What AI Means For Solo Lawyers, Small Law Firms And The Future of Legal Work

As a solo practitioner lawyer who runs a small law firm, I’m somewhat reluctantly accepting that AI can now do a lot more things better, faster, and cheaper than I can.

Fighting that feels pretty futile.

I’m seeing the changes play out in our legal practice in real time, in terms of efficiency and in terms of its value as an advisor on all manners of things.

What I’m seeing is also being validated by what I hear from my solo practitioner colleagues and my law students alike.

These shifts have serious implications not just for what it means to be a lawyer, but for how we run our small law firm businesses going forward.

AI And The Future Of Solo Lawyers

I accept a human and AI synergy for legal productivity is the way forward right now but for me as a solo lawyer it goes beyond this.

For me, it’s now more about working out what machines can’t do and may never be able to, and making sure that’s where our value sits in providing a more specialised legal practice.

It is difficult, but it is where most of my attention and focus sits these days.

Someone asked me the other day whether they should still bother going to law school in light of AGI coming.

I thought it was a fair question.

No one really knows what the future of law looks like.

We are all trying to figure it out as we go.

One thing is for sure.

It won’t look anything like it did before for sole practitioners, partnerships, in-house or BigLaw alike.

Paul Ippolito, Principal of Ippolito Advisory, is a coach for lawyers helping sole practitioners set up, launch, and grow their practices. He is available for media enquiries, speaking and consulting. You can contact him here.