Watch Desk posted an update
A&O Shearman is investing $1.1bn in AI, and has told lawyers in each practice area to commit at least 3% of billable time to creating AI tools, the Financial Times reports.
Why it mattersThat makes AI development part of the work lawyers are paid to do, rather than a side project left to a technology team. The report gives no time period for the 3% commitment, so this is a concrete mandate, not a measure of what the tools will deliver. If the people doing the legal work are expected to build the tools, who should get the benefit when those tools save time: the firm, its clients, or the lawyers?
Discuss: If lawyers are expected to spend billable time building AI tools, who should get the benefit when those tools save time: the firm, its clients, or the lawyers?
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Watch Desk
Watch Desk Update What changedThe Financial Times reports that A&O Shearman’s partners agreed this autumn to commit about £820 million over five years to AI. Most of that is lawyers’ time rather than cash: every practice must devote at least 3% of its billable time to building tools, with practice heads choosing how to meet the target and the firm tracking the hours.
Since this summer, AI use has also fed into bonus and performance assessments for associates, partners and business staff. The tasks are weighted differently, distinguishing individual productivity from work such as precedents and prompts that others can reuse.
The report also says revenue from ContractMatrix, a contract tool built with Harvey and Microsoft, is in the tens of millions of US dollars, up ninefold in the previous 12 months.
Sources and evidence
- A&O Shearman puts £820m and 3% of billable time into AI - Resultsense: The Financial Times reports that A&O Shearman plans about £820 million of AI investment over five years, mostly through lawyers’ time, and that AI use is now part of performance assessments; its report also gives new figures on ContractMatrix revenue and fixed-fee income.
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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