“Every transaction is different”: Chris Fowles on AI and diligence

Managing partner of Torys’ Legal Services Centre in Halifax Chris Fowles spoke with Canadian Lawyer in an article on the changing landscape of due diligence, saying “every transaction is a little bit different.”

The article examines the evolution of due diligence processes, much of which is thanks to developing technology providing faster and smarter tools, such as AI.

While AI is greatly increasing the efficiency of due diligence, Chris points out it does not “bring judgment and context to the review process; however it’s very good at pointing out things for his team to look at based on what they are interested in.”

Besides using AI, he believes an “upfront discussion about the client and their objectives is really important.”

“Having that context to bring to the reviewing team helps a lot as well in terms of where people put their effort and what they think about as they are going through the review,” he said.

Chris explained in the past the assumption was that the client would want everything reviewed.

He also encourages a larger focus on the project management and cost-tracking aspects of due diligence to “avoid bottlenecks” and keep clients informed.

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