2026 Law Tech Leaders List
Law technology developments are set to continue their rapid growth in 2026, driven in part by a small group of executives, partners and technologists inside both law firms and specialist vendors who are now setting the agenda for this year and beyond.
Many of these leaders hold newly created roles such as chief innovation officer or chief AI officer and are charged with turning generative AI, data and automation into measurable results for clients and the business.
Authority publications and industry reports on 2025’s top AI and legal tech stories show that generative AI, unified cloud platforms and AI governance will dominate 2026 planning for both firms and in house teams.
For law firms, being aware of the law tech leaders is a key to helping develop strategies and technologies that best fit the rapidly evolving legal technology scene.
Law firm innovation leaders
>> See the listicle – 15 Law Tech Innovators
These individuals sit inside major firms and are responsible for strategy, productisation and delivery of new technology enabled services.
Corporate legal departments are increasingly the primary drivers of technology budgets, and their leaders will heavily influence which tools win in 2026. We took a look at who the law tech leaders are.
Isabel Parker – Chief Innovation Officer, White & Case
Isabel Parker leads the global innovation strategy at White & Case, overseeing practice solutions, business intelligence, knowledge management and the firm’s work with generative AI to enhance client service and build a culture of innovation.
She previously led Deloitte Legal’s global generative AI practice and has been recognised by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s most innovative lawyers and by European Women in Legal Tech, which gives her strong authority with boards and clients evaluating AI led transformation.
David Cunningham – Chief Innovation Officer, Reed Smith
Cunningham is Reed Smith’s first chief innovation officer and is building an integrated global innovation programme that combines data driven legal technology, shared services and new products under a common platform.
His remit includes enterprise data and analytics strategy and bringing new technology products to market, as well as guiding Gravity Stack, the firm’s captive legal tech and data venture.
Michelle Mahoney – Chief Innovation Officer, King & Wood Mallesons
Mahoney leads innovation and transformation strategy at King & Wood Mallesons, including digital strategy, legal service design and deployment of artificial intelligence as part of the firm’s digital transformation programme.
She is responsible for execution as well as strategy, and is recognised by ILTA and others as an influential woman in legal technology, which gives her regional authority across Asia Pacific on innovation and AI adoption by large law firms.
Ilona Logvinova – Global Chief AI Officer, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has hired Logvinova, formerly a senior AI and digital transformation leader at Cleary Gottlieb, as its global chief AI officer, signalling that AI is now a board level discipline for the firm.
Her mandate is to define AI strategy, governance and client facing AI enabled offerings across the global platform, placing her among the first generation of firm wide AI officers in BigLaw.
New chief AI strategists – Ropes & Gray, Husch Blackwell, Fisher Phillips, Linklaters
Ropes & Gray has recently appointed Gretchen Greene as its first chief of AI strategy to drive AI integration and measurable client value in collaboration with the firm’s CIO.
Husch Blackwell has recruited Michael Yang from Adobe and Fisher Phillips has hired Pritesh Patel from Walmart for AI and data focused roles, while Linklaters has created a dedicated team of twenty lawyers who focus exclusively on AI, underscoring the shift from pilot projects to institutional AI capability.
Vendor and platform CEOs
These leaders sit at the intersection of software, data and practice and will shape how firms and in house teams buy and implement technology in 2026.
Top LegalTech CEOs 2025 cohort
Technology Innovators magazine’s “Top 20 LegalTech CEOs of 2025” highlights a group of chief executives whose platforms are reshaping areas such as e‑discovery, contract lifecycle management, legal spend management and AI research tools.
The list shows venture backed companies using generative AI, automation and data analytics to redesign workflows and client delivery, with CEOs recognised for operational transformation as much as product innovation.
DISCO and AI leadership – Dr Robert Harrington
Cloud e‑discovery company CS DISCO profiles Dr Robert Harrington, its senior director of machine learning and AI, as one of its internal AI leaders and a key figure in applying advanced machine learning to litigation workflows.
With a physics PhD and experience at CERN and the US Navy, Harrington is a prominent example of scientific talent shaping next generation discovery tools that reduce review time and improve accuracy for litigators.
LegalTech Breakthrough recognised founders
Industry awards such as LegalTech Breakthrough highlight founders and executives whose products in AI contract review, practice management and compliance have attracted more than one billion dollars in global investment in 2025, signalling which platforms are likely to scale further by 2026.
LegalTech Breakthrough also notes rising demand for AI literacy and specialist talent inside legal teams, which is pushing vendors to build education and governance into their products, not only features.
Influential thinkers and advisors
These people are not always building software but we include them in the list because they help shape adoption through research, education and advisory work with law firms and corporate legal departments. They are legal tech ‘influencers’ who are key to what will be happening in this space in 2026.
Casey Flaherty – LexFusion (now Baretz & Brunelle)
Flaherty, co‑founder and chief strategy officer of LexFusion, now part of Baretz & Brunelle, is profiled as a leading legal innovation strategist who treats innovation as a defined, measurable discipline rather than a loose concept. He advises firms and in house teams on technology selection, process change and pricing models, which places him in a central role in how large buyers evaluate and implement AI and automation tools.
Nicola Shaver – CEO and co‑founder, Legal Tech Hub
Shaver combines a decade of practice experience with her role at Legal Tech Hub, where she analyses market trends and advises firms and corporate departments on AI and innovation strategy. She is frequently cited by vendors and firms as an independent authority on market structure and product capabilities, which makes her a primary reference point for buyers planning 2026 technology roadmaps.
Professor Daniel Martin Katz – Illinois Tech, Chicago‑Kent College of Law
Daniel Katz is described as a pioneer in studying and anticipating how artificial intelligence will influence modern legal practice, combining law and STEM in his teaching and research. His work on predictive analytics, computational law and design of data driven legal systems informs how law schools and forward‑looking firms prepare lawyers for AI enabled practice.
Bob Ambrogi – LawSites and LawNext
Ambrogi is a lawyer and journalist whose LawSites blog and LawNext podcast provide in depth coverage of legal technology products, ethics and business models and he is identified as having “true depth” in the space by peers.
Product launches, funding rounds and case studies he covers often shape how early adopters perceive and test new tools, giving him outsized influence for a media figure.
Kevin Cohn – Brightflag (legal operations and spend)
Brightflag’s chief operating officer, Kevin Cohn, publishes annual legal operations and technology predictions that are widely read by in house leaders and legal ops professionals. In his 2026 predictions, he emphasises that corporate legal will own AI policy, compliance and security and that legal operations will be central to AI governance and data strategy, which positions him as a key voice on how enterprise legal teams structure their tech portfolios.
Emerging legal ops and AI governance leaders
Commentary from Casepoint and others highlights legal ops heads and general counsel who are taking responsibility for AI and generative AI governance, data management and cybersecurity as top issues for 2026.
These leaders are not always public names but collectively they are shifting legal from experimentation to tested, governed deployment, which will underpin the next phase of AI adoption in corporate legal departments.
Why these leaders matter for 2026
The people profiled above in our LawFuel List control strategy, budgets or influential commentary across these themes, which means their decisions and guidance will heavily shape which technologies and vendors succeed over the next 18 to 24 months.
