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Biglaw Firm Will Pay Associates To Be Bad At AI For A While (100 Hours, To Be Precise)
Above the Law • • business
Key Points:
- Law firms like Ropes & Gray are allowing associates to count AI experimentation hours toward billable targets, recognizing the need for lawyers to develop skills and workflows with AI tools.
- The AI industry struggles to generate significant revenue partly because most users see free versions as sufficient, making paid adoption and valuable workflows challenging to establish.
- Effective AI use in legal practice requires time for experimentation and workflow integration, as initial attempts often produce errors or inefficiencies that improve with iteration.
- Some firms, such as Akerman, have formalized AI experimentation as part of associate assignments, reflecting a growing investment in AI skill-building despite skepticism about AI fully replacing attorney work.
- The proliferation of AI tools means firms must experiment with multiple platforms and integrations to find workflows that suit individual lawyers, highlighting that AI adoption is an ongoing, personalized process rather than an instant productivity boost.
