The Managing Partner’s Panel at 11am brought together the biggest names in the legal industry to discuss reimagining the modern law firm. The panellists were Pallavi Shroff, the managing partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, Sridhar Gorthi, the founding partner of Trilegal and Gaurav Dani, the founding partner of CMS IndusLaw. They were joined by moderator Richard Briggs, the executive partner of Hadef & Partners, and fellow speaker Florian Khol, the managing partner at Binder Grösswang.
The discussion centred on the evolving legal profession, emphasising the need for law firms to adapt to technological advancements, changing client expectations and generational shifts.
Shroff emphasised that technological change in law firms needed to be driven from the top. “At many levels, because lawyers by profession are trained to be conservative. At some level, we don’t like too much change. We advise on change and change management, but we [ourselves] don’t like change. So how are we going to bring about our assimilation of technology and push it down the line?”
She said mid-tier and senior partners often resist change, raising concerns such as: “Does the billable hour go away? What happens when I use technology? Can I still bill by the hour?”
Dani observed that the billable hour was under pressure. When asked about this, Dani told India Business Law Journal: “Clients want more value and outcome-based billing. They want more predictability. When firms quote by the hour, clients don’t know how many hours they’re going to be paying for it. That’s why they don’t want to pay at a higher rate. We’re struggling to increase that rate over the years.”
A primary concern for the managing partners was young lawyers, particularly the impact of technology, especially AI, and the changing work philosophies among the younger generation.
Briggs raised whether the incorporation of technology could result in fewer junior roles and what that might mean for the profession.
Gorthi replied that firms were grappling with the issue but said: “AI is not going to replace lawyers, but it will replace lawyers who do not use AI.” He stressed that law is an apprenticeship profession, and lawyers need those initial years of training. “If you say technology can do the work of a first- or second-year associate, and that you don’t need [them]. [Then] I don’t know how you make a third-year associate without going through the first and second years.
Discussing generational change, Khol said, “Transaction lawyers needed to stop romanticising working endless hours”. He added, “I was so proud when I did my first all night. But today, as a senior partner, you have to [apologise] to your associates for working till 2 or 3 o’clock [in the morning]. This change has already happened, at least in my environment.”
Khol added that some associates had told him they were not interested in becoming partners and did not have the motivation for it. In response, his firm is introducing alternative career paths, including non-equity partner and counsel roles, to support their development.
When asked why young lawyers were preoccupying managing partners, Shroff told IBLJ, “They are the future of any law firm. [To secure their future, firms needed] to connect with them, groom them, train them up the ladder to take over.”
Other topics included strategic thinking and integrating technology into legal practice. The conversation highlighted the need for continuous training, cultural agility and balancing human judgement with AI.
