AI, law firms and the future of legal work
It’s everywhere. It’s not just showing up in our conversations, but it's in our everyday interactions with each other. We are using, experiencing and experimenting all the time with AI - even if we don’t know it.
Businesses and organisations are becoming savvier with the ever-increasing platforms that come to market every day. And whilst many law firms are already experimenting with it in some form, many are still concerned and confused as to how to use it, where to invest and what it means for their overall future.
Richard Tromans is the Founder of Artificial Lawyer - a legal tech and innovation information site, which helps those in the legal sector navigate through the world of technology.
In this episode, Richard and Lara explore how AI is reshaping legal services, from pricing models and profitability to training, recruitment and the future role of lawyers themselves.
AI challenges in the legal sector
For firms still heavily reliant on hourly billing, AI creates a difficult contradiction. If a task that once took four or five hours can now be completed much faster using AI, firms must confront an uncomfortable question. What exactly is the client paying for?
As Richard points out, if routine legal work, such as contract reviews, can be analysed, compared and summarised at speed, does the final output still need to be checked by an experienced lawyer? In his opinion, absolutely yes. The legal expertise remains essential, but what changes is the time involved in producing it.
That creates pressure on hourly billing. Clients will increasingly question why they should pay for hours of work if technology now allows much of that work to be completed faster and more efficiently.
For fixed fee work, the picture is different. In those cases, AI can create clear upside for the firm by improving efficiency without reducing the agreed fee. For hourly billed work, the economics become much harder to ignore.
AI in legal work: speed vs reliability
The conversation is also a useful reminder that speed and reliability are most definitely not the same thing.
Richard is clear that general AI tools can be incredibly useful, but they are not designed specifically for legal work, and they can still produce inaccurate or invented answers. That becomes particularly risky when people rely on them for legal research or use them without proper oversight.
For straightforward tasks such as summarising a contract or extracting key information, general tools may be helpful. But when legal accuracy becomes critical, firms need to think much more carefully about which tools they are using and whether those tools are appropriate for the task.
Trust is a fundamental non-negotiable for law firms, yet it is the one thing that you can be sure of being broken in an instant and almost impossible to rebuild. Law firms rely on reputation, and trust is a critical component of building a credible one.
Richard’s message is not to avoid AI, but to educate yourself and your team on the complexities and potential pitfalls. Use the right tool for the right job and always make sure someone with real experience is checking the output.
What AI means for junior lawyers and legal training
Historically, junior lawyers, paralegals and trainees handled the sort of early-stage tasks AI can now do pretty well. But if AI absorbs more of that work, what happens to the traditional development path? The way we learn from what went wrong as much as what went right.
Richard’s point is not that junior lawyers disappear overnight. It is that the old assumptions around training and progression may be outdated. If routine work reduces, firms will need to think more intentionally about how future lawyers build judgement, commercial awareness and client skills. The human skills that are and will always be the foundation of legal practice.
The long-term issue is not just efficiency but recruiting the right talent. Firms still need experienced lawyers in the future, and experience is best developed in real life.
The opportunities AI creates for law firms
The biggest concerns about AI are also the biggest opportunities. For those who are worried that AI is here to take their jobs, the good news, according to Richard, is that it won’t. AI does not remove the need for expertise - and in many ways, it increases it.
Seasoned lawyers are better placed to use AI because they know what a legitimate and credible answer looks like. They can sense when something feels off. They understand the commercial context. They know when a clause, a date or a conclusion does not quite fit. They ‘feel’ it and trust their instincts.
Many lawyers have these skills innately, whilst some learn them over time - by doing the job. This is why Richard repeatedly comes back to the same principle. AI can assist, accelerate and reduce the burden of certain types of work, but it still needs to be supervised by someone who knows and feels what good looks like.
How law firms should approach AI adoption
For managing partners thinking about where to begin, the priority must be education. Firms do not need to become technical experts overnight, but they do need a working understanding of what AI can do, where it can help and where it can’t. Without that baseline knowledge, you inevitably leave yourself open to risk.
The second is to make thoughtful choices about tools. Not every firm needs expensive specialist platforms immediately, but nor should they assume that free or generic tools are the answer to everything. The right investment will depend on the type of work the firm does, the level of risk involved and who is using the tool internally.
Above all, Richard’s advice is anchored in educating and upskilling yourself and your team. Use it carefully and selectively. Do not assume that efficiency can replace experience.
The future of legal work in an AI-driven market
AI is often discussed as a technology issue, but in practice, it reaches much further than that. It affects resourcing, training, pricing, client expectations and the shape of the modern law firm.
For SME firms in particular, the opportunity is not simply to adopt AI because everyone else is. It is vitally important to think carefully about where it can create real value in your own practice. What training do you need to offer your team? Where can it streamline processes and save you time? Where does it fit in your wider strategy and future direction? Where are the risks and potential pitfalls?
Technology is moving at a rapid rate; being ahead of the curve will only enhance your firm. Don’t be afraid to embrace the tools available to you.
Listen to the full episode on our website, YouTube or Spotify.