Today I'm sitting down with:
Raffi Isanians, a former BigLaw M&A lawyer (with experience at Kirkland & Ellis, Gunderson, and Goodwin), Y Combinator alum, and founder of Mage Legal.
Marcelo Moura, a dual-qualified associate in Mishcon de Reya’s Commercial Litigation team, co-founder of AI2L, and UK Ambassador of the Brazilian Legal Tech Association (AB2L). He has worked in law since 2005 and has been involved in AI, innovation, and legal-tech initiatives since 2017.
Mike Kochkin, founder at BeSavvy, an AI-powered legal training platform helping law firms rethink how lawyers learn, develop judgment, and build practical skills in an AI-first world.
We discuss the difference between automating legal tasks and replacing the lawyer, the risks of relying on AI without review, and the skills lawyers need to practise as their work changes. Mike also offers a practical response to the training challenge: faster feedback, stronger first principles thinking, and the ability to assess the answers AI produces.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Raffi Isanians
00:23 Will AI replace lawyers or change their work
03:52 Training programme announcement
06:12 Why lawyers need to invest time in learning AI
07:25 AI native law firms and the need for oversight
10:05 Are lawyers training their own replacement
11:11 AI as a copilot and the value of human lawyers
12:37 Building the future law firm with lawyers and developers
13:48 Marcelo Moura on future proofing your legal skills
16:33 Why you cannot outsource your reasoning
16:57 Mike Kochkin on how the role of junior lawyers is changing
17:24 AI handles the writing while lawyers focus on content
18:04 How AI can shorten the learning and feedback loop
19:18 AI gives answers but lawyers must judge them
20:19 First principles thinking before AI tools
20:54 AI agents builders and client relationships
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