Source: Adam Smith Esq.
Bruce MacEwen tackles the most daunting topic in BigLaw’s future—and warns firms are afraid of their own partnerships.
Adam Smith, Esq. has launched a new series on generative AI’s impact on law firm business models, drawing from Richard Susskind’s latest book “How to Think About AI: A Guide for the Perplexed.”
The “Not For Us” Delusion
Susskind observes that “there is no apparent finishing line in the global competition to develop digital technologies… it’s a relentless race without end.” Yet many professional workers regard themselves as artists in their craft, viewing their work as “the very embodiment of what machines will never be able to do.”
This “not for us” mindset is dangerous. Leading professional firms now recognise their main competition will not be with one another, but with AI-empowered organisations that can undertake tasks without professional advisors.
The Cannibalisation Choice
“If they do not build the systems that replace them, then others certainly will. This self-disruption may seem like self-cannibalisation, but if there’s going to be cannibalisation, it’s best to be first to the feast.”
Such disruption requires “entirely different structures that are nimbler, heavily populated by technologists, and focused on licensing products and solutions rather than charging for human services in 6 minute units.”
The Investment Trap
Firms suffer from technological myopia—misjudging future potential by fixating on today’s limitations. Leaders focus on “short-term wrinkles rather than long-term seismic shifts, kicking commitment to AI down the road.”
The Leadership Failure
MacEwen’s pointed observation: “We have observed in our travels that leadership at law firms can act as if it’s afraid of the partnership. This is not leadership and it’s not a recipe for building or sustaining a durable and high-performing firm.”
Are firms assigning their strategic AI roadmap to their very best thinkers? Susskind argues that for “what if AGI?” scenarios, “we should engage our best philosophers… We need to be guided by Plato, Aristotle, and Kant rather than Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg.”
The Bottom Line
BigLaw faces a fundamental question: will firms lead their own transformation or wait for others to disrupt them from outside? Cards face up, folks.
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