Two AmLaw 100 firms are doing something unusual: sacrificing billable hours to train associates in AI.
Ropes & Gray lets first-years spend up to 400 hours (20% of their requirement) on AI training. Latham & Watkins flew 400 associates to DC for a two-day AI Academy.
The revenue hit? Probably minimal. First-years aren’t profit centers
New research from Disco and Ari Kaplan reveals a striking contradiction in legal’s relationship with AI and eDiscvovery. While 70% of legal professionals recognize AI’s efficiency benefits, only 35% have actually incorporated it into routine processes.
Even more telling: 42% of law firms report zero external pressure to adopt AI solutions. .
The reasons for
Small firm lawyers keep telling me they can’t afford the AI tools big firms use. They’re not wrong, I’ve heard vendors literally laugh at affordability concerns. So when I came across Descrybe, a legal research platform with free core features (and paid plans at only $10-20/month), it got my attendtion and I dug deeper. Here’s
When we talk about GenAI for the legal profession we frequently focus on the risks. But Comment 8 to Model Rule 1.1 requires us to also the understand the benefits. Sometimes we make AI a little too complicated.
Two fundamental rules: Don’t put client confidences in prompts and check the output for accuracy. Here is
I was recently at a charity benefit reception and dinner. An acquaintance (and I stress acquaintance) came up to me, took one look and out of the blue asked, “you’re retired, aren’t you”? For some reason that question was both galling and irritating. It took me a bit to figure why even though I’m sure
A lot of lawyers think AFAs will save them from AI disruption. They’re wrong.
I’ve been using alternative fee arrangements since the 90s, so I’m not anti-AFA. But the current rush to AFAs as a solution to AI’s impact on billable hours misses the point entirely.
The real issue isn’t how we package our fees.
At its Inspire Conferance, NetDocuments assembled some of legal tech’s sharpest minds to talk about AI’s real impact on legal practice. Zach Abramowitz, Nicola Shaver, Zach Warren, and Jennifer Poon didn’t hold back on the hard questions: Why traditional ROI metrics fail for AI, how ‘AI-first’ firms are disrupting the leverage model, and why many
Just back from NetDocuments Inspire conference. In an era of legal tech consolidation and flashy AI promises, NetDocuments CEO Josh Baxter told me: ‘We’re not a rock band.’ Their new AI Profile tool tackles the metadata problem that’s plagued document management for years. But can this understated, specialized approach survive when the market seems headed
The world of GenAI: get an answer to anything and everything within seconds. No thinking required: just prompt and go. I’m all about technology and the wonders GenAI brings to our world. But sometimes I wonder: at what cost?
Once a week, on Sundays, I try to have a screenless day. A day where I