Big Law’s largest clients have begun discussions to seek fee haircuts in the wake of an artificial intelligence revolution that is expected to yield major efficiencies on legal work, according to 9fin sources.
While such requests are in early stages and are hard to quantify, Wall Street’s largest law firms — which have faced growing criticism over ever-increasing hourly rates — are now expected to showcase overall time savings from using AI technologies and to provide some form of concession, sources said.
“It’s in almost every pitch I see,” said a law firm restructuring partner. “Especially from some of the larger institutional clients, it’s integrated as part of the list of questions.”
The requests for legal discounts are among the first indications of how AI’s impact on the professional services industry will shift long-established norms between service providers and their clients. As technological efficiencies change the nature of professional services, clients are expecting to reap at least some of the rewards through passed-along savings.
Although it is uncertain how law firms will quantify those savings in dollar amounts — one senior partner quipped: “How should I know how much time I didn’tspend doing something?” — there are active discussions...
