Contributors

(October 20, 2026) –Womble Bond Dickinson is pleased to introduce Womble AI Labs, an initiative dedicated to developing AI solutions for complex legal and business challenges for the firm and its clients. Alongside this initiative and the work of the Applied AI team, the firm continues to focus on firmwide training programs and generative AI courses, and to drive adoption through its AI Champions initiative.

“Womble AI Labs builds on our firm’s long history of innovation and entrepreneurial approach to how we serve our clients,” said Merrick Benn, Chair and CEO of Womble Bond Dickinson (US). “As we celebrate the firm’s 150th anniversary this year and look toward the future, this initiative reflects our commitment to embracing new technologies while continuing to evolve how we deliver value to our clients. We are excited to bring together the talent and ideas across our firm to develop cutting-edge AI solutions that improve efficiency, enhance the client experience, and deliver better outcomes.”

Womble AI Labs: Creating AI-Driven Solutions in Collaboration with Clients and Attorneys

Womble AI Labs is led by Chief AI and Technology Officer Chad Ergun and embedded in the firm’s IT function. The team works closely with practice groups and client teams to develop internal tools that improve operations and legal service delivery, as well as bespoke practice applications tailored to specific business challenges.

Womble AI Labs is an extension of the firm’s Applied AI team, which includes AI engineers, machine learning specialists, and legal engineers dedicated to building practical AI solutions. The team’s forward-deployed engineers work directly alongside attorneys and client teams to understand their workflows, design bespoke AI applications, and refine those solutions through hands-on implementation and feedback loops.

“We are thrilled to unveil this initiative, which has already had a positive impact on our internal processes and client service,” said Ergun. “Through extensive engagement with our attorneys and clients, we’re able to develop technology solutions that are designed around actual workflows. These solutions require no additional software licenses or advanced training and meet the firm’s strict standards for security and client confidentiality.”

Womble AI Labs is primarily focused on developing technology solutions to address legal and administrative tasks that are structured, repeatable, and well-defined. These include regulatory monitoring, document generation and packaging, contract review and lifecycle management, and early-stage legal analyses and case assessments. 

AI Training Program

To meet its goal of training attorneys and staff on the standards and habits that make AI truly useful, Womble offers a course developed and delivered by Berkeley Law Executive Education. The “Generative AI for the Legal Profession” course emphasizes practical, role-specific skills for embedding AI into daily work and using the technology thoughtfully and responsibly.

AI Champions Initiative

Knowing that meaningful AI adoption requires more than formal policies and structures, Womble has developed a network of “AI Champions” who commit to learning and adopting new AI tools, attending advanced training sessions, and sharing use cases with their peers. Since the network launched in early 2026, more than 200 of Womble’s legal and business professionals have joined, with representatives from every department in the firm. 

For more information on Womble’s AI initiatives and examples of the firm’s technology solutions, visit this webpage. For more details on how Womble has balanced legacy and innovation over the course of its 150 years in business, see this article by US Chair and CEO Merrick Benn.