The annual report relies on data from the 成人VR视频 Institute to review the performance of U.S. law firms and explore the trends and factors shaping the U.S. legal market. Below are five takeaways from the report.

1. A transformative shift is under way in the legal profession. Amid the evolution from traditional practices to innovative business models, law firms need to continue innovating and adapting to remain competitive, including implementing the latest technology, employing new business models and prioritizing client-centric practices.
2. Law firm leaders should 鈥渢ake advantage of the benefits of a lucrative 2024.鈥� The report noted that firms鈥� strong 2024 performance was defined by three metrics: demand, rates and expenses. Solid demand growth 鈥� across counter-cyclical and transactional practices 鈥� coupled with law firm billing rates accelerating at their fastest pace since the Great Financial Crisis contributed to law firms鈥� soaring profits, alongside expense growth levelling off.
3. The impact of generative AI will continue to drive shifting market factors in 2025:

• Strategic investment in technology: Firms need to prioritize technology investments to enhance productivity and adapt to the evolving legal tech landscape in order to drive long-term growth.

• Shifting pricing paradigms: The traditional billable hour model will be challenged by alternative pricing structures that prioritize value and client-centric approaches.

• Evolving talent models: The composition of law firms is in flux, with a shift toward more experienced lateral hires, growth in two-tier partner structures and less emphasis on junior associate hiring.

4. Growth may be dampened in 2025 due to potential weaker demand and global economic uncertainty. Though firms may see demand weaken in 2025, the report notes that results of the U.S. presidential election could boost demand as greater levels of economic and geopolitical instability generally see clients turn to their lawyers to mitigate risk. In addition, the 2025 outlook includes expense growth remaining at elevated levels, putting more pressure on profits.
5. 2025 will require firms to continue adapting to the impact of generative AI and emerging technologies. While firms took steps in 2024 to ensure sustainable growth in a changing market, innovative firms that invest in technologies and implement strategies to update their business model in 2025 鈥� including how they measure and reward lawyer performance 鈥� will be best positioned to achieve ongoing success.

Download the report鈥痜or strategies law firms can use to adapt their business models and implement new technologies to thrive amid changing market demands and clients鈥� needs.

Customers will experience a more seamless workflow within CoCounsel 2.0, the professional-grade GenAI assistant, across legal research products, including CoCounsel Core. The deeper integrations, available in late October, will further a user-centric experience throughout the 成人VR视频 legal solutions portfolio and improve ease of use.

The deeper integrations will improve ease of use in two ways:

• The full CoCounsel AI assistant will be available in the user interface of Westlaw and Practical Law, enabling users to be able to use CoCounsel Core skills seamlessly.
• Users will soon be able to create an on-page analysis of Westlaw and Practical Law content with CoCounsel.

In addition, two new GenAI research features 鈥� Mischaracterization Identification and AI Jurisdictional Surveys 鈥� will help customers save substantial time and deliver greater confidence that legal research is accurate, thorough, and complete.

Mischaracterization Identification and AI Jurisdictional Surveys

Mischaracterization Identification is a new generative AI capability to help detect mischaracterizations and omissions in legal briefs. Customers can upload a brief to Westlaw Precision with CoCounsel and see where opposing counsel has mischaracterized the law, and judges using this feature will be able to see where all litigants may have mischaracterized the law in their filings.

鈥淚 often find that opposing counsel has miscited or overstated case authority, and when that happens, we can use it to great advantage with the court.鈥疶his tool would save tons of time in finding those opportunities,鈥� said Scott Matney, general counsel, FPS Inc.

鈥淭his enhancement [Mischaracterization Identification] is one of the most innovative legal tools available,鈥� said Susan Verbonitz, partner, Weir Greenblatt Pierce. 鈥淚t not only reduces time spent on the rinse-and-repeat task associated with human research, but it also identifies potential weaknesses in opponent鈥檚 arguments.鈥�

AI Jurisdictional Surveys on Westlaw Precision with CoCounsel is a generative AI skill that enables customers to do 50-state-survey research much faster than with traditional methods, saving hours of time. It provides relevant statute language for legal questions for each jurisdiction selected for federal and state jurisdictions and U.S. territories.

鈥淭ime is valuable and there is never enough of it,鈥� Verbonitz said. 鈥淎I Jurisdictional Surveys and the new mischaracterizations enhancement expand our research capabilities while also saving us time and reducing cost.鈥�

Read the press release for more on the deeper integrations with CoCounsel and new Westlaw features as well as upcoming product enhancements, including CoCounsel Drafting UK, and more generative AI in Practical Law and Contract Express.

And here at 成人VR视频 鈥� we haven鈥檛 stood still; in fact, we have never moved faster!

Within this 24-month period Professionals no longer need to speculate how AI聽肠辞耻濒诲听affect their work because they now have a better sense of how it聽will 鈥斅�and in some cases already聽is.

And for our customers in November 2023, we launched聽AI-Assisted Research聽鈥� which allows customers to ask complex legal research questions in natural language and quickly receive synthesized answers, with links to supporting authority from Westlaw content and links to further examine that authority. AI-Assisted Research streamlines the initial phase of legal research with sophisticated answers to questions and the authority those answers are based on, saving hours of work. In fact, this is how one of our valued customers describes the solution:

鈥淏ecause 成人VR视频 has the best case law database, lawyers can feel confident that the answer AI-Assisted Research is generating in response to our questions is well supported.聽 The fact that the AI-Assisted Research delivers all the resources it relied upon in coming up the answer, right beneath the answer, amplifies the confidence we all can have in using the program to help with our research needs.鈥�聽Andrew Bedigian, Larson LLP

And since launch 6k customers have run more than 1.5M searches through AI-Assisted Research. 成人VR视频 closed loop LLM is trained on millions of terabytes of our trusted and verified content 鈥� rather than publicly available information 鈥� and this generates the most trusted and reliable answer on the market today.

鈥淚 did go through and compare the ChatGPT paid version as compared to this AI-Assisted Research. What I can tell you is there is a major difference in the libraries that Westlaw has versus any other program. There is no other program that has the secondary sources, the court orders, the appellate documents, the primary sources 鈥� every single thing that Westlaw offers, which is not only on point and published, you have the citations, there鈥檚 a source of truth from where the information comes from and it鈥檚 only as good as the prompts you give it and the parameters you put.鈥�聽Jesse Guth, owner, Guth Law Office

Our customers tell us each day what a critical tool AI assisted Research is for their legal research both to those new to the profession and those that are experienced in the field. By design our intuitive user experience guides customers to run follow-up research 鈥� AI Assisted Research provides customers with a comprehensive answer which can be easily interrogated, linking to more sources for validation.

鈥�At Blank Rome, we are committed to providing the highest levels of innovative client service. As part of this effort, last year we were excited to implement Westlaw Precision and Practical Law Dynamic AI capabilities for our attorneys, which has resulted in increased efficiencies and enhanced results.鈥�聽 Frank Spadafino, chief information officer, Blank Rome

Over the years 成人VR视频 has always been at the forefront of legal research innovation, helping customers to reduce research times and ensure nothing important is missed. AI-Assisted Research is among the very best of these tools, and when it鈥檚 used as intended, it offers enormous benefits with very little risk of harm. I strongly encourage you to try it yourself 鈥� you will find it鈥檚 a powerful research tool you鈥檒l want to employ regularly in your research processes.

They offered advice on evaluating a vendor鈥檚 technology expertise, support services, and transparency. Also, they shared how firms and organizations can mitigate the risks posed by acquiring a vendor鈥檚 AI services while maximizing their investment in AI. Below are highlights from their conversation.

Keys to choosing AI vendors

To start the process of assessing potential AI vendors, Yaghoubi emphasized the importance of reviewing their experience and expertise 鈥渢o allow your business to make informed decisions about whether to engage the vendor.鈥�

Wong said that in addition to performance and cost, firms should consider safety and trust factors.

Ramanathan noted it鈥檚 important to consider whether you want a consumer- grade model 鈥� that鈥檚 cheaper 鈥� or a more reliable professional-grade model. He emphasized three criteria to focus on when choosing an AI vendor:

1. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your philosophy and principles around how AI should be used?鈥� He said asking a vendor this question allows you to see if your firm鈥檚 vision and long-term strategy and roadmap are aligned with the vendor鈥檚 approach.
2. Request a vendor鈥檚 references and testimonials. Ramanathan explained that firms and organizations should ask vendors how many customers are already using their solutions. 鈥淎I is still a game of scale,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to be the first customer training a model.鈥�
3. Clarify the level of support and training a vendor provides. Ramanathan said this is key to ensuring that all levels of staff are trained and can use the AI solutions constructively.

Wong added that the questions he receives from potential clients focus on data, technology, and talent. He warned that some companies simply repackaged existing large language models (LLMs) for legal use cases without adding much.

鈥淐lients that are working with companies that are building AI have a say,鈥� Wong said. 鈥淭hey can contribute, iterate, and build the products.鈥�

Also, he stressed the importance of working with a vendor that knows how to customize solutions and integrate customer feedback into product development.

How vendors use data

Kapoor asked what customers should consider regarding how vendors use their data. Wong said that understanding the data flow and how the data is processed are key, as well as understanding licensing and data rights, including intellectual property usage rights, cyber risk, and data leakage.

Ramanathan noted encryption standards as well as access control are critical as is demanding transparency from vendors: 鈥淵ou have the right to ask how the data your inputting is used.鈥�

Ramanathan added, 鈥淕ood vendors should have governance systems that answer鈥� details such as where data is stored and who has access to it.

鈥淟ook for transparency鈥� on data output

Wong advised firms to 鈥渓ook for transparency鈥� from vendors, making sure they provide qualitative and quantitative information about the quality of their outputs. He said vendors should be guided by a set of AI principles and should follow a data governance and AI model governance process to mitigate hallucinations and potential risks.

Ramanathan noted that good vendors conduct regular model validation on a periodic basis. He also flagged that professional-grade AI solutions 鈥� unlike consumer-grade AI solutions 鈥� give a sense for the reliability of the answer.

Data output considerations also include encryption standards as well as vendors鈥� privacy and security policies. Ramanathan said a baseline is compliance with standards such as GDPR and CCPA.

鈥淭he privacy and security measures a vendor takes are a result of their philosophy about AI and how to use AI,鈥� Ramanathan said. 鈥淚t gives you a clue as to what you can expect downstream in terms of execution.鈥�

Ramanathan added that vendors should share their risk management framework and enterprise risk framework as well as disclose how frequently they conduct audits and what mitigating actions they put in place.

Wong added that most firms and organizations have 鈥渢ried and tested approaches for technology procurement鈥� that they should apply to assessing AI vendors too.

Lack of AI-Specific SLAs

When exploring initial and ongoing training and documentation, Shokoh asked if AI service-level agreements (SLAs) are similar to those offered for SaaS-type platforms.

Ramanathan said there are elements of SLAs similar to cloud software 鈥渢hat you can and should expect,鈥� such as uptime and maintenance. He noted the hard part is the lack of industry standards for AI-specific SLAs to address issues like response time and accuracy.

In the absence of industry standards, Ramanathan recommended asking questions around issues like product reliability controls and internal testing programs.

Going above the legal requirements

Part of assessing an AI vendor involves anticipating it will adapt to new and changing AI regulations, given the lack of a comprehensive federal law in United States and various states implementing their own guidance.

鈥淭here鈥檚 wide range and little consistency across the market,鈥� Wong said. 鈥淲hat 成人VR视频 has done is look at AI standards in all the markets that we operate in and identify the most restrictive standards. We use a combination of the NIST standards and the EU AI directive as the basis for much of our governance framework.鈥�

Wong added that 成人VR视频 applies this viewpoint to its risk management framework and to its data and AI model governance framework.

鈥淲e projected what the regulation would be rather than look at where the regulation is today,鈥� Ramanathan explained. 鈥淲e proactively defined what we call our Data and AI Ethics principles, which are very hard-coded guidelines that go into engineering our products as well.鈥�

To watch a recording of the webinar, .