South Africa's Legal Leaders Gather for Inaugural Future of Law Conference

The inaugural LexisNexis Future of Law Conference took place on 3 November 2026 at the Sandton Convention Centre, giving South Africa's legal community a dedicated platform to confront how artificial intelligence is reshaping the practice of law, the institutions that uphold it and the people it serves.

Convened by Topco Media and grounded in LexisNexis thought leadership, the invite-only conference brought together senior legal practitioners, general counsel, academics, public-sector leaders and legal-tech founders under the theme From Legal Information to Legal Intelligence – Shaping the Next Era of Law.

Over a single day, two keynotes, an executive leadership conversation, three panel discussions and a next-generation session moved from the decisions facing the country to the practical questions facing every firm, legal department and court. The programme was built around four forces – trust, digital democracy, human capability, and agility and adaptation – and one question: how does the profession harness technology without losing sight of the principles the law exists to protect?

Setting the agenda

Ian Andrews, LexisNexis CEO Southern & Eastern Africa, opened the conference by arguing that the future of law is a shared responsibility, one the legal profession cannot shape in isolation. Law, he said, shapes how institutions govern, how organisations operate and how people experience justice, rights and opportunity.

"When we ask what the future of law looks like, we are also asking what kind of institutions, economy and society South Africa will have," said Andrews. "Technology changes the possibilities. Trust and human judgment determine what we do with them."

He was equally clear on accountability – "using AI does not outsource professional responsibility" – and urged institutions to build the capacity to change course as evidence changes, rather than try to forecast the next decade: "Stop predicting. Start adapting."

Veteran attorney and statesman Dr Mathews Phosa followed with a keynote on the law's place in a changing society, proposing five principles for AI in the legal system: accountability, verification, confidentiality, fairness and inclusion. "We must never confuse a technologically sophisticated answer with a legally sound or morally just decision," he said.

The conversations at the heart of the day

Most of the day belonged to the panels, where general counsel, practitioners, academics, regulators and LexisNexis specialists tested whether South Africa is ready for the Intelligent Age:

• Trust Under Pressure: Can South Africa's institutions keep up? – Lizanne Engelbrecht (Executive: Content, LexisNexis) and Adv. Dirontsho Mohale (Baakedi Professional Practice).
• The Architecture of Trust: Accountability in the Intelligent Age – Prof. Kwazi Majola (University of Limpopo), Matthew Morrison (ENS Africa) and George Findlay (LexisNexis).
• Law in a Digital Democracy – Ntombi Mlambo (Mlambo and Associates) and Nomsa Ntsibande (LexisNexis).
• The Law of Economic Participation: Who Gets In, Who Gets Left Out? – Karishma Govender (National Empowerment Fund), Yamani Selana (Andersen South Africa) and George Thomas (SALGA).

The next generation takes the floor

The closing session, Future Voices, Future Justice, handed the stage to the people who will practise law in the decade Andrews and Phosa described. Legal-tech founders Raphael Segal (MyAI Lawyer), Lisa Nxasana (Dabiya Virtual Law) and Mokone Finger joined Michelle Sithole (Centre for Environmental Rights) and Lawrence Dlamini (Legal Resources Centre), both named in the 2026 Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans list, to debate howAI and institutional reform can make justice more accessible. Moderator Zintle Oyiya, Corporate Reputation and Governance Strategist, guided the day's proceedings.

Source: Briefly News