Our latest Sponsor Spotlight from Epiq highlights a recent article by Director of Risk Management Mike Guernon. In a bit of circular referencing, he’s parlayed the company’s sponsorship of a popular annual risk survey into permission to publicly share and analyze some of the qualitative responses in contains. Read more from Mike:

“Independent Risk Survey Highlights Law Firm Investment and Innovation Plans for 2026 and Beyond” —

• “Because the report was sponsored by Epiq (my employer) I was fortunate to be granted access to and permission to share some of the response data, which I’m presenting in this update along with my own thoughts and analysis.”
• “For those interested in reading the complete report, which features detailed compensation data and over 20 pages of commentary across six broad operational risk themes, I’d note that as a survey sponsor, Epiq has special rights to share copies with qualified firms.”

TREND 1: An AI Imperative — Harnessing New Technology for Greater Efficiency in Conflicts Review and New Business Intake Process Execution

As expected, risk leaders flagged AI as a key theme. Responses suggested that when it comes to AI in the context of risk, many firms are at the exploration and experimentation stage, though others suggest more developed efforts including defined initiatives. Sampling of responses:

• “We are AI focused. Looking any efficiencies that can be gained through AI.” (500-999 Lawyers)
• “I just started an AI working group within the department to explore uses of AI for efficiency.“ (500-999 Lawyers)
• “Focus on how AI can assist in clearance process, particularly in analyzing and summarizing the conflicts reports.” (1000+ Lawyers)

TREND 2: Intapp Immensely Important — Modernizing Risk and Compliance Infrastructure Through Cloud Adoption and Workflow Automation

For the many firms utilizing Intapp for risk and compliance, cloud migration is critical path to adopting the rich AI capabilities that platform offers. Survey responses suggest that while many firms have made the move to the cloud, others are prioritizing migrating their on-premises infrastructure to the cloud, driven not only by the promises of future AI adoption, but also by the short term functional and operational benefits a cloud model provides. Sampling of responses:

• “We are moving IntApp from on-prem to the cloud this year.” (250-499 Lawyers)
• “Moving to the cloud in 2026/2027, updating processes to gain efficiencies and finding ways to use AI.” (500-999 Lawyers)
• “We will be revamping our Intake and Conflicts system with Intapp and process with a focus on qualitative risk at intake.” (250-499 Lawyers)

TREND 3: Client Guidelines and Engagement Letters Increasingly Critical — Managing Client-driven Risk Complexity at Scale

On a thematically related note, many respondents noted specific areas of risk workflow process and technology investment, including enhancing their existing software systems, or implementing new software product modules. Two sides of the client compliance coin — Outside Counsel Guidelines (OCGs) and Engagement Letters — show up prominently and repeatedly as areas of investment focus. Sampling of responses:

• “The Compliance team is currently focused on the development and pilot implementation of an automated engagement letter system. This initiative marks a significant advancement in streamlining client onboarding processes and enhancing consistency in documentation.” (500-999 Lawyers)
• “We have owned [Intapp] Terms for a few years, but other projects keep getting prioritized ahead of it so we haven’t started using it. We are hoping to get it deployed in 2026. Separately, we are excited about Intapp’s external forms for laterals.” (250-499 Lawyers)
• “Looking at OCG software, getting a new screens program.” (100-249 Lawyers)

TREND 4: Structuring and Staffing for Success — Continued Shift to Centralized Conflict Clearance Models

While technology investments offer boosts in risk team productivity and process efficiency, firms are also looking to improve how they staff and organize risk teams. Several noted moves towards a centralized model of conflicts review and clearance, which is a trend that’s been growing for several years. Many highlighted efforts to either grow headcount generally, improve staff skill, or create new specialist focused roles within the risk team.Sampling of responses:

• “We are expanding our conflicts attorney count from 1 to 3, and moving to a model where the conflicts attorneys clear conflicts (rather than the requesting attorney).” (1000+ Lawyers)
• “We would like to add a Conflicts Attorney or 2 to start a new workflow of centralized conflict clearance.” (250-499 Lawyers)
• “To hire two additional team members. Create training opportunities for team members to be able to contribute more and streamline processes and expand our services to more timekeepers.” (250-499 Lawyers)

See the complete article for more samples of participant survey responses

• For firms interested in reviewing the complete survey, including comprehensive risk salary benchmark data, please reach out to Epiq’s Law Firm Advisory practice here. As a sponsor, Epiq has a limited number of copies available for internal use by qualified organizations.