A new Thomson Reuters Report reveals what may be an uncomfortable reality that many don’t want to hear. Quite simply, AI will require fewer lawyers and less billable time to do tasks. But 90% of legal dollars still flow through hourly billing which is the same structure we’ve had since the 1950s. Think about the
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The GenAI Siren Song, the Danger of Enshittification and Tying Ourselves to a Mast
Ads are “like a last resort for us for a business model…ads plus AI is sort of uniquely unsettling”. Sam Altman May 2024 as quoted in Hacker News.
“To start, we plan to test ads at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current…
Mind The Gap Between What Lawyers Need And Many Vendors’ Focus
Here’s my post for Above the law on the troubling disconnect in legal tech identified by Hwang Jae Hyuk: 70% of investment flows to vendors targeting the 40% of time lawyers spend on research and analysis, while only 30% goes toward solving the administrative burdens that actually eat up most of our days.
It’s…
CES 2026: The Trends. The Vibe. And Some Final Thoughts.
Back from CES 2026. Here’s my top ten impressions from this year’s show. Not surprisingly, the headline this was AI everywhere all the time. Lots of discussions about agentic AI, wearables and robotics all powered by AI. But precious little about the AI challenges like the infrastructure gap, the erosion of critical thinking skills and…
Are We Prepared To Deal With The Coming Wearable Revolution?
AI wearables were everywhere at CES 2026. Smart glasses that whisper answers in your ear, AI enabled contact lenses, AI necklaces. They see what you see and hear what you hear. Impressive tech, but what happens when a witness testifies while wearing smart glasses feeding them answers? How do we handle discovery demands for everything…
CES 2026 And Agentic AI In Legal: It’s Not Going To Happen — Until It Does
I’ve been an agentic AI skeptic. But after this week at CES, trying ChatGPT Atlas to book my flights and hearing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang explain why 2026 might be the year of agents, I’m at least convinced legal can’t ignore this technology or the blessings and curse it could bring.
In any event, the…
An AI Proctor For Remote Depositions: Has Its Time Come?
At CES, I discovered an AI tool from Qlay that detects when people use AI to cheat during remote interviews. The creator estimates 40% of candidates are doing this. If that’s even half true, what does it mean for remote depositions?
Has some sort of AI proctoring become necessary for remote depositions and testimony or would it…
AI In The Courtroom: Will We Trade The Rule Of Law For Efficiency’s Sake?
How can the appropriate use of AI in courts and transparency? UNESCO‘s new guidelines for AI in courts highlight three critical risks : 1) Private companies controlling judicial tools focus on profit, not fairness, 2) There are subtle manipulation opportunities through biased AI outputs and 3) There may be public and legislative pressure on…
CES 2026: The Whole Wide AI World Along With Lots More
Off to Las Vegas for my 7th year covering CES, where the AI hype machine often runs at full throttle. I’m going to try to separate substance from noise and get an idea of trends and issues that may impact legal.
I’ll be especially interested in the gaps between vendor promises and implementation reality. Will…
Challenging Truisms And Embracing A Cockroach Mentality
I was impressed by a recent interview of Antti Innanen on the Artificial Lawyer Law Punx podcast that I not only commented on it on LinkedIn, I decided to devote a whole article to his comments. After 30+ years in legal practice and covering legal tech, I’ve learned to spot industry BS when I hear…