A few weeks ago, on the way back home from a great family vacation in Italy, I traveled on a long 10 hour flight from Rome to Chicago.

Since I have a hard time sleeping on planes, I watched several movies on the “friendly skies” of my United Arlines flight.

I was in for a big treat as I watched “Top Gun” and “Top Gun Maverick” back-to-back. I’m a big fanboy of Captain Pete Mitchell AKA “Maverick” and sometimes I consider myself the “Maverick” of in-house lawyers. 😉

One of my favorite scenes in Top Gun Maverick is a dialogue early in the movie between Rear Admiral Chaster “Hammer” Cain (played by Ed Harris) and Maverick (which of course is played by my man Tom Cruise) where Admiral Cain strongly expresses to Maverick that the human element should be eliminated from the Navy’s aviation arsenal and pilots should be replaced by drones. Here is that exchange between Admiral Cain and Maverick below:

Admiral Cain: “The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is headed for extinction.”

Maverick: “Maybe so, sir. But not today.”

The scene is somewhat akin to the conversation happening today regarding the potential impact of AI on certain jobs and professions.

In my opinion, lawyers should use AI as a tool to serve their clients. Or, to use a more suitable Top Gun or Top Gun Maverick analogy, lawyers have great opportunities to use AI technologies as their “Wingman” when serving clients.

Here’s some important skillsets that I believe lawyers will need to continue to develop and grow as AI tools become more pervasive across the legal profession:

✅️ Communicating with Clarity & Persuasion

✅️ Earning Trust with Clients, Colleagues and Adversaries

✅️ Collaborating More Effectively with Others

✅️ Engaging in Smart Risk Taking

✅️ Having Emotional Intelligence

✅️ Relentless Prioritization of Work

✅️ Embracing Empathy

✅️ Demonstrating Persistence and Resilience

✅️ The Ability to Adapt with Speed and Agility

✅️ Being Comfortable with Using Leading Technologies like AI

What other skillsets would you add and what do you think will be AI’s impact on the legal industry moving forward?

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Photo of Dennis Garcia Dennis Garcia

Dennis Garcia is an Assistant General Counsel for Microsoft Corporation based in Chicago. He practices at the intersection of law, technology and business. Prior to joining Microsoft, Dennis worked as an in-house counsel for Accenture and IBM.

Dennis received his B.A. in Political…

Dennis Garcia is an Assistant General Counsel for Microsoft Corporation based in Chicago. He practices at the intersection of law, technology and business. Prior to joining Microsoft, Dennis worked as an in-house counsel for Accenture and IBM.

Dennis received his B.A. in Political Science from Binghamton University and his J.D. from Columbia Law School. He is admitted to practice in New York, Connecticut and Illinois (House Counsel). Dennis is a Fellow of Information Privacy, a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States and a Certified Information Privacy Technologist with the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Please follow Dennis on Twitter @DennisCGarcia and on his It’s AI All the Time Blog.

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