Legal 500 GC Summit held in Czech Republic for first time, with Taylor Wessing Czech Republic as partner

On Tuesday 27 February 2024, the internationally recognized Legal 500 GC Summit, intended primarily for CEOs and senior in-house counsels from national and international companies in Central and Eastern Europe, was held for the first time in Prague at the Kings Court Hotel. Participants heard a total of four panel discussions and were given the opportunity to comment on the legal and business challenges they face daily and share their own experience.

The panel on "The opportunities, challenges, and risks of using AI tools for and in legal departments" was led by Karin Pomaizlová, partner and head of Taylor Wessing Czech Republic’s IP/IT team, which specializes in new technologies including IoT, Industry 4.0, Big Data and AI. Four other panelists joined her to share insights: Axel von dem Bussche, partner at Taylor Wessing Hamburg with specialization in IT law for its Technology, Media & Telecoms group, lawyer and software engineer Milan Dang who is also a founding partner of Verdikto Group, a pioneer in the field of accessible legal services, Lukáš Herma, head of the legal department at Eurowag Group, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, and last but not least, Ondřej Kramoliš, lawyer at Gen (formerly Avast) responsible for data protection compliance, negotiating IT and other contracts with customers and suppliers, and legal matters related to new technologies.

The panel itself opened with a presentation on current and upcoming European legislation affecting AI, starting with the EU Regulation on Artificial Intelligence. The discussion next focused on the possibilities of deploying AI applications tailored to the needs of a specific company. Both the benefits and the risks associated with the use of AI were assessed. Panelists also discussed ways to eliminate specific risks, to control and possibly correct AI outputs, including ways to ensure that the basic AI setup, known as the boundary, does not deviate completely from the original assignment by further "learning". At the end of the discussion, they answered questions from the audience.

"I am delighted that we had the opportunity to be partner of such a key event. I want to especially highlight the tremendous quality of the panel on AI, moderated by our colleague Karin Pomaizlová. It was composed of experts who work with AI daily, giving everyone present the opportunity to learn a lot of new yet highly useful information on a very pressing issue", says Erwin Hanslik, Managing Partner at Taylor Wessing Czech Republic. 

For 33 years, The Legal 500 has been analysing the capabilities of law firms across the world in over 150 jurisdictions. Its comprehensive research programme is revised and updated every year to bring the most up-to-date vision of the global legal market. The Legal 500 produces a wide-ranging series of resources for in-house lawyers including roundtables and client insight reports or GC Summits held around the world, also recognising and rewarding the best in-house lawyers through its GC Powerlist series and The Legal 500 Awards.