver immediate time savings with minimal risk.

To combat “demo fatigue,” I suggested leveraging external expertise by partnering with trusted providers like TransPerfect Legal, who can evaluate, test, and deploy solutions without overwhelming your team. Legal teams should remain responsible for AI outputs, making proper guardrails, verification processes, and audit trails essential. For regulated industries in Australia, self-hosted AI solutions were highlighted as an option to ensure data privacy and compliance.

Proactive Regulatory Management in an Interventionist Environment

With increased scrutiny from ASIC, ACCC, and AUSTRAC, the summit underscored the importance of transitioning from reactive to proactive compliance strategies. Speakers advised adopting a global perspective by monitoring international developments—such as AI transparency laws in the EU and California—to anticipate upcoming regulatory focus areas.

The cross-regulator collaboration on key issues—including information security, cyber threats, scams, and consumer protection—was identified as a growing trend both across markets and within Australia. Strengthening governance frameworks by embedding compliance into day-to-day business operations, rather than treating it as a separate function, was recommended as best practice.

Several speakers shared how their organizations are transforming compliance into a source of innovation by viewing regulatory changes as opportunities to create value-driving solutions. Building trust through transparency—including bold moves like waiving privilege in cultural reviews to enhance public integrity—was presented as a forward-thinking approach.

Shaping Organizational Culture from the Legal Department

The summit highlighted how in-house legal teams can play a central role in fostering values-driven workplaces. Prioritizing psychosocial safety through civility and inclusiveness in workplace systems—along with early reporting frameworks to identify issues—was emphasized as a critical responsibility for legal departments

Speakers also discussed the importance of humanizing legal interactions by actively engaging with non-legal teams and participating in company-wide activities. Burnout prevention was another key topic, with suggestions to monitor workloads using simple capacity assessment tools (e.g., below capacity, at capacity, over capacity) to enable more effective work redistribution.

Four Pillars of Successful Legal-Business Partnership

The final keynote by Stuart Gregor, founder of world-renowned Four Pillars Gin, highlighted the vital role legal counsel played in his company’s success. Gregor outlined four key principles that guided his relationship with legal advisors:

• Lead — While businesses need bold leadership, bold shouldn’t equal reckless; counsel serves as the essential co-pilot keeping the business on track.
• Focus — Success stems from curiosity, prioritization, and unwavering focus on strategic goals.
• Trust — Brands live or die by consumer trust, with legal counsel serving as its guardian; trust your instincts but always do your homework.
• Repeat — Good habits build great companies, with repetition creating resilience; never stop sweating the small stuff.

What's Next: Implementing Summit Insights

For Australian legal teams looking to put these insights into practice, consider these next steps:

• Assess your team’s current position on the strategic partnership spectrum
• Identify low-risk AI implementation opportunities that could immediately free up time
• Evaluate your regulatory approach against global best practices
• Implement a simple capacity tracking system to help prevent burnout

Conclusion: From Legal Advisors to Strategic Enablers

The 2025 Corporate Counsel Summit reinforced that in-house legal teams are evolving beyond traditional advisory roles to become strategic enablers, cultural leaders, and innovation drivers. With actionable insights and a renewed sense of purpose, attendees left equipped to navigate complexity and create meaningful change within their organizations.

TransPerfect Legal helps companies and law firms reduce costs and risks while enhancing efficiency. Our Australian team specializes in AI-driven legal solutions, litigation support, and regulatory compliance strategies that align closely with the summit's key themes—enabling legal departments to do more with less. Our proven solutions reduce external dispute spend, decrease document review burdens, and help process massive datasets within tight timeframes.

For more information on how TransPerfect Legal can help transform your in-house legal function into a strategic business partner,contact our local Australian team.