Traditional law firms vs. tech-affiliated AI-first firms: The future may not be what we think it is. Blackstone recently invested in the legal tech complinace vendor Norm AI, which then immediately launched its own law firm offering “AI-native legal services.” We’re starting to see tech companies create captive law firms to deliver legal services at
AI Summit 2025: 10 Takeaways And Some Unanswered Questions
Back from Summit AI in NYC with some hard questions still unanswered. While 5,000+ attendees celebrated AI’s potential, critical discussions about infrastructure challenges, verification economics, and workforce displacement were largely missing. My ten takeaways from a conference that felt more like an AI love fest than a serious examination of where we’re headed. Legal professionals
Morning At AI Summit: Tech Debt, Cultural Debt, Whack-A-Mole, And The Benefits Of “I Don’t Know“
Business leaders from Unilever, EY, and NBC Universal shared a consistent message at the AI Summit: embrace the ‘I don’t know’ and think holistically about AI transformation.
The contrast with how most law firms approach AI couldn’t be more striking. While other industries talk about reimagining entire workflows, legal still treats AI as something to
Washington Post Analysis Shows We Are Talking Too Much And Getting Questionable Advice From LLMs — And It May All Be Discoverable
A new Washington Post analysis of 47,000 ChatGPT conversations reveals a troubling pattern. People are sharing deeply personal information, getting advice that tells them what they want to hear (not necessarily what’s accurate), and creating potential discovery goldmines for future litigation.
The study found users discussing emotions, sharing PII and medical info, and asking for
Thinking Outside the Fence: What a Grade School Game Taught Me About Legal Innovation
The grade school game seemed simple enough. Grab the other team’s flag without getting tagged. But for a kid like me with not much athletic talent, the chances of being a factor other than getting quickly tagged out were pretty remote. Or so it seemed.
One of the questions I am often asked by young lawyers is how I get to where you are and develop a successful practice and career.
It All Started With Capture the Flag
I tell them it all started with Capture the Flag. For the uninitiated, Capture the Flag is a school yard game where the playing area is divided into two territories. Each team has a flag placed somewhere within their side of the field. Players try to grab the flag but if they cross into the other side’s territory they can be tagged and are out. To win you have to get the flag.Continue Reading Thinking Outside the Fence: What a Grade School Game Taught Me About Legal Innovation
The Grace To Dabble: Two Biglaw Firms Look To An AI-First Future
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
The Disco Study: A Watershed Moment Or Just More Of The Same?
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
An Affordable AI Tool for Solo and Small Firms
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
Mind The Gap: Why In-House Counsel Often Don’t See The Innovation They Want From Law Firms
New study from Thompson Hine: 95% of in-house counsel see little innovation from their law firms. But clients might be part of the problem. When they reward the status quo with an average 7.4% rate increases year after year while claiming innovation is “crucial,” what message are they really sending?
The gap between what clients
Get A Grip: Focusing On Risks Instead Of Benefits Is Making AI Way Too Hard
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