Potential for Higher Margins and Competitive Advantage with AI at Biglaw

Note: This article is just one of 60+ sections from our full report titled: The 2024 Legal AI Retrospective - Key Lessons from the Past Year. Please download the full report to check any citations.

Challenge: Adapting billing models and maintaining competitive advantage with AI

Once the billable hour issue with AI is resolved through fixed/value-based pricing, BigLaw firms can potentially realize higher margins on their work. Firms that embrace AI most effectively are likely to:

• Offer higher salaries to attract top talent
• Increasingly require AI experience from new hires
• Gain a competitive edge over firms that lag in AI adoption

Clifford Chance's partnership with Orbital Witness saved 350 hours on one project.[117] Real Estate Law aside, Biglaw and industry-specific legal tech partnerships can also act as a competitive advantage vs smaller industry-specific law firms they might compete with locally, as they can:

• Reduce hours billed
• Enhance the accuracy and depth of analysis
• Put the time savings into forging lasting relationships with their clients

Alex Denne

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Advisor

Alex Denne, Head of Growth (Open Source Law) at Genie AI, is a legal tech leader and serial founder with over a decade of experience driving innovation and making legal services more accessible. Since joining in 2021, he has scaled the platform from 200 to over 120,000 users, combining deep contract law expertise with a data-driven, open-source approach. He is passionate about democratizing legal knowledge through AI, backed by strong academic credentials and experience leading major product and innovation initiatives.

Interested in joining our team?‍Explore career opportunities with us and be a part of the future of Legal AI.