This is a great thing for those would-be biglaw associates. Instead of doing that terrible grind, they can have their own practice actually helping people and make decent money via subscriptions and flat fees.
The inversion of the pyramid will happen not only within Big Law but also across the entire legal industry as a whole. When operating costs and barriers to entry are lowered by AI, more small-and-medium-sized law firms will be empowered to tackle market segments previously accessible only to Big Law. This in turn will drive down profit margin, forcing Big Law to retreat progressively higher up the market. In the low and mid market segments, the long-term end result would be the AI-powered commoditization of legal knowledge, leading to fierce price competition among small-and-medium-sized law firms and affordable legal services for the mass. At the top of the market where Big Law dominates, there would be considerable consolidation firstly due to the upward advance of smaller firms and secondly due to the need to marshall sufficient resources to tackle cases complex enough to maintain profit margin for the partners. As a result, there would be fewer but bigger top-tier firms, which would rely increasingly heavily on non-price advantages (prestige, connections, white-glove service, etc.) to resist the commoditization of legal services brought about by AI.
This is a great thing for those would-be biglaw associates. Instead of doing that terrible grind, they can have their own practice actually helping people and make decent money via subscriptions and flat fees.
The inversion of the pyramid will happen not only within Big Law but also across the entire legal industry as a whole. When operating costs and barriers to entry are lowered by AI, more small-and-medium-sized law firms will be empowered to tackle market segments previously accessible only to Big Law. This in turn will drive down profit margin, forcing Big Law to retreat progressively higher up the market. In the low and mid market segments, the long-term end result would be the AI-powered commoditization of legal knowledge, leading to fierce price competition among small-and-medium-sized law firms and affordable legal services for the mass. At the top of the market where Big Law dominates, there would be considerable consolidation firstly due to the upward advance of smaller firms and secondly due to the need to marshall sufficient resources to tackle cases complex enough to maintain profit margin for the partners. As a result, there would be fewer but bigger top-tier firms, which would rely increasingly heavily on non-price advantages (prestige, connections, white-glove service, etc.) to resist the commoditization of legal services brought about by AI.