The Chief Executive Officer of Margins ID Group, Mr Moses Baiden, has urged Ghanaian lawyers to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) and prepare deliberately for the profound changes the technology is expected to bring to legal practice, judicial administration and access to justice.
He said the next 20 years could witness technological transformation on a scale greater than what the legal profession had experienced in the previous century, requiring lawyers to develop new competencies while preserving the professional judgment, accountability and ethical responsibilities at the heart of legal practice.
Mr Baiden said AI was already changing how lawyers researched cases, reviewed documents, analysed contracts, prepared legal arguments and managed information, making it increasingly necessary for practitioners to understand and effectively use the technology.
However, he cautioned lawyers against treating AI-generated information as automatically reliable, stressing that technological efficiency could not replace professional responsibility.
“Artificial intelligence may become an exceptionally fast junior associate, but it will not bear professional responsibility,” he said.
He consequently urged lawyers to supervise, test and correct AI-generated outputs before relying on them in professional work.
According to him, one of the central questions facing lawyers in the emerging technological environment would increasingly shift from “Can I find the answer?” to “Can I trust this answer?”
Mr Baiden identified four major implications of AI for the legal profession: changes in the lawyer’s daily work; transformation of clients and legal institutions; the need for lawyers to acquire new competencies; and the continuing responsibility of lawyers as guardians of law, rights and public trust.
He said the future lawyer would therefore need to combine the roles of jurist, technologist, strategist, advocate, lifelong learner and guardian of rights.
Modernising the legal system
Mr Baiden also called on the courts, regulators and legal education institutions to modernise their systems to accommodate digital evidence, emerging technologies and new forms of legal practice.
He said the transformation of the legal profession should extend beyond individual lawyers to the institutions that support the administration of justice.
He further noted that technology had the potential to improve access to justice by extending legal information and services to farmers, traders, small businesses and other underserved communities.
However, he cautioned that digitisation should not deepen existing inequalities by creating new barriers for people who lacked access to technology or the skills required to use digital services.
Ghana must develop local solutions
Mr Baiden also encouraged Ghana to develop its own legal technology solutions rather than relying exclusively on imported systems.
He said legal technologies developed in other jurisdictions might not adequately reflect Ghanaian law, local languages, commercial practices and institutional realities.
Developing local solutions, he argued, would enable technology to respond more effectively to the specific needs of Ghana’s legal system and society.
From quill to algorithm
Mr Baiden made the call while delivering a keynote address at the 2026/2027 Ghana Bar Association Annual Conference in Accra.
The address, titled, “From Quill to Algorithm: 150 Years of Ghana’s Legal Evolution and the Future of the Ghanaian Lawyer,” examined the transformation of legal practice and the implications of emerging technologies for the profession.
The conference is being held on the theme, “150 Years of Ghana’s Legal Evolution: Transforming the Profession and Driving Its Future with Industry.”
Reflecting on the history of legal practice, Mr Baiden observed that the quill, typewriter and physical library had gradually given way to computers, email, cloud platforms and artificial intelligence.
“The quill disappeared. The lawyer remained,” he said.
He added that the arrival of the algorithm would not alter the fundamental responsibility of the legal profession to serve law, justice and humanity.
Mr Baiden said the anniversary of Ghana’s legal evolution should therefore not be limited to reflecting on the profession’s history but should also provide an opportunity to prepare deliberately for its future.
He said the legal profession must position itself to harness technological advances while ensuring that innovation remained anchored in professional standards, accountability and the protection of rights.
