Louis Lehot Comments on AI’s Impact on M&A

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Louis Lehot is quoted in the Law360 article, “How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming The M&A Practice,” offering his perspective on the impact AI is having across the mergers and acquisitions space.

Lehot said areas where AI can be particularly useful is in identifying acquisitions and formulating valuations. “It used to be that lead identification by lawyers was [primarily done] by humans reading lots of press about companies in their space that were doing deals, that were looking to do deals or talked about their strategic priorities,” Lehot explained. “That really required a level of time investment and expertise that was incredibly time intensive.”

“What I’m increasingly seeing and hearing is that participants in the deal economy, whether they be lawyers, bankers or private equity folks, are now relying on artificial intelligence engines to identify those companies in their sphere of interest that are likely to do deals,” Lehot continued.

“I don’t believe that AI is something that replaces humans … It’s just going to make lawyers a lot more effective,” he added.

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