Moses Baiden, chief executive of Margins ID Group, addressed the 2026/2027 Ghana Bar Association Annual Conference in Accra, urging lawyers to adopt artificial intelligence as the technology reshapes legal practice, judicial administration and access to justice.
Speaking at a conference themed “150 Years of Ghana’s Legal Evolution: Transforming the Profession and Driving Its Future with Industry,” Baiden delivered a keynote titled “From Quill to Algorithm: 150 Years of Ghana’s Legal Evolution and the Future of the Ghanaian Lawyer.” He warned that the pace of technological change over the next two decades could outstrip the profession’s experience of the previous century.
Baiden highlighted that AI already influences research, document review, contract analysis, argument preparation and information management. He cautioned that while AI could act as a fast junior associate, it would never assume professional responsibility, urging lawyers to supervise, test and correct AI outputs before use.
He identified four key areas affected by AI: daily lawyer work, client and institutional interactions, required competencies, and the profession’s duty to protect law, rights and public trust. He noted that AI would shift the question from “can an answer be found?” to “can the answer be trusted?”
Beyond the profession, Baiden called for courts, regulators and legal education institutions to modernise systems for digital evidence, emerging technologies and new practice forms. He argued that technology could expand access to justice for farmers, traders, small businesses and underserved communities, but must be managed to avoid widening inequalities.
Baiden urged Ghana to develop homegrown legal technology solutions rather than rely solely on imports, claiming locally developed tools better reflect Ghanaian laws, languages, commercial practices and institutional realities. He described the lawyer of the future as a jurist, technologist, strategist, advocate, lifelong learner and guardian of rights.
Reflecting on the evolution from quill to algorithm, Baiden said technological advancement would not alter the profession’s fundamental purpose: “The quill disappeared. The lawyer remained,” he added, stressing that the arrival of the algorithm would not change the legal profession’s core responsibility to serve law, justice and humanity.
