What Paul, Weiss and Sullivan & Cromwell Envision for AI: European Law Firms No Laggards, Partners Not Resisting

 Last March Paul, Weiss and this month Sullivan & Cromwell projected how AI could replace some human lawyers. Maybe a significant number. In addition, there are practices which could, because of AI, evolve into commodities. 

The two elite law firms are already immersed in AI. Paul, Weiss has partnered with Harvey AI in developing a Workflow tool to boost efficiency in client work. Its podcast "Waking Up with AI" is provocative. Sullivan & Cromwell is advising OpenAI in its AMD partnership for powering the AI infrastructure.

Those two are American-headquartered law firms. What's going on in Europe? Has the AI force field overtaken the business of law firms there too? Lawfuel brings us up to date:

"New research from The Global Legal Post and LexisNexis shows leading firms in Germany, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands quietly handing first‑draft duty to generative AI tools ... By plugging Gen AI into internal precedents, know‑how banks and document automation systems, these firms are generating “house style” drafts that reflect prior deals, client preferences and jurisdiction‑specific quirks rather than yet another generic template ..." 

Okay, law firms in Europe are no laggards with this technological reality. But the compelling story here, as Lawfuel points out, is this: Senior partners at those firms are not balking. They're not being old-guard Luddites debunking the quality of results. Essentially their mindset is: What's not for clients, particularly in-house counsel, to like? For example, there's cost-efficiency along with the guardrails to ensure confidentiality. The latter should be able to pass muster with the clients' risk committee.

Now let's circle back to the manpower issue. Of course, lawyers will always be needed. Only fewer of them. What will happen to those human beings when they are not ever hired for their first jobs or terminated not long after as more AI is embedded into strategy and operations?

That's becoming a global problem in developed economies, extending well beyond a professional service such as practicing law. 

Today LinkedIn News featured my article on how chronic unemployment created by AI and cost-efficiency can unleash another Golden Age of The Solopreneur. Actually, the solopreneur model of labor goes back to ancient times in civilization. In America the first Golden Age was between the late 1800s and mid-1920s. 2026, which The Wall Street Journal projects to be no better than 2025 for being hired, can kick off that return to the small-business owner as standard.

Success is a mental game. Failure comes from being done in by the “committee” in your head.

Together, we reprogram your thinking. Then we change your story. And, unleash success.

Intuitive Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, becoming a solopreneur and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). Yes, test out the chemistry. Zero risk.

Don’t give up before the miracle.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Professional Services: End of Pyramid Business Model?

 F or a number of years business experts have been projecting that the current pyramid model in professional services will be replaced by the diamond one. That is, instead of a lot of new hires and juniors at the bottom, there would be few. In the middle would be the bulge of seasoned players. At the top would be a limited number of leaders.  Now, it's happening in management consulting. Financial Times broke the story. Here's a version of it in international media : "An increasing reliance on AI is prompting the world’s largest consulting firms to freeze graduate pay and reduce new hires. This approach may significantly alter the industry’s traditional pyramid model. While the aim is to improve profitability by increasing productivity, it also threatens to limit opportunities for entry-level talent." Essentially, chair of elite law firm Paul, Weiss Brad Karp forecast the same reduction in hiring of new graduates. Last March, in Lawyer Monthly he went on record indi...
Read more

Paul, Weiss' 2026 Partner Class: 8 of the 28 Based in London Office

It was back in 2021 that Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp hammered growth as the critical factor for law firms. That was in a seminal interview with Bloomberg Law. Without that, a firm could go out of business, Karp posited. A key driver for growth had been hiring and retaining legal stars. That poaching requires a hefty financial war chest, which Paul, Weiss has kept adding to since 2021. In 2025, so far, Profit Per Equity Partner is up 11%, with revenue increasing 32%. Recently, much of that lateral action has been happening in London. High-profile during the past several years, for example, had been the multiple raids on Kirkland & Ellis' London office for brandname talent. Many Paul, Weiss watchers recall how the law firm had been able to recruit from that competitor in 2023 rainmaker Neel Sachdev .  In terms of financial results London then evolved quickly into a major profit center of Paul, Weiss. The London office had been operating since 2001. Obviously, played out was the ...
Read more

AI Power/Mobility Reset: Junior Lawyers Could Shake Up Law Firm Business Model

One of those we-all-know is that last March Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp stated in The Lawyer Monthly :  "Junior Lawyers Will Be ‘Significantly Replaced’ by AI & Tech"  But now we're getting a fresh perspective on this.  Sure, there'll be reduced demand for junior lawyers. But what about those junior lawyers who become wunderkinds at managing AI tool? Everything from strategy to overseeing operations? Actually it's the CEO of AI Harvey Winston Weinberg who created that new lens for sizing up what could potentially play out in not only the Law of Supply and Demand but also mobility and power. In Lawfuel , Weinberg notes:   "Junior lawyers who can drive AI platforms and handle structured risk will move faster than seniors who treat the tools as decoration. That factor will force firms to rethink how they route work and how they evaluate early career performance." What Weinberg predicts isn't unthinkable. It's already a given that if equity partn...
Read more