Transactional practices may be more likely to move away from the billable hour than litigation practices, but experts say the legal industry in general is at a crossroads, where savvy clients are hesitant to pay hourly rates if AI can do the work quicker.
Generative AI is most likely to change the pricing and profits of transactional practices first, while effects on large litigation matters may lag.
The end of the billable hour has been prophesied for years. But, as the steady adoption of artificial intelligence upends how legal work gets done, the promised efficiencies from automation are most likely to emerge in certain elements of deal work, like due diligence and contract review and analysis.
