Claims
that
AI
can
“replace”
lawyers
are
deeply
unserious.
Years
into
the
AI
hype
cycle,
the
hallucinations
continue
to
mount,
the
agents
continue
to
fail
at
unacceptable
rates,
and
former
AI
evangelists
are
acknowledging
that
they
overestimated
the
technology.
Whenever
you
see
someone
writing
about
how
“thinking”
AI
is
here,
remember
the
industry
is
paying
influencers
upwards
of
half
a
million
dollars
to
convince
their
audiences
to
use
AI.
As
one
AI
industry
insider
put
it,
“Revolutions
don’t
need
promo
codes.”
Which
is
not
to
say
AI
isn’t
a
powerful
technology
that
can
significantly
impact
the
legal
industry.
That’s
exactly
what
happened
at
the
Ad
Astra
Law
Group,
a
six-lawyer
shop
in
San
Francisco.
The
firm
didn’t
embark
on
a
half-cocked
effort
to
layoff
its
lawyers
in
favor
of
robots,
but
when
an
eighth-year
associate
took
another
job,
Ad
Astra
decided
that
instead
of
hiring
and
training
a
replacement
—
an
expense
(and
a
risk)
—
they
would
see
if
AI
could
help
their
remaining
team
stay
ahead
of
the
game.
When
the
dust
settled,
staffing
costs
were
down
27
percent
and
profits
were
up.
All
while
billing
fewer
hours.
How
does
that
work?
[Managing
Partner]
Katy
[Young]
acknowledges
the
counterintuitive
economics:
“It
used
to
take
two
days
to
draft
a
complaint,
now
it
takes
me
two
and
a
half
hours.
So
immediately,
yes,
there
is
an
impact
on
my
billing—
I’m
billing
two
and
a
half
hours
instead
of
eight
hours.”But
she’s
taking
the
long
view.
For
Ad
Astra’s
core
clientele
—
small
and
medium-sized
businesses
and
individuals
—
the
difference
between
a
$1,500
complaint
and
a
$5,000
complaint
can
determine
whether
they
can
afford
to
pursue
a
dispute
at
all.
Mere
months
later,
clients
were
thrilled,
referrals
were
up,
and
the
firm
had
more
flexibility
to
take
on
smaller
matters
that
wouldn’t
warrant
the
time
and
resources
a
human-only
engagement
would
require.
A
lot
of
the
legal
AI
conversation
focuses
on
Biglaw.
Which
makes
sense,
because
that’s
where
you
find
firms
built
around
throwing
bodies
at
problems
and
with
the
resources
to
build
out
expensive
AI
capabilities.
But
the
Ad
Astra
experience
shows
the
potential
benefits
for
small
firms.
Young
also
reports
better
results
because
the
time
savings
translate
to
more
thorough
filings
produced
under
tight
time
pressure.
This
opens
new
pre-litigation
strategy
advantages.
“That’s
a
45-page
complaint,”
she
said.
“That
looks
like
I
already
poured
10,000
bucks
into
it
and
we’re
damn
serious.
I’m
getting
way
better
responses.”
It’s
not
science
fiction,
it’s
a
simple
—
if
unusually
powerful
—
productivity
tool.
Working
with
Legion,
Ad
Astra’s
AI
efforts
focus
in
large
part
on
solving
“the
blank
page
problem.”
For
those
of
us
litigators
who
preferred
the
markup
over
the
first
draft,
it
doesn’t
matter
that
AI
isn’t
going
to
write
a
perfect
first
draft.
It
matters
that
it
produced
a
first
draft
ready
for
editing
without
costing
the
client
hundreds
of
dollars
and
delaying
the
editing
process
by
several
days.
That’s
not
a
message
that
OpenAI
or
Anthropic
would
want
to
tell
their
investors,
but
AI
doesn’t
need
to
be
perfect
to
be
valuable.
Second-year
associates
are
far
from
perfect,
but
we
still
hire
them.
And
pay
them
a
lot
of
money
too.
The
legal
profession
has
spent
the
last
few
years
engaged
in
a
bizarre
debate
that
essentially
boils
down
to
“will
AI
completely
replace
lawyers
or
is
it
totally
useless?”
The
answer,
obviously,
is
neither.
AI
makes
certain
tasks
faster.
It’s
not
going
to
argue
your
motion.
It’s
not
going
to
spot
the
issue
in
a
deposition
that
changes
the
case.
But
it
can
scan
a
complaint
and
crank
out
a
first
draft
of
interrogatories
that
a
senior
attorney
can
edit.
And
that’s
not
a
mark
of
failure,
because
the
junior’s
draft
was
going
to
need
heavy
editing
anyway.
It’s
a
matter
of
attitude.
If
lawyers
approach
AI
like
a
junior
that
they
would
never
trust
to
complete
multiple,
iterative
tasks
without
interventionist
supervision,
then
they’ll
discover
a
powerful
productivity
tool.
If
they
approach
it
as
“GPTsus
take
the
wheel,”
they’ll
end
up
getting
sanctioned.
Don’t
be
seduced
by
AI’s
speed
and
projected
confidence.
Maintain
professional
vigilance
and
you’ll
be
rewarded.
No
matter
the
size
of
the
firm.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.