CL Talk

Fasken on agentic AI: building the tools lawyers actually use

Sep 08, 2026

In this episode of CL Talk, Canadian Lawyer managing editor Tim Wilbur speaks with Clarke Barnes, Fasken's firm managing partner, and Andrea Alliston, who leads the firm's knowledge and practice innovation programs, about an AI strategy that predates the firm's July 2026 announcement of a firmwide Legora partnership by more than a year. Barnes and Alliston discuss Fasken's joint innovation program with Walter AI — acquired by Legora in March 2026 — how that work began in the firm's emerging technology and venture capital practice, what agentic AI changes about legal workflows compared to earlier tools, why bilingualism was the deciding factor in the platform evaluation, and how the firm is managing adoption through lawyer secondments and dedicated AI engagement roles. They also address how client expectations have shifted in under two years, and where agentic AI may take legal service delivery next. 

Andrea Alliston will appear on a panel titled "How Law Firms Are Re-Engineering Legal Delivery" at the Canadian Legal Summit in October.