"The New Law Firm is Firmware"

I have written about this before and my catchphrase, “the new law firm is firmware” so I thought I would put some further flesh on the stencil about AI adoption causing in effect many partial “ghost mergers” and what that could mean in a variety of respects.

Here are some except from that early March work. Over these months of 2024 this has become much more visible, noticeable, and actionable - i.e. a real phenomenon.

* * *

Only technology, and especially AI technologies, will be able to accelerate in new ways the human impact (inside the practice, and outside of the practice, to clients) and ....the magnitude of service and result - to a level sufficient to respect the new sophistication and demands of people in our new virtualized :

Global Unified Data Age (GUDA) {former was the Information Age}.

And how do we know that this is so?

Just consider the tasks which law firms perform:

-Advising

-Draft preparation

-Agreement/corporate forms conclusion

-Educating the client (had previously been very limited)

-Resolving disputes

-Appearing formally in a court or administrative setting to advocate on behalf of client

Now ask yourself, which of these is better served but the old model comprised of the upfront retainer, billable hour, temporal cost metrics based on the time expended alone, client w/o insight into the work product (the actual time and tasks) lawyer spends or now has to spend (now) on these tasks -- which took more time yesterday?

The simple answer is that none of these tasks is better served by the old model, and each and all of these is better served by the new models emerging with AI.

The method/s and mean/s create the model/s. H/t MM “Medium is the Message”

Billing

Communications

Advising client

Preparing drafts

Finalizing agreements

Educating clients

Resolving disputes (Even)

The attorney appearing in formal settings to advocate for client (these are not and will not be the same as the past).

We can think already of existing products which change and enhance the above. Many are in the client's hands not only the lawyer.

Many make the lawyer faster and we don't know yet. [Who pays for the time saved?]

Other products are emerging. Still other products have not been rolled out yet but we know are coming specifically or in theory.

Also how will lawyers keep staying on their own law firm islands the more we are all joined in the DataSpace?

Don't get mad at me for making a simple observation.

Law practice is wholly new.