As Best & Flanagan moves through its centennial year, one thing is clear: the world our clients operate in is changing faster than ever. Laws are shifting and tightening, technology is reshaping how business gets done, and expectations of what good counsel looks like are evolving alongside those pressures.
Clients don’t just need answers. They need foresight, judgment, and clear decisions that hold up in the real world. That’s why we pride ourselves in helping clients prepare for what’s coming, not just responding to what’s already here.
Clarity in a more complex regulatory world
Across industries, organizations are navigating a legal environment that’s more complex and more scrutinized than it used to be. Rules around data privacy, environmental and social reporting, employment, and financial crime continue to evolve, often with overlapping requirements and shorter lead times.
For clients, the worry isn’t just “Are we compliant?” It’s “Do our contracts, policies, and everyday practices still work under the new rules?” Informal habits that once passed muster can now create exposure; legacy agreements may no longer align with current law; and small blind spots can become the starting point for disputes.
What clients need next is help turning this complexity into plain‑spoken clarity: understanding which changes matter most for their specific structure, what needs to be updated, and how to integrate flexibility so they’re not rebuilding from scratch every time the law moves.
Guidance on using AI and new tools safely
Artificial intelligence and automation tools have moved from novelty to normal in a short span of time. Businesses, public bodies, and individuals are experimenting with AI to speed up work, analyze information, and improve services. At the same time, they’re grappling with new questions: How much can we rely on these tools? Where does responsibility sit when decisions are informed by algorithms? How do we prevent errors, bias, or hallucinated outputs from creating risk?
“As an employment lawyer and commercial litigator, I have a front-row seat to the challenges that businesses face on a day-to-day basis. Our corporate clients are seeing more HR issues arise with the growing use of AI in the workplace,” says Joel Schroeder, an attorney at Best & Flanagan. “While AI can be a wonderful tool for getting quick answers, streamlining tedious work, and generating ideas, it is also creating situations where employees appear more sophisticated in asserting legal rights or claims—which can create a crushing amount of work for companies’ legal and HR teams.”
The conversation is no longer just “Should we use AI?” but “How do we use it safely and well?” That touches policy, contracts, compliance, and ethics. It also requires careful thinking about how AI interacts with existing legal obligations, from confidentiality to consumer protection.
“I think we’re going to see an increase in legal claims asserted with tools like ChatGPT or Claude advising the other side rather than an experienced lawyer,” says Joel.
What clients need next is practical guidance on building AI and other emerging technologies into their operations with clear guardrails: knowing which uses are appropriate, how to document decisions, and how to balance efficiency with accountability.
Legal partners who connect risk to real‑world decisions
Expectations of legal partners have evolved alongside these trends. Clients still look for strong technical knowledge and sound analysis, but they increasingly want advice faster, with clearer communication; more predictable costs; and advice that connects legal risk directly to business, personal, or community impact.
“Lawyers are being asked to do more at a faster pace, which is exhilarating but also challenging. That’s why it’s so important for us to be responsive to our clients and their needs. Even if we can’t drop everything immediately, we need to stay in communication with our clients about timing and deliverables,” says Joel.
Clients are looking for counsel who can move from spotting issues to making recommendations quickly, explaining options in plain language, and helping them weigh trade‑offs in context — not in the abstract.
In this environment, our goal is to turn our expertise into usable decisions. It means saying, “Here are the options that actually work for you, and here’s the one we’d choose if we were in your position,” while staying grounded in our client’s goals.
Readiness, not just reaction
Taken together, these pressures make readiness more important than ever.
For organizations, readiness can look like updated contracts that reflect current law, governance structures that support quick, informed action, and scenario planning that asks, “If this happens, how do we respond?” For individuals and families, it might mean clearer succession plans, aligned estate and business structures, and communication that reduces uncertainty during transitions. For public and nonprofit clients, readiness can involve anticipating funding changes, policy developments, or community expectations and building flexible frameworks to respond.
What clients need next is a legal partner who helps them build that readiness over time — not just step in when a crisis is already unfolding. That’s where long‑term relationships, local insight, and practical judgment matter most.
Evolving alongside clients — and then some
At Best & Flanagan, the centennial is a milestone, but it’s also a vantage point. One hundred years of practice has shown that laws change, markets move, technology advances, and client needs shift.
What endures is the value of legal counsel that evolves in step with those changes.
“As I have done throughout my career, I’m learning new technologies to make my work more efficient and deliver strong results for our clients. I’m also doubling down on the things that can matter just as much as—if not more than—answering a client’s technical legal questions: listening deeply, understanding the drivers behind the issue, thinking ahead, and being responsive to clients’ needs, big or small,” says Joel.
We approach that work by helping clients see emerging issues clearly, by connecting those issues to concrete decisions, and by building structures that make it easier to navigate whatever comes next.
As we look beyond year 100, what our clients need will keep changing. Our commitment is to evolve alongside those needs—and then some—so that clients can move into the future with both confidence and clarity.
Best & Flanagan is celebrating 100 years of serving clients, businesses, and communities with a people-first approach to law. Learn more at bestlaw.com/100-years.