US Corporate Counsel Matthew Thomas on Good Judgment in Law

• Matthew Thomas emphasizes that experience is key to developing good judgment in corporate law.
• Good judgment involves prioritizing issues based on business context and relationships rather than solely focusing on technical errors.
• AI excels at identifying issues but struggles to decide which ones deserve attention, negotiation, or letting go.
• Human judgment is essential for making nuanced decisions and balancing business priorities, relationships, and technical requirements.

Good judgment really does come from experience.

Matthew Thomas, senior corporate counsel at Elastic, recently shared his insights on the importance of good judgment in corporate law with a senior legal correspondent. Their conversation started as a discussion about mistakes but evolved into a deeper exploration of what good judgment entails and why it may become the defining skill for the next generation of in-house lawyers. Thomas emphasized that experience is key to developing good judgment, which involves learning to prioritize issues based on business context and relationships rather than solely focusing on technical errors.

The increasing capabilities of AI in contract analysis have led to a shift in the value proposition for in-house counsel. While AI can excel at identifying issues, it struggles to decide which ones deserve attention, negotiation, or letting go. This requires human judgment, which is essential for making nuanced decisions and prioritizing issues based on business context. Thomas noted that good judgment involves recognizing proportionality and understanding what truly matters in a given situation.

The conversation with Thomas highlighted the importance of developing good judgment among in-house lawyers. As AI continues to improve, its limitations become more apparent. Human judgment is necessary for making decisions that balance business priorities, relationships, and technical requirements. The best in-house lawyers will be those who can navigate these complexities and provide trusted advice to their organizations. By focusing on developing their ability to make nuanced decisions, lawyers can add greater value to their companies and become true advisors rather than just issue identifiers.

Lawyers should focus on developing their ability to make nuanced decisions and prioritize issues based on business context, rather than just identifying technical errors.

Source: Original reporting via {Source}