Legal Cheek Careers catches up with Iain Murdoch, head of legal AI at Mills & Reeve, to explore his journey from traditional practice to tech trailblazer
Initially driven by what he calls a “bog-standard” academic interest in law, Iain Murdoch, now head of legal AI at Mills & Reeve, secured a training contract in the late 1990s and rotated through several departments, including a stint in construction law, an area he hadn’t originally considered but quickly came to love. “I qualified into construction at a time when there was lots of work to do,” he recalls. He found it satisfying to see the physical results of his efforts, such as buildings and infrastructure taking shape, rather than simply money moving around. That concrete connection between legal work and the real world would go on to shape the trajectory of his career.
After several years as a construction solicitor, he stepped away from frontline practice to join Practical Law, an online legal know-how provider. “I got involved in some big software development projects and those experiences have now led me to where I am today,” he reflects. A foray into a legal tech startup followed shortly after, giving him first-hand insight into innovation in the sector.
All these “serendipitous” side-steps combined set him up for current role as head of legal AI at Mills & Reeve. “The honest truth is it’s a relatively new role and different people in roles that sound a bit like mine are doing slightly different things in different firms,” he says.
So what does a head of legal AI mean? In Murdoch’s case, it’s all about finding ways to deploy technology — especially AI — to make legal work more efficient and effective. Importantly, he stresses that it’s not just about generative AI or the latest chatbot everyone’s talking about. “It’s also about the other aspects of AI — the machine learning tools out there… all the way through to software tools that allow you to compare two documents,” he explains. Even straightforward tech can have a big impact. Document comparison software, for instance, might sound mundane, but if it “does more than just produce track changes in Microsoft, boy does it help the lawyers get the deals done!” Smoother comparisons mean lawyers can work “that little bit faster, that little bit more efficiently, whether that’s to go home half an hour earlier or complete the transaction more smoothly”.
At its core, the role is “about applying technology, mostly AI, but not only generative AI and not only ChatGPT, to the practice of law.” Murdoch reports to the firm’s chief technology officer, which highlights that it is as much a tech strategy role as a legal one. Although he continues some strategic fee-earning work to stay connected to the needs of the firm’s clients, he spends most of his time on innovation.
Training and upskilling pose a significant challenge. “What tools are out there? Why do they matter? How do we upskill everyone in Mills & Reeve to understand what technologies can help in the practice of law?” he says. And by “everyone,” he really means not just qualified solicitors, but trainees, apprentices, paralegals, executive assistants, everyone. If the whole team is fluent in the tech, clients benefit. “Every time we can use technology to improve the quality of what we deliver to clients, that’s a small but meaningful step forward,” he says.
Driving tech innovation can be a gradual process and Murdoch is candid that his job isn’t about overnight revolution so much as continual evolution. “My role is about trying to make those incremental improvements and trying to get the whole ship moving in the right direction,” he tells Legal Cheek Careers. The “wind’s always blowing, but it’s just changing direction,” he says — one month AI might feel like a fierce headwind, the next it might carry you forward.
Equally not every shiny new AI tool will be an instant hit with lawyers. The key, Murdoch reflects, is to focus on useful wins and not get discouraged by every “no”. He points out that a relatively simple improvement for an entire department can be “much more useful than spending hours trying to buy in some amazing tech that’s going to need hours of training to understand and use”. It’s a “filtering process,” and part of his role is choosing the right moment to pitch an idea. Often, getting a tech initiative approved comes down to timing and business context. Change involves people, and “there are always challenges because there’s always people,” he notes wryly. Understanding how to influence and communicate can determine whether a project sails or sinks. “Keep the ideal destination in mind”, he says, but if you “see a sandbank ahead, steer around it”.
Talk of AI in law can provoke anxiety among students and junior lawyers. Murdoch’s view is reassuring. Don’t panic but get educated. “It’s easy to be fearful of things you don’t understand. So, seek understanding,” he urges. In practice, this means taking the time to learn a bit about what AI actually is and does. There are “fabulous resources” that can help demystify AI, he notes, including some highly-recommended free online courses if you look around. His core advice is to learn the “broad sweeps” of AI. Crucially, most current AI tools are not magic legal experts — “they’re trained to answer any question”. A savvy lawyer needs to know the limitations and how to work within them. It might be as simple as knowing how to phrase a prompt or understanding why the AI might make something up. This kind of knowledge can set candidates apart. “Being comfortable and confident as to why you’ve used these publicly available tools” is becoming a new normal. “A year ago, it almost would have been weird to say, ‘Oh yeah, of course I used ChatGPT to prepare for this interview.’ But now if you don’t, well, almost why didn’t you?” he observes. The message is clear: the legal industry is rapidly embracing these tools, so show that you can too.
Rather than viewing AI as a threat, Murdoch sees it as opening up more opportunities for those entering law. He notes that some people he’s mentored have gone on to land roles in law firms that didn’t even exist a decade ago. “Some of the people I’ve worked with have job titles that don’t have the word ‘solicitor’ in them,” he says, pointing to roles like legal engineer, knowledge assistant, and positions in legal operations. For students fascinated by tech, this should come as good news. He advises looking into alternative routes such as apprenticeships or graduate roles in these areas, especially if more traditional routes are unavailable to you.
Murdoch does acknowledge that change is afoot. “My instinct is that we are at that moment now of underappreciation, despite all of the press it’s getting, of the impact of AI and generative AI,” he says. We may be on the cusp of breakthroughs that could fundamentally alter legal work. Exactly what the profession will look like in 5 or 10 years is hard for anyone to predict. “This year and next year, we’re going to be doing similar jobs. We might be using better tools to do them. But those tools aren’t going to help us do everything,” he notes.
Finally, Murdoch encourages aspiring lawyers to adopt a mindset of continuous learning and flexibility. “If you see an opportunity that looks interesting, that takes you sideways — that’s the story of my career,” he chuckles. He didn’t plan to become a tech specialist, but by saying yes to new opportunities (even when they weren’t the obvious next step), he ended up at the forefront of legal AI. And the profession can be tough, so he stresses the importance of resilience and support networks. “Find the humans that you get on with, make them part of your network, and never feel that you’re alone” in what can be a high-pressure journey. “Look for the good days and bank them,” he concludes.
