One of the most exciting aspects of AI in law is the potential it offers smaller, more specialized law firms to compete with the big players.

Generative AI will reduce the manpower advantage of big law firms, leveling the playing field across the industry. This greater competition will help to bring down legal costs and, more importantly, make legal services more equitable and accessible.

Large, prestigious law firms with their armies of paralegals and associates have dominated the legal industry for decades. 

The nature of many aspects of legal work meant that the number of bodies that can be thrown at a task matters, making it hard for smaller firms to compete. 

Consider complex legal cases that require analysis of potentially millions of documents to find answers or private equity funds with individual investor obligations contained across hundreds of side letters.

Generative AI is already changing this at a rapid pace.

Automating tasks

AI levels the playing field by automating tedious legal tasks. AI-powered document drafting and review tools can significantly reduce the time spent on routine legal work.

Research we conducted in the United States found that nearly a quarter of general counsels said that their teams spend 30-40% of their time reviewing routine, standard contracts and agreements. 

Large law firms have relied on their advantage of plentiful junior associates to support their clients with this work. Smaller firms can complete projects faster with the help of AI tools and pass the savings to clients with lower fees.

Analytics

AI also provides powerful analytic capabilities. 

Large firms have traditionally had superior access to case law, win-loss rates, judge analytics and other litigation data. 

Now, even a single lawyer equipped with the right AI tools can develop powerful data-driven legal strategies. Small firms can punch above their weight by accessing key information and patterns from data via AI.

Discovery

AI is also a great equalizer when it comes to discovery. 

Junior lawyers at large firms conventionally review documents manually page by page. This is time consuming and expensive. 

Small firms leveraging generative AI tools can identify and classify relevant documents and find information much faster. This provides significant efficiencies over the manual discovery approach of large firms.

Copilots

AI copilots are another way small firms can do more with less.

Sophisticated natural language processing allows lawyers to find information as quickly and easily as doing a Google search. 

They can compare clauses across multiple contracts, identify precedents or check obligations in minutes, again allowing them to do more with less.

Concluding thoughts

Although larger firms dominate the industry, AI is quickly changing the equation. It allows smaller firms to trim costs, compete on price and deliver greater value and innovation. 

This in turn reflects the changing expectations of clients who are looking for cost savings and want to work with firms that are leveraging the latest AI technologies.

AI will undoubtedly help to erode the competitive barriers that have long entrenched big law firms at the top. The result will be a more democratic legal industry, where clients have greater choice and more people can access legal services.