Why Lawyers Must Understand Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is no longer a curiosity. It is already shaping how law is practiced. Tools that once seemed futuristic are now part of the everyday operations of firms of every size. For lawyers, the question is not whether AI will matter, but how quickly it will reshape the business and practice of law.
The legal profession is built on language. Lawyers interpret, analyze, and draft words for a living. Modern AI systems, especially large language models, are built to process language at scale. They can draft clauses, summarize depositions, and answer questions about statutes or regulations in seconds. In practical terms, this means artificial intelligence for law firm work is a direct extension of what lawyers already do.
We are already seeing this in the tools that firms use daily. AI legal law applications power e-discovery platforms that sift through millions of documents with speed and accuracy that often surpass human reviewers. Contract review software highlights risks across thousands of agreements in minutes. Research platforms now return conversational answers to complex legal questions, often with citations. These are not experiments. They are production tools used by lawyers serving clients today.
The impact on economics is significant. The billable hour depends on time. AI reduces time. A project that once took twenty hours might now take two. Clients see the difference and are asking why they should pay the same. For firms, this creates pressure to move toward flat fees, value billing, and other models that reward efficiency. The traditional pyramid of associates billing long hours to support partners is already under strain.
The deeper change is in supply. Once an AI system can perform competent legal work, it can be copied and deployed endlessly at little cost. In economic terms, the supply of legal expertise becomes effectively infinite. That shift has two consequences. First, it expands access to justice. Clients who could not afford a lawyer before may now get meaningful assistance at very low cost. Second, it means lawyers will need to differentiate themselves not by access to knowledge, but by judgment, strategy, and the human skills that AI cannot replicate.
There are also risks. AI can be wrong. In 2023, a court sanctioned lawyers who filed a brief filled with fictitious citations generated by ChatGPT. The American Bar Association has since emphasized that competence includes understanding AI and supervising its use. Ignorance is no longer a defense.
AI for attorneys is not a passing trend. It is a structural change in how legal work is done. Lawyers who learn to use legal artificial intelligence thoughtfully will deliver faster and more cost-effective outcomes while protecting quality. Lawyers who resist risk falling behind, not because they lack knowledge of the law, but because they fail to use the tools that now define the profession.