In his latest newsletter, Canadian commentator Jordan Furlong argues that generative AI or GenAI is beginning to reshape the legal market in ways that could reduce the profession’s focus on corporate and organisational clients. Data highlighted by Professor William Henderson, notes that the share of legal receipts generated by organisational clients in the United States rose from 47.8% in 1972 to 74.6% in 2017, while the share of individuals fell sharply during the same period.
Jordan Furlong suggests that this may prove to be a risk for the corporate side of the market as AI adoption increases in large law firms and in-house legal departments.
The article argues that this shift will not change how legal work is carried out, but rather who carries out the same. Continuing to suggest that there will eventually be fewer human lawyers working for corporations and for the law firms that serve them. In his view, this creatses a serious problem for the legal profession, because the current post-licensing model still depends heavily on law firms to develop junior lawyers through practice.
A possible revival of the long-neglected PeopleLaw sector, he writes that AI can help more individuals recognise legal problems, navigate existing information and seek assistance, increasing demand for human lawyers to able to provide judgement, accountability and personal support. Elaborating further that AI will not solve the issue of Access to Justice on its own, but that it may help create conditions for a partial rebalancing of the legal market.