At ABA TECHSHOW 2025, one truth rang loud and clear: artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept, it is here, it is functional, and it is reshaping the legal landscape. Across keynotes, product demos, and panel discussions, AI dominated the conversation. Tools showcased included advanced legal search, contract summarization, litigation forecasting, and automated compliance support. These technologies are not speculative. They are operational, accessible, and capable of delivering measurable results.
And yet, a critical disconnect persists: the tools are ready, but the industry is not.
This readiness gap is not caused by technological limitations, it is the result of insufficient training, unclear implementation strategies, and a lack of leadership commitment to responsible adoption. The systems built to protect ethical and legal integrity have not evolved quickly enough to match the pace of innovation.
The Role of ABA TECHSHOW in Legal Innovation
The ABA TECHSHOW, hosted annually by the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Division, is widely regarded as one of the foremost legal innovation conferences in the world. It convenes a unique cross-section of attorneys, regulators, software developers, thought leaders, and industry disruptors. Its purpose is to explore how technology is transforming the practice of law and to drive a more modern, efficient, and ethical legal ecosystem.
But for all the technological sophistication on display, the most pressing issue was not one of engineering, it was one of preparedness.
Why the Legal Sector Is Falling Behind
Legal professionals are governed by a culture of caution, and rightfully so. Law is rooted in precedent, integrity, and due process. But when paired with rapid technological evolution, that caution can turn into inertia.
Technologists are building powerful platforms, but many lack domain-specific insight into legal workflows. Meanwhile, lawyers and claims professionals often find themselves untrained in tech fluency and unsure how to evaluate or implement these tools. Without a shared language or a roadmap for adoption, innovation becomes inaccessible.
This is not just a gap in communication; it is a chasm in execution. It leads to promising technologies being overlooked, underutilized, or outright rejected, not because they lack utility, but because the profession hasn’t been equipped to integrate them meaningfully.
LegalTech Sales: Buzzwords Without Solutions
Another recurring theme at TECHSHOW: vendors continue to speak the language of sales, “automation,” “efficiency,” “compliance”, but often fail to connect their tools to the actual needs of legal professionals.
Solutions are presented in terms of features, not functions. Products are pitched without context or workflow alignment. Many legal, insurance, and med-legal professionals are not simply looking for faster tools, they require systems that uphold privacy, meet evidentiary standards, and protect against ethical and regulatory risk.
This is not a marketing flaw. It is a strategic failure that can only be corrected by involving subject matter experts from the earliest stages of product development and deployment.
The Industry Isn’t Ready … Yet
The solutions presented at TECHSHOW this year are undeniably impressive. Legal AI is capable of summarizing complex documents, surfacing key risk indicators, analyzing trends across cases, and accelerating time-consuming tasks such as document review, claim management, and discovery.
But the industry continues to struggle with core questions.
Is using AI in legal practice ethical? Does it cross the line into unauthorized practice of law? Can its outputs be trusted in litigation? Will it compromise client confidentiality or violate professional standards?
These are not fringe concerns. They stem from a deep professional responsibility to uphold the rule of law and the interests of clients. The absence of consistent, authoritative answers is precisely what stalls progress.
Workers’ Compensation: A Model Use Case for AI
Nowhere is this disconnect more visible, or the potential more compelling, than in workers’ compensation law.
This field is characterized by high-volume documentation, regulatory complexity, and tight timelines. AI is uniquely suited to streamline this environment. It can efficiently summarize medical-legal reports, identify findings related to maximum medical improvement (MMI), apportionment, and causation, organize voluminous records, and generate legally sound settlement and hearing documentation.
These capabilities are not theoretical. They are in active development and already in use in pilot programs. And yet, adoption across firms and organizations remains slow.
Why? Because there is little to no structured training tailored to the unique demands of workers’ comp. No practical implementation roadmaps. No trusted guidance from those who understand both the legal and technical sides of the equation.
The technology exists. The demand exists. The infrastructure to support adoption does not.
The Future is AI + HI: Augmented Intelligence
At The MedLegal Professor, I advocate for a future shaped not by artificial intelligence alone, but by AI plus HI, human intelligence.
This model of augmented intelligence recognizes that professionals, attorneys, physicians, claims specialists, judges, remain the critical decision-makers. AI’s role is to enhance, not replace, their expertise.
Transformation occurs not when technology replaces professionals, but when it empowers them. Real progress happens when rollouts are paired with ethical frameworks, training protocols, legal defensibility, and strategic leadership.
The legal profession does not need disruption, it needs disciplined transformation, led by those who understand both the demands of the law and the possibilities of innovation.
A Call to Leaders
LegalTech, InsurTech, and MedTech are evolving rapidly. But if the industry does not invest in its own evolution, it will fall further behind, not just technologically, but competitively, ethically, and professionally. The time for passive observation is over. The time to lead is now.
Professionals and organizations must commit to building cross-disciplinary education programs, implementing AI within ethical and regulatory frameworks, and integrating innovation into workflows that support, not compromise, client service, compliance, and public trust.
It’s not enough to listen. It’s time to act.
Instead of fearing AI, embrace it as an augmentation of your skills. Your expertise remains irreplaceable. AI enhances your ability to work smarter, not harder.
Let’s Connect & Build the Future of Work Comp Together Nikki@MedLegalProfessor.AI
Together, let’s shape the future of workers’ compensation , where law, medicine, and technology unite for a smarter, more efficient system. Technology evolves, but knowledge endures.
