Legal AI platform Legora has expanded its Asia-Pacific operations, appointing Jessica Turner as its New Zealand Lead as it steps up its focus on helping law firms and in-house teams adopt AI tools in day-to-day legal work.
Turner will manage partnerships and relationships across the country. She joins the regional leadership group led by Heather Paterson, Vice President of Legora APJ, and is part of the founding team behind Legora’s Asia-Pacific and Japan launch.
Legora positions its product as a collaborative AI platform for legal professionals, supporting tasks such as research, review, and drafting on complex matters.
Local adoption
Early traction in New Zealand includes Dentons New Zealand, which has adopted Legora AI across its team for drafting, research, and document review.
The rollout includes measures focused on data privacy, confidentiality, and information security, which Legora described as core design considerations for deployment across the firm.
Turner said the New Zealand market is ready for wider use of AI in legal practice.
“New Zealand firms are well past the point of asking whether AI belongs in legal practice. The market is ready and we’re here to help firms integrate AI into legal workflows. We’re excited to build on the momentum we’re already seeing locally.”
APAC expansion
Paterson said demand for AI integration across major firms is expected to continue, placing New Zealand within a broader regional push.
“We’re excited to have Jessica lead our New Zealand expansion. We’re seeing extraordinary appetite for AI integration across major firms and are eager to help New Zealand organisations take advantage of powerful AI tools in their work.”
Legora plans to focus on integrating legal AI across practice areas in New Zealand, deepen partnerships with leading law firms, and work with customers on workflow changes linked to AI use.
Turner brings more than a decade of leadership experience across Europe and Asia-Pacific. Her previous roles include SAP, Airtable, Highspot, and Sprinklr, with experience in Australia and London.
The appointment comes as legal teams globally assess how AI fits into established processes for drafting, research, and review, while addressing confidentiality and information security. Many firms have tested consumer-grade tools, but some are shifting to platforms designed for professional use, where data handling and access controls are built into product design and deployment.
Legora reported rapid growth since May 2025, with its customer base rising from 250 to more than 800 organisations and the number of markets served increasing from 20 to more than 50. It said tens of thousands of legal professionals now use the platform across law firms and in-house legal teams.
Customers include law firms Bird & Bird, Cleary Gottlieb, White & Case, Linklaters, Dentons, and Goodwin, as well as Deloitte. Legora describes its product as a collaborative system designed to sit across legal workflows rather than being limited to a single task.
The creation of a local lead role signals a push to turn regional interest into longer-term relationships with large firms and corporate legal departments. Turner will lead partnerships and market engagement in New Zealand as demand for AI-assisted legal work grows across practice areas.