Four years ago, full-steam into a pandemic, and a couple of years before generative AI became the tech world's focus, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton opened ClearyX, a legal tech incubator and subsidiary that would give the firm's clients a more focused approach when it came to their legal tech needs. 

Michael Gerstenzang, managing partner at Cleary since 2017, has taken a keen interest in the development, usability and future of generative AI. He isn't alone in this, to be sure. But under his direction, the firm has sought to be a leader in generative AI, through ClearyX, its own internal use, client work, as well as the firm's outreach to legal tech companies.