Law Firms Archives - 成人VR视频 Institute https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/topic/law-firms/ 成人VR视频 Institute is a blog from 成人VR视频, the intelligence, technology and human expertise you need to find trusted answers. Fri, 03 Apr 2026 14:17:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 Inside the Shift: Why your agentic AI pilot probably will fail (and what that says about you) /en-us/posts/technology/inside-the-shift-agentic-ai-pilot-failure/ Fri, 20 Feb 2026 16:03:35 +0000 https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/?p=69576

You can read TRI鈥檚 latest 鈥淚nside the Shift鈥 feature,Premortem: Your 2028 agentic AI pilot program failedhere


Picture this: It鈥檚 2028, your law firm spent real money on an agentic AI pilot, and now it鈥檚 quietly been shut down. No press release, no victory lap 鈥 just a post鈥憁ortem that nobody wants to read. In our latestInside the Shift feature article, we see that such a future is very likely unless firms start preparing for agentic AI in a way that鈥檚 very different than how they think they should.

The big idea is simple but uncomfortable: Success with generative AI (GenAI) does not mean your organization is ready for agentic AI. GenAI works because it鈥檚 forgiving. You can paste text into a tool, get a decent answer, and move on 鈥 even if your data is messy and your workflows live in people鈥檚 heads. Agentic AI doesn鈥檛 work that way. It expects clean data, documented processes, and clear rules. If your firm runs on institutional memory, workarounds, and a kind of just ask Linda problem-solving process, then the system will eventually break down.


To examine this and many more situations, the 成人VR视频 Institute (TRI) has launched a new feature segment,Inside the Shift, that leverages our expert analysis and supporting data to tell some of the most compelling stories professional services today.


Our latest Inside the Shift feature, Premortem: Your 2028 agentic AI pilot program failedby Bryce Engelland, Enterprise Content Lead for Innovation & Technology for the 成人VR视频 Institute, walks us through two fictional but painfully familiar failure stories of how two separate firms handled their agentic AI pilot programs.

The author explains how the first firm moves fast after crushing their GenAI rollout and assuming agentic AI is just the next logical step. Everything looks great in a sandbox; but then the system hits real鈥憌orld chaos: Undocumented exceptions, fragmented document storage, and conflict checks that only work because humans intuitively know when something feels off. One bad intake decision later, client trust is damaged and the pilot is frozen. In this example, the tech didn鈥檛 fail 鈥 the organization did.

The second firm goes the opposite direction. They鈥檙e cautious, thoughtful, and obsessed with governance. They build guardrails, limit risk, and launch a perfectly reasonable pilot. And then鈥 nothing happens. Attorneys ignore the system 鈥 not because they hate AI, but because using it only adds risk with no reward. If it works as it鈥檚 supposed to, nothing changes; but if something goes wrong, they鈥檒l be blamed. So, unsurprisingly, the rational choice is to nod in meetings and quietly keep doing things the old way until the project dies of inertia.


Inside the ShiftThe challenge is that “preparing” doesn’t mean what most people think. It doesn’t mean buying early, and it doesn’t mean waiting for maturity. Rather, preparing means understanding now why these systems fail, and building the institutional capacity to avoid those failures when the technology arrives in full.


The feature article points out the common thread here: These failures have very little to do with AI capability; rather, they鈥檙e about incentives, documentation, and institutional honesty. Firms that succeed with agentic AI won鈥檛 be the ones that buy in early or wait patiently. The winners, the piece explains, be the ones doing the boring, unsexy work now: Writing things down, fixing information architecture, identifying hidden dependencies, and aligning rewards so adoption isn鈥檛 all risk and no upside.

In short, this article isn鈥檛 a warning about technology. It鈥檚 a warning about pretending your organization is ready when it鈥檚 not 鈥 and mistaking optimism or caution for preparation.

So, dive a little deeper behind the headlines about AI adoption and how to make agentic AI work for your organization. Click through and read today鈥檚 Inside the Shift feature. It might help you see more clearly than before whether the path your organization is pursuing with agentic AI will carry it over the goal line and into the next decade鈥 or leave your team watching from the sidelines.


You can find moreInside the Shift feature articlesfrom the 成人VR视频 Institute here

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The 34th Annual Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer Forum /en-us/posts/events/the-34th-annual-chief-marketing-business-development-officer-forum/ Wed, 07 Jan 2026 19:19:06 +0000 https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/?post_type=lei_events&p=68973 We鈥檙e thrilled to announce the 34th Annual Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer Forum (formerly Marketing Partner Forum), set against the oceanfront backdrop of听The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara. This is your chance to connect with peers and discover strategies for firm-wide development in a fast-changing market.
Mark your calendars for 2027 鈥 you won鈥檛 want to miss the conversations, networking, and practical insights that make this event a must for legal marketing and business development leaders.

Register below.

 

Notes from previous attendees

“From the quality of the content to the caliber of colleagues in legal marketing and business development, this is one of the standout events I look forward to every year.” 鈥 Ian Ribald, Chief Business Development & Marketing Officer, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

“2024 was my first time at the CMBDO Forum鈥攁nd as we wrapped up, I knew it wouldn鈥檛 be my last. Connecting with peers, sharing real stories, and learning from their experiences was invaluable.” 鈥 Oliviana Mingarelli, Head of Marketing and Business Development, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

“The Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer Forum is one of the best conferences that I attend each year. Not only does it offer a great networking opportunity for like-minded colleagues, the topics are relevant, trending, and the presenters are always top-notch. I highly recommend this for CMBDOs as the must-do event of the year.” 鈥 Sherry Vance Allen, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Butler Snow LLP
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The 25th Annual Law Firm COO & CFO Forum /en-us/posts/events/25th-annual-law-firm-coo-cfo/ Fri, 21 Nov 2025 15:20:50 +0000 https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/?post_type=lei_events&p=65897 The 25th Annual Law Firm COO & CFO Forum continues to be the go鈥憈o event for Chief Operating Officers and Chief Financial Officers across law firms. The Forum brings senior leaders together to talk candidly about what鈥檚 next in law firm management鈥攚ith a sharp focus on the financial and operational issues shaping the industry.

Whether you鈥檙e looking to sharpen your financial strategy, improve operational efficiency, or stay ahead of industry disruption, our Forum delivers practical insights and meaningful connections you won鈥檛 find anywhere else. Follow #TRIC226 for the latest updates and highlights leading up to鈥攁nd throughout鈥攐ur premier event.

Registration is now open. Secure your spot below before Friday, September 25, 2026.

 

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Q3 2025 LFFI: Tectonic pressure pushes firms to new heights /en-us/posts/legal/lffi-q3-2025-tectonic-pressure/ Mon, 10 Nov 2025 07:26:37 +0000 https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/?p=68354

Key takeaways in Q3:

      • Strong Q3 performance 鈥 The Law Firm Financial Index (LFFI) score increased by 8 points compared to Q2 2025, highlighting a quarter of robust demand and industry resilience.

      • Client-driven demand shift 鈥 Midsize law firms led the increase in transactional practices, while Am Law Second Hundred firms dominated counter-cyclical growth, driven by large corporate clients shifting work to lower-rate providers.

      • Strategic caution advised 鈥 Persistent risks, rising costs, and unresolved long-term challenges mean firms must remain cautious and strategic.


Law firms demonstrated remarkable performance through a geopolitically tense third quarter of 2025, as clients increasingly sought legal guidance to navigate market complexity and global uncertainty. This surge in demand propelled the 成人VR视频庐 Institute鈥檚 Law Firm Financial Index (LFFI) score to 63 for the third quarter, marking a notable rise from earlier in the year.

Jump to 鈫

Q3 2025 Law Firm Financial Index

 

Yet, as a closer look reveals, the industry鈥檚 strong performance sits atop tectonic forces that, while driving change, also carry the potential to disrupt long-term stability.

Firms on shifting ground

At the core of this shift is a surge in client activity that鈥檚 breaking records 鈥 and coinciding with a period in which the price for legal services is rising like never before. Transactional practices are thriving, with mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, real estate, and tax practices seeing a marked uptick in demand. Midsize firms have stepped into leadership roles within these practices, demonstrating agility and resilience as they capture fresh business opportunities and respond swiftly to evolving client needs.

LFFI

However, this isn鈥檛 just a story of expansion. The competitive landscape is being redrawn as clients reassess their legal partnerships. Many are prioritizing value and flexibility, shifting work to firms that offer more competitive pricing 鈥 a trend we鈥檝e noticed for the past year or so. This is obviously working to the advantage of those firms seeing significant demand growth as a result, but the more expensive law firms are also seeing boosted performance, as the trend helps them secure higher rates on the work they do maintain.

In response to this rising demand, many firms 鈥 especially those in the Midsize and Second Hundred tiers 鈥 are investing heavily in talent and technology. Even as the cost of hiring continues to climb, some firms are broadening their search beyond traditional legal roles to include specialists in technology, data, and knowledge management. These strategic hires are aimed at boosting operational efficiency and enhancing client service in an increasingly AI-driven environment.

With overhead rising and competitive pressures mounting, law firms must strike a careful balance between strategic investment and disciplined cost management.

Emerging fault lines of legal strategy

As the Q3 2025 LFFI report shows, the current environment is marked by both promise and risk. Economic and geopolitical uncertainties loom large, and the next shake-up could be just around the corner. Law firms are enjoying a period of robust growth certainly, but the ground beneath them remains unsettled. The ability to navigate uncertainty, anticipate change, and respond with agility will be critical in the months ahead.

For law firm leaders, partners, and strategists, this is a moment to reflect on the lessons of the past and to prepare for the challenges of the future. The industry rewards those who can balance ambition with caution, invest wisely in talent and technology, and stay attuned to the evolving needs of clients. A firm鈥檚 success will depend on its leaders鈥 ability to rise above the turbulence and seize the opportunities that lie ahead.

As the legal landscape continues to shift, one thing is clear: The forces reshaping the industry demand careful navigation, and firms must now approach the path forward with greater caution and strategic foresight.


You can download

a full copy of the 成人VR视频 Institute’s “Q3 2025 Law Firm Financial Index” by filling out the form below:

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Q2 2025 LFFI: The eye of the hurricane /en-us/posts/legal/lffi-q2-2025-hurricane-eye/ Mon, 11 Aug 2025 01:38:29 +0000 https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/?p=67096 Law firms navigated a geopolitically tense second quarter of 2025 with surprising steadiness, as clients turned to legal counsel for clarity amid rising regulatory complexity, which pushed up demand. That lifted the 成人VR视频庐 Institute Law Firm Financial Index (LFFI) score to 55, a rise of 4 points compared to the first quarter. Yet, as a deeper look at the numbers show, long-term risks remain unresolved.

Jump to 鈫

成人VR视频庐 Institute Law Firm Financial Index Report

 

Key takeaways in Q2

      • The Law Firm Financial Index (LFFI) score increased by 4 points compared to Q1 2025, reflecting a surprisingly stable quarter with growing legal demand.
      • Midsize law firms and Second Hundred firms experienced stronger revenue growth, outperforming Am Law 100 firms.
      • Overhead and talent-related expenses continue to rise, especially in areas like technology and knowledge management.

A stable quarter, but one with mixed signals

As said, Q2 2025 stood out for its unexpected stability. Despite the uncertain geopolitical and economic environment, law firms experienced a notable rise in demand for legal services, a development that was potentially driven by clients seeking expert guidance amid growing international tensions and regulatory uncertainty.

LFFI

However, this apparent calm may be misleading. Counter-cyclical practices 鈥 such as litigation, bankruptcy and labor & employment 鈥 have gained prominence. Litigation leads the race as the fastest-growing area, while tax and labor also are showing signs of an upswing.

The second quarter also saw an acceleration in a longstanding trend within the competitive landscape. Midsize and Am Law Second Hundred firms continued to be the primary sources that are driving overall growth, leading in revenue growth and outperforming the traditionally dominant Am Law 100. Meanwhile, Am Law 100 firms faced slowdowns in several practice areas and reduced headcount growth, highlighting the challenges of scale amid an uncertain environment.

In an additional challenge, operating and talent costs continued to rise steadily. In Q2, firms invested heavily in strategic areas such as technology and knowledge management systems. These investments are no longer seen as optional 鈥 they are now considered essential for firms to maintain competitiveness and deliver value to increasingly demanding clients.

Can the legal sector hold steady amid uncertainty?

At first glance, financial indicators suggest a robust foundation in which law firms operate nowadays; however, within the legal sector, there is a growing sense that this stability may be short-lived. While it is tempting to think that the current moment will persist until year’s end and bring a return to normalcy, it appears as if the legal industry is now sitting in the calm eye of a hurricane, with darker skies on the horizon.

Adding to the complexity is the growing risk of a potential recession. While the current environment still allows for growth as lawyers facilitate all aspects of an economy in transition, the possibility of economic slowdown means that firms should prepare for or reassess their already existing recession plans. The lessons from previous downturns thus remain relevant: Revenues can decline rapidly when external conditions shift, while expenses tend to remain fixed and begin to exert added pressure on profits.

Simultaneously, clients seem to become more selective and cost-conscious, scrutinizing with which law firms or legal service providers new and existing work should land. This combination of rising costs and shifting client expectations demands that law firms enact a more strategic, flexible, and data-driven approach to maintain profitability in a rapidly evolving landscape. In this context, firms are encouraged to adopt a more cautious and preventive strategy 鈥 one that鈥檚 focused on long-term sustainability and risk mitigation.


You can download

a full copy of the 成人VR视频 Institute “Law Firm Financial Index” by filling out the form below:

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What the 鈥2025 Future of Professionals Report鈥 urges law firm leaders to do today /en-us/posts/legal/future-of-professionals-action-plan-law-firms-2025/ Tue, 05 Aug 2025 11:39:20 +0000 https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/?p=67026

Key findings:

      • AI’s impact on the legal industry 鈥 AI is expected to have the biggest impact on the legal industry over the next five years, with a large majority of law firm respondents anticipating that AI will fundamentally alter their businesses.

      • Lacking a clear AI strategy 鈥 Despite the recognition of AI’s transformative power, nearly one-third of law firm professionals say they believe their firms are moving too slowly on AI adoption, and only about one-in-five say their firms have a visible AI strategy in place.

      • Action plan offers a path to get there The new action plan offers clear steps that law firm leaders can take now to build a framework of AI investment and adoption so they can see the competitive advantage of leveraging advanced technology.


Not surprisingly, AI is the single driver set to have the biggest impact on the legal industry over the next five years, according to 成人VR视频 2025 Future of Professionals Report, with 80% of law firm respondents expecting AI to fundamentally alter the course of how they conduct business.

Jump to 鈫

Future of Professionals Report 2025: Actionable insights for law firm leaders

 

It is not just speculation 鈥攊n fact, the shift is well underway as almost half (47%) of law firm respondents say their firms are already experiencing at least one type of benefit from AI adoption.

However, for all the widespread recognition of the transformative power of AI and the rapid rate of adoption, there are still many firm leaders that have yet to start thinking about how they should be integrating AI into their workflows. Nearly one-third (32%) of those surveyed say their firms are moving too slowly on AI adoption, and just 22% say their firms have a visible AI strategy in place.


You can download your copy of the 2025 Future of Professionals Report here


And that could be a problem for laggard firms, because the research shows definitively that those law firms with an AI strategy are more likely to see benefits and a return on investment (ROI) than those firms without a plan. That gap 鈥 between those law firms with an AI strategy and those without one 鈥 exposes some serious risks for those law firms that have been slow to embrace technology as a strategic priority. The results of this gap could redefine law firm business models and create significant growth opportunities for firms that are effectively leveraging AI.

Clearly, strong guidance is needed for law firms to develop a well-defined strategy that will allow them to move forward in an increasingly AI-driven legal market. In a new paper, , specifically tailored to law firm professionals, we offer clear steps that law firms can take to build a framework of AI investment and adoption so they can see the ROI and competitive advantage of leveraging advanced technology.

This action plan draws from the perspectives of almost 1,000 law firm professionals 鈥 including partners, associates, lawyers, and paralegals from across the globe as well as clients 鈥 and discusses in detail how law firm professionals can align their AI strategy with their overall firm strategy and not just focus on improving operational efficiency.


Today, we鈥檙e entering a brave new world in the legal industry, led by rapid-fire AI-driven technological changes that will redefine conventional notions of how law firms operate, rearranging the ranks of industry leaders along the way.


The plan also talks about how law firms need to prioritize their early AI initiatives by, for example, creating two or three high-impact, high-feasibility pilot projects. This would help them similarly create a viable data strategy that includes having ways to manage, secure, and leverage data assets. The plan also outlines the importance for firms to invest in talent and training, while identifying any skills gaps among their professionals.

While the action plan describes many more such initial steps, it also details the ways firms can develop their AI roadmap and plot its objectives to specific use cases to help demonstrate early success and achieve firmwide goals.

鈥淭oday, we鈥檙e entering a brave new world in the legal industry, led by rapid-fire AI-driven technological changes that will redefine conventional notions of how law firms operate, rearranging the ranks of industry leaders along the way,鈥 said Raghu Ramanathan, President of Legal Professionals at 成人VR视频. 鈥淭he insights in this action plan and the overall Future of Professionals Report serve as a guide on how not just to adapt, but to lead.鈥

Using these resources, law firm leaders will be better able to take control of their firms鈥 future, recognizing that embracing AI is no longer a choice 鈥 it is a necessity for success in today鈥檚 evolving legal landscape.


You can download

a full copy of the here

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Introducing the Apex Strategy Model: A framework for law firm differentiation and growth /en-us/posts/legal/apex-strategy-model-2025/ Mon, 16 Jun 2025 18:28:33 +0000 https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/?p=66307 In today’s increasingly competitive legal market, law firms face significant hurdles on their path toward sustainable growth. And now, those key sources of growth that law firms may have depended on in the past, such as increased billing rates, may soon face changes of their own as the legal industry encounters dramatic shifts in market dynamics, technology, and client needs.

Indeed, the average law firm billing rates have grown by 107% since 2006, while demand for law firm services 鈥 as clocked by total billable hours worked by the average law firm 鈥 has not followed suit, increasing just 5% during the same timeframe.

Jump to 鈫

Developing a Framework for Law Firm Differentiation and Growth: Introducing the Apex Strategy Model

 

Clearly, this dynamic is not sustainable, creating an approaching financial pinch point that law firms will have to navigate.

In a new white paper from 成人VR视频’ Jen Dezso, Developing a Framework for Law Firm Differentiation and Growth: Introducing the Apex Strategy Model, the author looks at a new methodology that can help law firms with this navigation by allowing them to achieve the differentiation and sustainable growth they need in a competitive market. 鈥

The case for a different strategic focus

Despite the legal industry being one of the oldest professional service sectors, the paths to success for its participants are varied. There is no one law firm, or even type of firm, that has emerged as a dominant market leader with all the answers on how to most successfully operate within the business of law. In fact, data from the 成人VR视频 Institute shows that over the past decade less than 40% of top law firms have grown their top-of-mind awareness in the market 鈥 how clients call to mind a certain firm for legal matters 鈥 a metric we refer to as market mindshare. During this time, the average law firm actually experienced an erosion in top-of-mind awareness among clients.

This leaves the legal industry at an inflection point with no dominant market leader.


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Further, recent interviews with managing partners also reveal that several market dynamics are driving a significant shift in their strategic thinking which is being driven by diminishing returns from rate increases, growing client sophistication, and technological disruption. What makes the situation even more ripe for significant change is that while previous years were characterized by cautious optimism about market conditions, today’s law firm leaders have shifted more heavily toward caution, expressing heightened concern about their competitive positioning.

Enter the Apex framework

As law firms increasingly find that both their clients and the market have matured, the previous business model that allowed them to be nimble and explore different growth opportunities has become difficult to manage at scale. With many law firm managing partners becoming more focused on profit and return on investment rather than on simply increasing revenue, many firm leaders are quickly realizing that being all things to all clients isn鈥檛 as profitable as having a targeted focus that could potentially drive a true leadership position within the market.

It is here where the Apex Strategy can help by providing a structured approach to differentiation by identifying a firm鈥檚 primary strategic focus while maintaining its balance across all essential business elements. This can work to reinforce the strengths of the firm鈥檚 talent and investments rather than spreading those resources too thin across multiple strategic initiatives.

Apex Strategy Model

As the white paper illustrates, the Apex Focus Square helps law firm leaders identify a primary strategic focus among geography, expertise, industry, and client type by allowing them to select one corner as the primary differentiator that ultimately guides all other strategic decisions. 鈥婤y creating this effective differentiation, law firms can appeal not only to prospective clients and matters, but also to prospective lateral attorneys.

Going forward with the Apex Strategy

For most firms, this path forward requires making difficult choices about where to focus limited resources. The Apex Strategy provides a framework for making these decisions coherently and 鈥 most importantly 鈥 strategically rather than pursuing disconnected opportunities that lead to over-diversification.

Today, as the legal industry continues to evolve, those law firms that can create strategic differentiation will be able to wield a key driver of sustainable growth. Indeed, the Apex Strategy framework gives law firm leaders a practical tool to establish meaningful market differentiation, subsequently enabling more focused decisions about where to invest their firms鈥 time, talent, and resources.


You can download

a full copy of the 成人VR视频 Institute “Developing a Framework for Law Firm Differentiation and Growth: Introducing the Apex Strategy Model” by filling out the form below:

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Scaling Justice: Breaking through global regulatory roadblocks for increased justice equity /en-us/posts/ai-in-courts/scaling-justice-breaking-through-roadblocks/ Wed, 16 Apr 2025 13:19:29 +0000 https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/?p=65528

This article is part of an ongoing series titled , by Maya Markovich and others in consultation with the 成人VR视频 Institute. This series aims to not only explore how justice technology fits within the modern legal system, but how technology companies themselves can scale as businesses while maintaining their access to justice mission.


Despite the historic domination of business law in the field of legal tech, the industry has begun to include mention of access to justice in discussions of tech application, entrepreneurship, and investment in solutions that aim to narrow the justice gap through technology. The opportunity is vast, with a total addressable market of 5 billion people worldwide.

Like any nascent sector, startups on the crest of this breaking wave of justice tech must work through this lack of market awareness and stakeholder inertia toward new models. Further, they also face a gauntlet of regulatory obstacles in an antiquated profession that is reluctant to release its monopoly on the market. These restrictions hamper progress toward universal access to justice. With the advent of widely available AI tools, however, technology can and should be part of the solution, and clearing roadblocks to scale innovation in access to justice is essential.

Legal advice and services in the US and the UK

Regulations differ across regions of course but often have the same effect of hampering progress and market growth. In the United States for example, the American Bar Association鈥檚 Model Rules of Professional Conduct 5.4 prohibits unauthorized practice of law, precluding non-licensed attorneys from delivering legal services. Each of the 50 states have adopted some form of Rule 5.4, but there is no bright line between providing legal information and legal advice, leaving those who help pro se litigants just making their best guess.

Given the scale of the access to justice gap, lawyers alone cannot narrow it. Not only will there never be enough lawyers in the US to represent everyone who needs help with their legal issue, it does not make economic sense for them to take on clients in certain types of matters. Pro bono and legal aid organizations are doing incredible work, but they are under-resourced and overwhelmed. As tech tools reach true viability in the legal sector, the profession needs clarity on what constitutes unauthorized practice of law and where and how technology can fit in to address the access issue.

In the United Kingdom, legal advice and services are similarly regulated. Legal advice is defined as guidance on legal rights and obligations, while reserved legal services include activities such as litigation and conveyancing (property transfer), which can only be performed by authorized professionals. This regulatory framework, while designed to ensure quality of legal services, also limits their accessibility to those who can afford them.

Clients often face overwhelming legal jargon and documentation, with no support for implementation or follow-up once a case concludes. This lack of transparency and continuity further alienates individuals seeking resolution to their legal problems. Moreover, costs can spiral without a clear ceiling, often leaving clients worse off than they were before they engaged legal services.

The UK and US have thriving legal tech communities, yet their impact on access to justice has been limited. Current first touchpoints for legal advice, such as UK.gov and Citizens Advice in the UK and local bar associations in the US, simply direct users to lawyers rather than offering self-serve solutions. Collaboration is essential: government bodies, courts, legal aid organizations, and lawyers should work with justice tech companies to harness the potential of generative AI (GenAI) to promote access to justice.

Exploratory frameworks like go beyond just providing innovators with access to regulators for Q&As and instead can provide a platform for joint learning, user testing, and feedback-gathering that will enable evidence-based policy changes. This approach not only fosters trust and understanding but also paves the way for AI-driven legal services to gain the recognition needed to transform the sector.

The knotty state of current regulations

Without regulatory change, direct to consumer justice tech companies cannot help the millions of Americans who need it 鈥 because they are stuck. Indeed, some of the challenges that justice tech companies face are very well laid out in in New York, especially around outdated rules of professional responsibility, which includes hurdles such as:

      • vagueness of unauthorized practice of law statutes and revenue-sharing restrictions;
      • the inability to hire lawyers directly to provide legal advice;
      • the fact that, with very limited exception, only law firms can collect fees directly from clients seeking legal advice, otherwise it is 鈥渇ee splitting鈥 or revenue sharing, which is prohibited;
      • also, companies cannot hire paralegals with decades of experience to give any sort of public-facing advice to consumers unless they are supervised by a lawyer in a firm. What is allowed, however, is a lawyer with zero years of experience in an area of law supervising a paralegal within a firm structure to deliver the same advice; and
      • justice tech companies live under the constant threat of looming lawsuits for the unauthorized practice of law, which are threatened monthly and can easily bankrupt a startup.

These outmoded regulations governing unauthorized practice of law and revenue-sharing are standing in the way of ameliorating the access to justice crisis. And while their principles are incredibly important, there are no clear standards. Often unauthorized practice of law situations are subjective and oversee by legal bar groups that are often set up to protect lawyers鈥 market share, not the consumer.

The potential of GenAI

There is hope, however, in advanced technology. GenAI, particularly large language models (LLMs), holds much promise for the legal sector. By 2026, it is anticipated that 80% of legal cases will involve GenAI, significantly reducing time and resources. Further, GenAI has the potential to democratize access to justice by making legal advice affordable, accessible, and equitable. This scalability could provide exceptional value, far surpassing any incremental increases in the legal aid budget.

The UK and US stand at a similar crossroads, with the opportunity to lead the integration of GenAI into legal services and create a more accessible, affordable, and equitable legal system. The advent of Generative AI presents a chance to build upon alternative business models, transforming legal services in a way that benefits billions of consumers rather than merely increasing margins for law firms.

To effectively promote adoption and impact, however, regulators should transition from merely facilitating advocacy to instead establishing regulatory sandboxes. These sandboxes would allow consumers to safely experiment with new technologies, while innovators would gain visibility and a platform to build trust. Meanwhile, regulators could collect feedback and evidence from real users to guide their policy changes.

With the demand for legal access outstripping the supply of professionals, GenAI has the potential to transform justice tech by ensuring its applications are affordable, available at all hours, and equitable for every user. It is also critical to the future of the legal profession, which is desperately in need of new and creative ways to adapt to and survive in our changing world.


You can find out more about the impact of Justice Tech here

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Webinar: Enhancing Metrics for the General Counsel’s Office: Elevating Your Department’s Story (Part II) /en-us/posts/events/webinar-enhancing-metrics-for-the-general-counsels-office-elevating-your-departments-story-part-ii/ Thu, 20 Feb 2025 17:37:12 +0000 https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/?post_type=lei_events&p=65033 In today’s dynamic business environment, legal departments play a critical role in protecting the organization’s interests and enabling its strategic goals. However, traditional performance metrics, often focused solely on cost and time, can inadvertently paint a picture of legal as a cost center, obscuring the true value and strategic contributions of the team. Are your current metrics truly reflecting the impact your legal department has on the bottom line and the overall success of the business?

This exclusive two-part webinar series, “Enhancing Metrics for the General Counsel’s Office,” is designed to equip General Counsel and legal leaders with the knowledge and practical tools to effectively demonstrate the听real听value of their legal departments. We’ll delve into how to move beyond simply tracking expenses and hours, and instead, focus on metrics that showcase the proactive, strategic, and business-enabling work of your legal team.

In this series, you will learn how to:

  • Optimize existing metrics:听Move beyond cost and time to showcase both efficiency and effectiveness.
  • Transform your metrics:听Incorporate “Protect and Enable” metrics, highlighting the proactive and strategic contributions of your legal team.
  • Communicate your value:听Distil complex data into a concise and compelling narrative for senior leadership, including a practical exercise on creating a powerful one-slide summary.

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Webinar: Enhancing Metrics for the General Counsel’s Office: Aligning Your Value to the Business (Part I) /en-us/posts/events/webinar-enhancing-metrics-for-the-general-counsels-office-aligning-your-value-to-the-business-part-i/ Thu, 20 Feb 2025 17:31:58 +0000 https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/?post_type=lei_events&p=65027 In today’s dynamic business environment, legal departments play a critical role in protecting the organization’s interests and enabling its strategic goals. However, traditional performance metrics, often focused solely on cost and time, can inadvertently paint a picture of legal as a cost center, obscuring the true value and strategic contributions of the team. Are your current metrics truly reflecting the impact your legal department has on the bottom line and the overall success of the business?

This exclusive two-part webinar series, “Enhancing Metrics for the General Counsel’s Office,” is designed to equip General Counsel and legal leaders with the knowledge and practical tools to effectively demonstrate the听real听value of their legal departments. We’ll delve into how to move beyond simply tracking expenses and hours, and instead, focus on metrics that showcase the proactive, strategic, and business-enabling work of your legal team.

In this series, you will learn how to:

  • Optimize existing metrics:听Move beyond cost and time to showcase both efficiency and effectiveness.
  • Transform your metrics:听Incorporate “Protect and Enable” metrics, highlighting the proactive and strategic contributions of your legal team.
  • Communicate your value:听Distil complex data into a concise and compelling narrative for senior leadership, including a practical exercise on creating a powerful one-slide summary.

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