A little under a decade since she began her career at the intersection of business law and technology, Samantha Delaney says that her working environment has changed beyond recognition.
“Back then, simple things like how to archive email were considered quite innovative,” says Delaney, who had several roles at business-focused law firms before taking up her current position as a senior solutions consultant and AI Specialist with Thomson Reuters.
“Things have moved very fast, especially with the widespread adoption of generative AI,” she adds.
Around the same time as Delaney got her start in the field, Professor Martin Petrin began his own research into the “futuristic” seeming possibilities of emerging technologies like AI and machine learning on corporate governance and regulation.
That future has now very much arrived, presenting legal professionals with a whole new set of opportunities and risks, according to Petrin, who was recently appointed the Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair in Corporate Governance at York University, with a joint appointment at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business, following stints in academia and practice in New York, Switzerland, Singapore and London.
“Pretty soon after I joined Osgoode, we decided that there was a gap in the market for an in-depth business law course where legal and business professionals can learn how to use and incorporate AI tools into their work and practice,” Petrin says.
The result is Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Business Law: Legal Issues and Practical Applications, co-chaired by Petrin and Delaney. Held online across two full days of sessions on May 7 and 8, the conference will feature a variety of industry and legal experts helping attendees get a grip on AI’s wide-ranging impact on areas including regulation, privacy and cybersecurity.
In keeping with Osgoode’s reputation as a pioneer in applied learning, substantive discussions will be punctuated by a series of interactive “hands-on demos,” building attendees’ practical knowledge of issues like AI-powered research, contract drafting, due diligence and more.
“It’s all about exposing them to what’s available out there on the market,” Delaney says. “They’ll be hearing directly from the vendors and the professionals who use these tools and coming away with hands-on training and experience, which is going to help them make decisions about which ones to bring into their own practices and how to create policies around their use.”
With a background in business education, Delaney took a serendipitous route to the legal scene, where she brought an innovation lens to her work, helping law firms with the strategic adoption of emerging technologies, before making a switch to the vendor side of the industry.
She was a natural choice as co-chair of the new AI for Business Law program, having taught a similar micro-course specially designed for the next generation of lawyers: Osgoode JD students in their upper years.
“Law schools need to do more to prepare students to enter the legal world, because AI has definitely arrived and law firms and lawyers are implementing it into their workflows,” Delaney says.
According to Petrin, Osgoode’s new course for practitioners should be attractive to a very broad range of lawyers – whether they are working in private practice, government or in-house roles – as well as risk management professionals, business executives and policy makers.
“Really anyone who works in and around business and commercial law is going to find the program extremely useful,” he says.
Attendees who are looking to take a deeper dive into the subject may wish to consider Osgoode’s part-time Professional LLM in Business Law, for which Petrin is co-program director, alongside Professor Poonam Puri.
Designed specifically for working professionals, the business law specialization offers an in-depth examination of corporate finance and corporate structuring, with required courses in advanced corporate law, corporate transactions, corporate remedies.
Want to learn more about our Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Business Law: Legal Issues and Practical Applications program?
Samantha Delaney – Senior Solution Consultant – AI Specialist, Thomson Reuters, and Adjunct Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School
Co-Chair of OsgoodePD’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Business Law Program
Martin Petrin – Professor and Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair in Corporate Governance, Osgoode Hall Law School and Schulich School of Business, York University
Co-Chair of OsgoodePD’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Business Law Program