Why Every Lawyer Needs To Look At AI
Written by Sam Abeysekera on April 28, 2023
Have you come across an innovative company called donotpay.com?

It's an AI-driven website that offers a wide range of legal services at a fraction of the cost charged by traditional law firms. 

So, how can you compete when they're able to provide similar services for 90% less? 

My mission is to find the best business model for my clients: female law partners. It's highly tactical work. But I also constantly look for next-level strategies. 

What I see ahead is how technology is reshaping the legal services landscape – not just to help us but potentially displace what lawyers do. 

Take donotpay.com, for example. It's a digital law firm utilizing AI to offer affordable, productized legal services. 

Now, instead of paying $500 to a lawyer for a service that takes a week, clients can use donotpay.com, get it done the same day, and pay just $40 without even speaking to a human. Who wouldn't want that?

And if you buy one service, there's now a card on file, which increases the probability of going back again – which drives customer loyalty, lifetime value, and increases the chances that you'll tell your friends.

So, it creates and unlocks a totally different type of legal business. 

There are still lawyers on the team, but this is the next-generation legal business, as it delivers value to the consumer on a whole new level. 

Donotpay.com is the early canary in the coal mine. 

So, where's this headed? 

AI technology, like OpenAI's GPT-4, is rapidly advancing, even scoring in the top 10% on a simulated law school bar exam. 

And that's today. How about in another year, two years, five years?

AI is not an end-state technology. For example, GPT-3 uses 175 billion data points. When GPT-4 came out about a month later, it had trillions. 

For a law practice, getting ready now is paramount because AI innovation is going to hit the information industries first, especially costly ones. It's a matter of time.

Law firms need to adapt or risk being left behind, much like Blockbuster when it faced Netflix. In the beginning, it was easy to think of Netflix as a blip. 

But new technologies often change what’s valuable to consumers in a way that’s often misjudged by existing providers – they get trapped in their own model. 

This new AI-world is Netflix. Legacy lawyering is Blockbuster. We don't want to be adding a candy aisle when we see Netflix is coming... 

Get ahead of the curve to manage the threat and opportunity 

The key is to be an early adopter and find out how you can use AI to provide more efficient, cost-effective services that meet the deep needs and goals of clients.

It’s why I'm now looking at strategies to help clients transition to AI-enabled and AI-powered practices. It takes thinking about how to deliver services with greater efficiency using AI and compete with basically software companies. 

Adapting to these changes will lead to pricing and other pressures, but if you can pass benefits on to the client and be the first to do that, now you can compete, and aggregate clients. 

It's crucial to learn from successful innovators like AirBnB that changed the hotel industry by aggregating supply onto their platform. To the degree that you can do that faster than everybody else, can set you up for the future vs face extinction. 

I recently read a book by Jeff Booth, who built a $500 billion marketplace business in heavy building supplies with AI and robotics at its core. This isn't theory. 

In summary:

Now's the time to ask yourself: Are you ready for the AI revolution to come to your area of law? How will you adapt, and how can you use AI to better serve your clients? If you'd like to discuss this, feel free to get in touch.

Sam Abeysekera

Sam is dedicated to empowering female partners and founders in the legal industry to break through barriers and redefine success. As the lawyer's advocate, she equips her clients with strategies to become seasoned rainmakers and thrive within the dynamics of law firm culture, all while maintaining balance and authenticity.
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