One signal

AI is not necessarily making legal work faster, argues Joe Patrice in Above the Law. His point is that the time may be moving into checking AI-assisted work and following up on new arguments it surfaces, rather than vanishing from the job.

Patrice says lawyers’ working hours appear to be increasing so far, referring to a previous report about the legal staffing market. That is an observation, not a broad measurement of AI’s effect across the profession. For firms and clients expecting faster work to mean lower bills, the distinction matters: new tools can change what lawyers spend time on without automatically reducing it.

Discuss: If AI changes the work but does not reduce the hours, should clients still expect lower legal bills?

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