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Terri Mottershead
Closing Debate | Tech Competency will Trump Legal Skills in Tomorrow’s Lawyer
As technology reshapes the legal practice, a debate emerges: will technological competency overshadow traditional legal skills in defining the lawyer of the future? This debate examines the competing forces of automation, artificial intelligence, data-driven decision-making and digital client services, and whether these will become the dominant measure of professional capability. One side argues that mastering legal technology will be the decisive differentiator—enabling greater efficiency, accuracy, access to justice, and competitive advantage. The opposing view contends that core legal reasoning, advocacy, ethics, negotiation and human judgment remain irreplaceable, and that technology is merely a tool to enhance, not replace, legal expertise. Through contrasting perspectives, this session challenges participants to consider where the real value of tomorrow’s lawyer will lie: in coding and computational fluency, or in timeless human skills that technology cannot replicate.
About Terri
Terri Mottershead is the Global Director of Ashurst Advance Digital Enablement. She chairs the Queensland Law Society’s AI in Legal Practice Consulting Committee, serves on the Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation & Technology Association Advisory Board, and is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management.
Terri holds a Bachelor of Laws from QIT, a Master of Laws from the University of Queensland, and an MBA from the University of Wales.
Over more than three decades, she has worked across private practice and academia, founded and grown start-ups, served on boards and committees in both the for profit and non profit sectors, and led talent management functions in major international firms and professional associations.A recognised leader in legal innovation, Terri has led global teams at the forefront of AI and adjacent technologies, guiding their application to transform legal service delivery and drive adoption of new ways of working across the profession worldwide.