Jun 28, 2017

How AI will drive inequality in the legal services business

Christopher Matthews

Demand for legal services is booming, but the trend is only benefiting a handful of elite law firms, writes J. Stephen Poor, Chair Emeritus at Seyfarth Shaw. That's because "increasingly clients are keeping work in-house or using alternative service providers," that provide commoditized legal services like document reviews or the drafting of legal documents.

Many partners have their heads in the sand, however. A recent study by Altman Weil showed that:

  • 61.5% of law firms are only "moderately" serious (or less) about changing their strategy to incorporate technologies and processes that help provide legal services more efficiently;
  • Only 7.5% of firms have seriously explored artificial intelligence tools; and
  • 65% of partners at law firms are resistant to adopting new technologies.

Why it matters: Lawyers are resisting change even as revenue outside the top two-dozen firms remains flat. There is a huge opportunity for lawyers and firms that learn to leverage automation technology to increase their productivity.

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Dave Lawler

Coronavirus could hit developing countries hardest

Disinfecting in Dakar, Senegal. Photo: John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

The coronavirus is spreading most widely in countries that should be among the best equipped to handle it. There's no reason to expect that to remain the case.

Where things stand: 88% of new coronavirus cases confirmed on Wednesday came within the OECD club of wealthy nations, which together account for just 17% of the world's population. While that data is based on uneven and inadequate testing, Europe and North America are clearly in the eye of the storm.

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Dave Lawler

The Humanity First push for a coronavirus vaccine

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Policy responses to the global coronavirus crisis have been every-country-for-itself and — in the case of the U.S. and China — tinged with geopolitics.

The flipside: The scientific work underway to understand the virus and develop a vaccine has been globalized on an unprecedented scale.

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Orion Rummler

Trump attacks Schumer for impeachment in letter about coronavirus crisis

President Trump briefs reports on April 2. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

President Trump accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of being "missing in action" during the coronavirus crisis, writing in a scathing letter on Thursday that Schumer's focus on the "ridiculous impeachment hoax" resulted in New York being ill-prepared for the pandemic.

Why it matters: It's a blistering response to Schumer urging Trump to assign a senior military officer to enforce the Defense Production Act to produce more medical supplies.

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