Implementing AI in an enterprise is as much a legal and governance challenge as it is a technical one. Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (LKS), as a leading full-service law firm in India with a keen focus on technology and innovation, is well-positioned to be your partner in this journey. Here’s how we can help:
- Strategic Advisory on AI Readiness and Compliance: LKS can conduct an “AI readiness” legal audit for your organization. This involves reviewing your current and planned AI use cases in light of applicable laws and industry regulations. We help identify compliance requirements early - be it data protection obligations, sectoral approvals, or intellectual property considerations - and chart out a plan to meet them. By proactively addressing these, you reduce the risk of regulatory run-ins and ensure smooth implementation. Our team stays abreast of the latest developments (from the DPDP Act enforcement to global AI regulations), so we provide up-to-date advice. For global companies, we coordinate with international counsel networks to cover cross-border AI issues, ensuring you have a harmonized compliance strategy.
- Developing AI Governance Frameworks and Policies: Crafting the right internal controls is essential for managing AI risk. LKS’s experts can assist in formulating your AI governance framework - essentially helping to put in place the structures we discussed: setting up an AI oversight committee, defining policies for ethical AI use, establishing procedures for model validation, etc. We have experience in policy drafting and can tailor an AI usage policy for your organization that reflects both best practices and your specific values and risk appetite. This includes integrating legal requirements (like bias checks or documentation expectations from upcoming laws) into your policy in plain language. We can also conduct training sessions for your staff on these policies, ensuring that the principles of responsible AI use are clearly understood at all levels. In essence, we help build the “rules of the road” internally so that your AI projects drive on the right side of law and ethics.
- Risk Mitigation and Legal Risk Management: Our team brings to the table deep expertise in technology risk. We work with your project teams to identify points of legal risk in the AI lifecycle - for instance, data sharing arrangements with vendors, algorithmic decision-making in consumer interactions, or use of open-source AI components. For each, we advise on mitigation strategies: it could be anonymizing data to mitigate privacy risk, implementing bias testing protocols to address discrimination risk, or guiding you on obtaining licenses for third-party datasets to mitigate IP risk. If you’re deploying a high-stakes AI (say in healthcare diagnostics or fintech), we help prepare documentation and processes that regulators would expect, thereby future-proofing your deployment. We can also assist in setting up response plans (legal side) for AI incidents - for example, if an AI error occurs, having a plan to quickly investigate and if needed, self-report to authorities or notify affected users in a legally compliant way.
- Drafting and Reviewing Contracts Involving AI: As discussed, contracts are vital when engaging any AI vendors or partners. LKS has a dedicated technology transactions practice that can draft and negotiate contracts to protect your interests. Whether it’s a contract with a cloud AI service provider, a collaboration agreement for AI development, or licensing of an AI tool, we ensure key clauses are in place: stringent data protection commitments by the vendor, clarity on IP rights to AI outputs, service level agreements that meet your needs, audit rights, and liability caps/indemnities that align with the risk of the AI use. Our familiarity with both legal nuances and the technology context allows us to bridge gaps in understanding that sometimes occur in these contracts. Additionally, if you plan to acquire AI solutions, we conduct due diligence - checking that the vendor’s offering doesn’t have legal red flags (like known issues with their training data or regulatory notices). Conversely, if you’re providing an AI-based service to clients, we can help draft your customer terms or disclaimers to manage liability (for instance, making clear what the AI will and won’t do, and any responsibilities of the user). In summary, we help create clear, fair, and forward-looking contracts that allocate risk properly and set the stage for successful partnerships.
- Intellectual Property Protection and Management: Innovation in AI could be a competitive edge for you. LKS’s IP lawyers can assist in protecting that innovation. For example, we help clients explore patenting aspects of their AI technology or processes, where feasible. We also advise on copyright issues - like how to protect or license content created by AI, and ensuring your use of third-party material in AI respects copyright (including navigating new questions like text and data mining exceptions, if any apply). Trade secret strategies are often crucial: we guide on how to safeguard your training data, model parameters, and algorithms as trade secrets (non-disclosure agreements, internal confidentiality practices, etc.). If you are incorporating open-source AI software, we advise on license compliance to avoid accidental license violations. Furthermore, if down the line you face an IP infringement claim related to AI (say, someone claims your AI system infringed their patent, or that your AI’s output copied their material), LKS can defend you - drawing on both technical understanding and legal argumentation to resolve the dispute efficiently.
- Litigation and Regulatory Defense: Despite best efforts, sometimes disputes or regulatory questions arise. LKS, being a law firm with strong litigation and regulatory practices, stands ready to represent your interests. This could involve responding to a data protection authority’s inquiry about your AI’s data handling, or representing you in court if there’s a lawsuit alleging harm from an AI decision. Our approach is to first try and prevent issues (through all the proactive measures above), but should a challenge occur, we leverage our knowledge of tech and law to mount a robust defense. For example, in a scenario where an AI-related outcome is challenged, we can articulate to a court how your governance and oversight were responsible (potentially mitigating claims of negligence). Or if a regulator alleges non-compliance, we help demonstrate your compliance efforts or negotiate an acceptable resolution. LKS’s credibility and familiarity with Indian regulators and courts can be an asset in such situations. We can also help engage with regulators in the policy realm - if new AI regulations are being discussed, we can represent your industry’s voice through consultations, ensuring practical perspectives are considered (a role we often play for industry associations).
- Leveraging Our In-House AI Experience: LKS is not just advising from the sidelines - we have embraced AI internally. As mentioned, we developed our own AI-driven legal research tool to assist our lawyers in efficiently finding relevant case laws and precedents. This experience of building and deploying an AI solution within a law firm context gave us firsthand insight into the opportunities and challenges of AI adoption. We learned how to train models on specialized legal data, how to validate outputs (to avoid any “hallucinations” or errors), and how to get our professionals comfortable with using the AI as a support tool. We also navigated the ethical considerations (e.g., ensuring the AI’s suggestions are reliable and maintaining client confidentiality). This journey means when we come to advise your organization, we can do so with practical understanding, not just theory. We understand the change management aspect - we can share strategies on driving user adoption of AI, as we did with our own attorneys. And importantly, it shows that we are invested in innovation - we are likely to stay at the cutting edge and can be a long-term advisor as new AI developments arise. As one industry article noted, some law firms have built internal AI systems to improve legal work - LKS proudly counts itself among them, and we bring that innovative ethos to client engagements as well.
In summary, LKS aims to be a holistic partner for your enterprise AI initiatives. We combine legal expertise, industry knowledge, and a tech-savvy approach to ensure that you can unlock AI’s benefits while staying within the bounds of law and ethical practice. Whether you are just beginning to explore AI or are already deploying advanced systems, we can tailor our services to your stage and needs - from setting up governance to putting out fires, from contract drafting to courtroom defense. As AI transforms the business landscape, LKS is here to help you navigate the journey confidently and responsibly.
