WEEKLY INTELLIGENCE ISSUE 03 · SEPTEMBER 28, 2026

Technology &
Law Weekly

Five developments shaping the legal profession's relationship with artificial intelligence.

EDITOR'S NOTE

Legal AI is becoming an operating model.

This week's signal is not another feature list. Firms are moving from experiments to firm-built systems and global deployments, while the access-to-justice case is being tested through measurable pro bono work. At the same time, regulators are asking who independently verifies the controls.

FIRM STRATEGY

Skadden is building a suite of AI tools around its legal expertise.

Skadden announced a collaboration with OpenAI to develop AI-powered tools for its clients' evolving legal needs. The firm says the work includes tools to help clients assess regulatory risk and make informed decisions as they pursue transactions or bring products to market.

WHY IT MATTERS The legal AI divide is shifting from access to customization. Firms are increasingly treating their methods, judgments, and workflows as the part worth building into the system.

Read Skadden's announcement ↗

GLOBAL ADOPTION

Squire Patton Boggs selects Harvey for a global rollout.

Squire Patton Boggs announced that it selected Harvey as its legal-AI platform. The firm says the rollout will support its global team and make it a design partner on future tools, including work intended to enhance its public-policy advisory capabilities.

WHY IT MATTERS A global rollout is different from a pilot. Lawyers entering large firms should expect AI literacy, workflow judgment, and comfort with firm-approved tools to become ordinary professional expectations.

Read Harvey's announcement ↗

ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Harvey launches a pro bono program built around repeatable legal workflows.

Harvey announced a pilot with Ashurst Perkins Coie, DLA Piper, and Nelson Mullins to test custom agents, templates, and knowledge resources for high-volume pro bono work, including housing, veterans services, and social-welfare claims. The company says it will measure the program's effect on lawyer capacity and client outcomes.

WHY IT MATTERS Access to justice is where legal AI needs to prove more than speed. The question is whether it lets lawyers serve more people without compromising supervision, quality, or client trust.

Read Harvey's program announcement ↗

AI GOVERNANCE

California puts independent AI verification on the policy agenda.

Governor Newsom announced a group of national experts to advise California on possible frontier-AI safeguards, including onsite independent evaluators, verified safety reports, broader incident reporting, and a tested emergency shutoff mechanism.

WHY IT MATTERS AI governance is becoming operational. Lawyers advising AI companies may increasingly need to turn voluntary commitments into audit trails, documented controls, and incident-response plans that can survive outside review.

Read California's announcement ↗

FEDERAL POLICY

A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general calls for a federal AI framework.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined 25 attorneys general in calling on Congress to regulate large-scale AI models and developers. Their proposed framework includes safety testing, government-led incident response, safety infrastructure, international cooperation, competition safeguards, and continued state enforcement authority.

WHY IT MATTERS Even without a federal AI statute, the conversation is moving toward familiar legal questions: who sets the standard, who investigates failures, and how federal rules interact with state authority.

Read the coalition announcement ↗

WHAT TO WATCH

Can legal AI scale without losing its quality controls?

Watch for firms and vendors to pair adoption numbers with evidence about what lawyers still review, how tools are tested, and whether faster workflows create better client service. The serious metric is not how many people have access. It is whether the quality of legal work holds up as access expands.

TLSA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

If AI lets a legal team handle more matters, what would you need to measure before you could honestly say it improved access to justice rather than just increased volume?

Technology &Law Weekly